And, to their credit, Disney eventually delayed the film to December 20, 2019, giving each Star Wars “episode” a two-year gap. Abrams subbing in for Colin Trevorrow in September of 2017 with the intent of hitting a release date. It’s no secret that the production was rushed, with J.J. Whatever comes next, be it a Knights of the Old Republic movie or what-have-you, is going to have to contend with being “some movie that happens to be set in the Star Wars universe.” But Star Wars IX now puts the franchise on the defensive. The last five Star Wars movies weren’t just new Star Wars movies, they were explicitly linked to the original Star Wars trilogy, with the three “episodes” acting as sequels to Return of the Jedi complete with returning cast members three decades after the fact. Whatever drop-off it takes now that the “Skywalker Saga” is done was inevitable from the start. The Mandalorian went over like gangbusters and the first five Disney Star Wars films earned $5.92 billion worldwide on a combined $1.2 billion budget. Star Wars, as a brand, will, uh, live long and prosper. But as far as theatrical Star Wars movies about the Skywalker clan is concerned, these nine movies are it, and Rise of Skywalker badly blew the landing. Heck, as much as Rise of Skywalker repeated the mistakes of Spectre, Spider-Man 3 and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, those franchises either get a chance to set things right in further installments or, in the case of Spider-Man, represents just one variation of an oft-told franchise. No matter what comes next, no matter how well the next batch of Star Wars movies and Star Wars TV shows are received by the masses, the core Phantom Menace-to- Rise of Skywalker narrative will be hamstrung by a poorly-received finale. Lucasfilm and Disney will still have to cope with the fact that they botched the endgame to the Skywalker Saga. Instead, its final gross puts it on the defensive while the artistic reception imperils the entire franchise.

Had it opened this year it probably would have been a better movie.

Had it opened in 2020, it may have been this year’s biggest grosser. To the extent that it may look disappointing, it’s partially about the many Disney mega-hits ( Avengers: Endgame, Frozen II, The Lion King, etc.) that ended up dwarfing Star Wars IX’s cumes. It earned $514 million domestic from a $177 million budget and around $1.069 billion worldwide. Star Wars Episode IX debuted on Thursday, December 19 amid mixed-negative reviews and lower audience polling scores than any previous live-action theatrical Star Wars movie. Today is the two-month anniversary of the domestic debut of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

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