It’s not exactly lightspeed, but Star Wars: The Last Jedi is definitely off to a fast start at the box office. The latest addition to the Walt Disney-Lucasfilm Star Wars saga kicked off its first weekend in theaters with the second-biggest Thursday night previews opening ever last night.
Disney said on Friday that The Last Jedi pulled in roughly $45 million in domestic theaters on Thursday night. That’s second only to 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which grossed $57 million in North America in its own first night of preview showings on its way to setting the box-office record for a domestic opening weekend ($247 million). The Force Awakens eventually became the highest-grossing domestic film of all-time, making $936 million in North American theaters and more than $2 billion worldwide.
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As Coins2Day noted this week, The Last Jedi is not expected to top its predecessor at the box office (despite stellar reviews from critics). Opening weekend estimates from the film industry are forecasting a domestic bow as high as $215 million this weekend for The Last Jedi, which would make it only the fourth film ever to top the $200-million mark in its first weekend.
According to Box Office Mojo, The Last Jedi also pulled in more than $60 million overseas, where the movie started showing in certain countries as early as Wednesday.