The stars have aligned for Lucasfilm and Disney this year. The stand- alone film "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" is expected to open to more than $130 million in North America on its first weekend, December 16-18. The biggest box office curiosity of the year could even earn $150 million, early tracking shows.
"Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" will be marking the second- biggest December movie opening of all time if the force is with Lucasfilm this year. "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" just crashed to the number one spot last year. A report from The Hollywood Reporter says that no December film ever launched has exceeded $85 million on its first weekend in North America, not even "Avatar."
The report also reveals that "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," which is directed by Gareth Edwards and starring Felicity Jones, is just a first in a series of stand- alone movies as planned by Lucasfilm. Disney will be helping Lucasfilm and should manage the expectations of the viewers in order to prevent the movie from being compared to last year's "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" since it is part of a trilogy while "Rogue One" is a stand- alone movie.
In 2015, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" set a record after earning $248 million domestically and $2.07 billion worldwide, the third highest record next to "Avatar" and "Titanic." Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said that they are still making up their mind whether Lucasfilm would create another trilogy after the current "Star Wars" trilogy ends in 2019, or if they will create another stand- alone film like "Rogue One," according to Entertainment Weekly. The entertainment news site also reported that the reactions of the audiences on the upcoming stand-alone "Star Wars" movie will highly affect Lucasfilm's decision regarding the creation of another trilogy or stand-alone film.
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