The Last Jedi Opens Huge But Still Below Force Awakens

As expected, Star Wars: The Last Jedi had a massive opening weekend at the US and Canadian box office, but the newest entry could not topple 2015's The Force Awakens. Episode VIII made an estimated $220 million at the 4,232 theatres it played at this weekend in the US and Canada. This is good for the second-highest domestic opening for any movie in cinema history, only behind The Force Awakens ($248 million).

The Last Jedi was never expected to perform better than The Force Awakens, so these results are nothing out of the ordinary. The Force Awakens had the huge advantage of being the first new entry in the mainline series in a decade, leading to much pent-up demand.

In making more than $200 million for its domestic opening, The Last Jedi becomes just the fourth film to hit that mark. The others include the aforementioned Force Awakens ($248 million), Jurassic World ($208.8 million), and The Avengers ($207.4 million).

The Last Jedi added another $230 million from international markets to boost its global opening-weekend haul to $450 million. Opening weekend is of course just the start for The Last Jedi, as it's expected to perform well in the coming weeks and over the holidays when movie-going is even more popular due to school and work breaks. Also of note is that The Last Jedi has yet to open in China, which is the world's second-biggest region for movies.

The Force Awakens ended its theatrical run with $2.06 billion globally, which is the third-highest worldwide haul ever, only behind Titanic ($2.18 billion), and Avatar ($2.78 billion). We will continue to report back with more box office figures for The Last Jedi in the weeks ahead.

The Last Jedi didn't have much competition at the box office this weekend, as the only other major new release was Fox's animated film Ferdinand, which pulled in $13.3 million. Rounding out the top five were Coco ($10 million), Wonder ($5.4 million), and Justice League ($4.2 million). You can see the full Top 10 list for the December 15-17 weekend below, as rounded up and compiled by Entertainment Weekly.

December 15-17 US/Canada Box Office Estimates:

1. Star Wars: The Last Jedi — $220 million
2. Ferdinand — $13.3 million
3. Coco — $10 million
4. Wonder — $5.4 million
5. Justice League — $4.2 million
6. Daddy’s Home 2 — $3.8 million
7. Thor: Ragnarok — $3 million
8. The Disaster Artist — $2.6 million
9. Murder on the Orient Express — $2.5 million
10. Lady Bird — $2.1 million