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[Cheebo]

Unsurpringly the tracking is on the rise. It's projecting for a 140-150 opening weekend in America now too (was 120-130 a week ago). Which would make it the second largest December opening of all time behind TFA (current #2 is The Hobbit AUJ with 86 mil).

Thanks to Disney’s $4 billion purchase of Lucasfilm, and its devotion to the legendary sci-fi franchise, Christmas is coming early to Star Wars fans: They only had to wait one year for a brand new Star Wars movie as Rogue One: A Star Wars Story opens overseas Wednesday and begins its stateside run Thursday night.

Yeah, yeah, we already know Rogue One‘s opening isn’t going to be as high as Force Awakens a year ago, which pulled in an all-time global debut of $528.97M. Episode VII was propped by pent-up demand, and the latest film is a spinoff. Still, Rogue One with a frosh dramatis personae will kick off pretty damn high with a worldwide start over five days between $280M-$350M.

In the U.S./Canada, industry projections currently lie between $140M-$150M in 4,100-plus sites, with a heavier interest among men than women. Still the notion among distribution chiefs is that the latter sex will come along for the want-to-see in the days following the pic’s release. By comparison, Force Awakens opened in 4,134 locations. 400 Imax theaters will have the Gareth Edwards-directed Rogue One for four weeks around the globe. Of its theater count, Rogue One is comprised of 500 Premium Large Format screens (the largest PLF footprint ever for any release), 3,500+ 3D screens and nearly 200 D-Box locations. Even if Rogue One comes in lower, just over $100M, it would still rank as the second-best opening this winter month has ever seen since Force Awakens’ $247.96M all-time three-day. That beat the month’s previous record holder, 2012’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey ($84.6M), by close to twofold. Granted, there wasn’t a snow storm standing in moviegoers’ way, but Force Awakens showed that the mid-month business could indeed blow the barn doors off to enormous levels prior to the Christmas holiday; the historical notion being that the post-holiday frame is when moviegoers truly make their way to the theater because they’re free of distractions.

http://deadline.com/2016/12/rogue-o...ice-opening-disney-felicity-jones-1201867465/

 

[Sapiens]

Does that make it a good movie?

 

[Fat4all]

Got damn. I know I'm going opening weekend.

Merchandising is gonna be nuts when all is said and done.

They can slap Vader on everything again.

 

[Escape Goat]

Does that make it a good movie?

Duh

 

[btrboyev]

Does that make it a good movie?

Doesn't matter. But I think it will be good personally. I'm super excited about a Star Wars side movie.

 

[vinnygambini]

Terrible for $4B acquisition.

Awful.

 

[Falchion]

It's going to blow up.

 

[Trigonometrize.]

I can't get over how dumb "A Star Wars Story" is of a subtitle. "Star Wars: Rogue One" with everyone just calling it "Rogue One" would've been a fine way to keep the Star Wars in and also make it it's own thing.

 

[Beer Monkey]

Terrible for $4B acquisition.

Awful.

Merch.

 

[Discotheque]

I've never been a big fan of these entertainment brands advertising everywhere but there's something...traditional about seeing star wars Duracell ads and shit lol. Like they were one of the OGs of the game so it's cool with me

 

[Gravidee]

I can't get over how dumb "A Star Wars Story" is of a subtitle. "Star Wars: Rogue One" with everyone just calling it "Rogue One" would've been a fine way to keep the Star Wars in and also make it it's own thing.

The subtitle is meant to accompany all of the spinoffs henceforth. Plus, it's needed for the dummies who can't differentiate it from the main episodes. Even then, I'm sure people will still be confused.

 

[RoKKeR]

Terrible for $4B acquisition.

Awful.

Bruh.

You serious?

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/star-wars-merchandise-earned-over-3bn-disney-1542976

 

[FTF]

Merch.

Bruh.

You serious?

He's joking. Disney has made like $3b alone just from TFA.

 

[Prompto]

Terrible for $4B acquisition.

Awful.

Disney should have purchased Divergent instead. Such a mistake on their part.

 

[Slayven]

#Dumprogueone killed that.

 

[kswiston]

He's joking. Disney has made like $3b alone just from TFA.

Star Wars is already in the black for Disney.

 

[brickarts295]

Lucas really undersold Star Wars for $4b.
But then again maybe he didn't expect Disney to make a big success again.
But it's $4b and he's old so yeah I can't see him complaining.

 

[sphagnum]

I can't get over how dumb "A Star Wars Story" is of a subtitle. "Star Wars: Rogue One" with everyone just calling it "Rogue One" would've been a fine way to keep the Star Wars in and also make it it's own thing.

Somehow people will still fail to understand that it's a spinoff. I expect a lot of casual moviegoers asking "What happened to Rey and Finn? How did Vader come back to lfe??"

 

[bill0527]

Does that make it a good movie?

George Lucas apparently loved it a lot more than The Force Awakens.

