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$220 million domestic, $230 million global, $450 million in total on its first weekend. That’s pretty darned impressive for The Last Jedi. It’s less than The Force Awakens did, but hey, TFA released 10 years of pent-up demand, and the middle entries in the previous two Star Wars trilogies both did worse than their predecessors. So, nothing to be afraid of, right?
Except maybe that 56% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes? Which is actually two percentage points lower than another sequel in theaters right now, Daddy’s Home 2?
There’s more to the story, of course, and I’m digging into it on the podcast today. Here are links to stories covered:
Scott Mendelson’s always excellent box office analysis on Forbes.com
Box Office Mojo’s all-time domestic box office rankings
Rotten Tomatoes’ critic and audience score page for The Last Jedi
Deadline: Hollywood’s take on negative audience reaction and user review stats
Bottom line: Unless you’re in the camp where you’re aggressively, determinedly against liking The Last Jedi, one of the things I’m seeing over and over again is that opinions of the movie improve upon a second viewing. So give it a try and let me know how it goes in the comments!