A hard year at the box office ends tonight with good news and bad news for “Star Wars.”
“The Last Jedi” has crossed the $1 billion mark worldwide, divided evenly between US and international box office.
That’s the good news.
The bad news is that “The Last Jedi” is now $225 million off the mark of “The Force Awakens.” That’s a lot of money, the cost of a whole “Star Wars” movie really.
The gap will grow wider as January tickets slow, everyone goes back to school and work, and thoughts turn to saving the 2018 box office.
Of course, there’s still tomorrow, New Year’s Day, or tonight, in the frigid cold for most of the country for one last hurrah.
And then there will be the countdown of real disasters for the fall season: “The Greatest Showman,” “Pitch Perfect 3,” and so on. On the good news front: Fox’s “Murder on the Orient Express” crossed $100 million US today. That’s a total $313 million worldwide. Can “Death on the Nile” be far behind?