So it's probably a terrible movie.

 

[BocoDragon]

Lucas really undersold Star Wars for $4b.
But then again maybe he didn't expect Disney to make a big success again.

I think he was aware it was a bargain. It was a gentleman's deal to get a little money to give to charity and put Star Wars in the hands of the one company who could properly shepherd it into the future. Dude's already infinitely rich, couldn't spend the money he had if he tried.

 

[Blablurn]

Chinese release is on Jan 6th if anyone is wondering.

Force Awakens was rather disappointing in terms of sales here but with some well known asian actors in the cast Rogue One might have better chances for success.

 

[Cheebo]

Lucas really undersold Star Wars for $4b.
But then again maybe he didn't expect Disney to make a big success again.
But it's $4b and he's old so yeah I can't see him complaining.

TFA was already in pre-production (Lucas hired Michael Ardnt) as was early planning for Rogue One and the Han Solo spin-off when Lucas sold it. Lucas picked Kasdan to write the Han Solo film. Knoll pitched Rogue One after Lucas hired Kennedy before the deal with Disney. It's not like he didn't expect what was being released, this stuff we are getting was already in the plans.

It was more about getting Lucasfilm to a safe home that would protect the brand. Lucas gave all the cash from the deal to charity anyway (Lucas signed the Buffet pledge to give most of his wealth away in his lifetime).

 

[kswiston]

Lucas really undersold Star Wars for $4b.
But then again maybe he didn't expect Disney to make a big success again.
But it's $4b and he's old so yeah I can't see him complaining.

I dont really think he cared about maximizing his buyout. Disney was in a better position to utilize the Star Wars property than a lot of studios, and Marvel/Pixar already demonstrated their willingness to let sub studios do their thing as long as they were getting those tentpole quotas.

 

[Obliterator]

Yeah it should do pretty big business. On a personal level I'm nowhere near hyped like I was Episode VII, but I'll still go see it for sure.

Any guesses for final gross? I'm gonna say between 900 million to just over 1B.

 

[Aaron Strife]

It's going to blow up.

Dude, spoilers

 

[JonnyDBrit]

Lucas really undersold Star Wars for $4b.
But then again maybe he didn't expect Disney to make a big success again.
But it's $4b and he's old so yeah I can't see him complaining.

He deliberately undersold it to the people he thought would best handle the franchise, and put most of the cash - much of the sale was in Disney stock - to charity.

 

[kswiston]

Yeah it should do pretty big business. On a personal level I'm nowhere near hyped like I was Episode VII, but I'll still go see it for sure.

Any guesses for final gross? I'm gonna say between 900 million to just over 1B.

If it opens over $300M worldwide, it will easily top $1B. Holidays will boost its legs, and China isnt until January.

 

[Discotheque]

Yeah it should do pretty big business. On a personal level I'm nowhere near hyped like I was Episode VII, but I'll still go see it for sure.

Any guesses for final gross? I'm gonna say between 900 million to just over 1B.

I think it will be the highest grossing movie of the year

 

[Cheebo]

Anyone who thinks Lucas was selling Lucasfilm for the money needs to read this:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disney-deal-george-lucas-will-384947

By the end of the year, the $4.05 billion sale of Lucasfilm to Disney should be finalized. And since George Lucas owns 100 percent of his company -- which has little to no debt -- all that money goes to him.

After that, Lucas plans to quickly put the bulk of the money into a foundation that will primarily focus on educational issues, a spokesperson for Lucasfilm tells THR.

Lucas donated the money from Disney. He essentially gave Lucasfilm to Disney in exchange for a charity donation.

 

[Obliterator]

If it opens over $300M worldwide, it will easily top $1B. Holidays will boost its legs, and China isnt until January.

True but honestly I'm not thinking it goes significantly over. Maybe 1.1 or 1.2. IDK maybe I'm just misreading the market but the film doesn't seem to have anything near the buzz of episode VII (though obviously still huge). I think it may be a bit more front-loaded

 

[sphagnum]

Dude, spoilers

THEY STEAL THE DEATH STAR PLANS

 

[brickarts295]

I think he was aware it was a bargain. It was a gentleman's deal to get a little money to give to charity and put Star Wars in the hands of the one company who could properly shepherd it into the future. Dude's already infinitely rich, couldn't spend the money he had if he tried.

TFA was already in pre-production (Lucas hired Michael Ardnt) as was early planning for Rogue One and the Han Solo spin-off when Lucas sold it. Lucas picked Kasdan to write the Han Solo film. Knoll pitched Rogue One after Lucas hired Kennedy before the deal with Disney. It's not like he didn't expect what was being released, this stuff we are getting was already in the plans.

It was more about getting Lucasfilm to a safe home that would protect the brand. Lucas gave all the cash from the deal to charity anyway (Lucas signed the Buffet pledge to give most of his wealth away in his lifetime).

I dont really think he cared about maximizing his buyout. Disney was in a better position to utilize the Star Wars property than a lot of studios, and Marvel/Pixar already demonstrated their willingness to let sub studios do their thing as long as they were getting those tentpole quotas.

He deliberately undersold it to the people he thought would best handle the franchise, and put most of the cash - much of the sale was in Disney stock - to charity.

Thanks for all the responses. Yeah Disney is the only company that would make sense to own Star Wars. Can't even Imagine Fox or even WB XD

 

[Aaron Strife]

THEY STEAL THE DEATH STAR PLANS

Is this the one where Manny Both-Hanz dies?

 

[kswiston]

True but honestly I'm not thinking it goes significantly over. Maybe 1.1 or 1.2. IDK maybe I'm just misreading the market but the film doesn't seem to have anything near the buzz of episode VII (though obviously still huge). I think it may be a bit more front-loaded

Well, The Force Awakens legs on a $280M opening would give you $1.095B worldwide. TFA legs on $350M would give you $1.368B. So there is room for Rogue One to be more frontloaded while still clearing $1B, and possibly beating Civil War.

Also, these early WW opening estimates tend to be underestimates. I wouldn't be all that surprised to see Rogue One open to $175M domestic and $400M+ WW that weekend. I think more of the difference between it and TFA will come from legs in subsequent weeks, vs that first weekend.

 

[vinnygambini]

Disney should have purchased Divergent instead. Such a mistake on their part.

Glad we on the same page Prompto

Star Wars is already in the black for Disney.

Lies

Spoiler

/s

 

[petethepanda]

It's insane to think about just how much money Disney movies have made this year.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

I hope it's good. That's all that really matters.

 

[kswiston]

It's insane to think about just how much money Disney movies have made this year.

They will set a new studio record the weekend that Rogue One launches. Disney will pass $6.7B Worldwide in 2016 this weekend. The current worldwide box office record for a studio in one year is $6.89B by Universal last year.

Disney already broke Universal's domestic record (also set last year) this past week.

EDIT: They could potentially make a run for $3B domestic this year if Rogue One is big enough. WW, they will likely end up at somewhere close to $7.5B.

 

[HStallion]

Why do I have a feeling Donny Yen is going to do some kung fu and then be killed quickly in a rather boring manner.

 

[CreepingFear]

Why do I have a feeling Donny Yen is going to do some kung fu and then be killed quickly in a rather boring manner.

Can't go out worse than the 3 other Jedi masters that were with Mace Windu when trying to apprehend Palpy.

 

[Malyse]

Disney stay winning.

 

[jstevenson]

I knew 130-140 million was low

 

[Htown]

Does that make it a good movie?

No, but it doesn't make it a bad one either.

Basically what are you even talking about?

 

[tearsintherain]

I have thursday night tickets but I'm a bit surprised you can still easily buy tickets for thursday, friday, or saturday in my area. Almost every showing. TFA was 100% sold out within a few hours and they started adding tons and tons and tons of showings and even those sold out pretty fast.

I'm also a little gun shy now, two movies so far this year should have been great but were absolutely AWFUL - Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad. I secretly want Rogue One to be great because I'm a huge star wars fanboi, but I am trying to keep expectations in check in case it turns out to suck bad.

I think the USA premiere is monday so hopefully spoiler free scores should be coming out soon.

 

[AnotherDayAnotherDollar]

Lucas really undersold Star Wars for $4b.
But then again maybe he didn't expect Disney to make a big success again.
But it's $4b and he's old so yeah I can't see him complaining.

Lucas got ~2B in stocks IIRC. I also think he hasn't sold any of his shares and DIS has doubled since the acquisition.

 

[Maximus.]

Lucas really undersold Star Wars for $4b.
But then again maybe he didn't expect Disney to make a big success again.
But it's $4b and he's old so yeah I can't see him complaining.

I don't think it was necessarily about making money. Didn't he or isn't he going to donate it all anyways? If anything the franchise is in the best hands possible.

 

[Lemaitre]

Can't Wait for IMAX next Friday.

Hooooo boy.....

 

[MattKeil]

TFA was already in pre-production (Lucas hired Michael Ardnt) as was early planning for Rogue One and the Han Solo spin-off when Lucas sold it. Lucas picked Kasdan to write the Han Solo film. Knoll pitched Rogue One after Lucas hired Kennedy before the deal with Disney. It's not like he didn't expect what was being released, this stuff we are getting was already in the plans.

It was more about getting Lucasfilm to a safe home that would protect the brand. Lucas gave all the cash from the deal to charity anyway (Lucas signed the Buffet pledge to give most of his wealth away in his lifetime).

And to give Lucasfilm creative autonomy from Disney. They treat Lucasfilm essentially as a third party company as part of the terms.

 

[Knoxcore]

Seriously, how many people out there think this is episode VIII?

 

[davepoobond]

Seriously, how many people out there think this is episode VIII?

its the real episode vii, by the sounds of it.