WITH SPOILERS DON’T READ IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IN THE LAST JEDI

In just 10 days, “The Last Jedi” has brought in $365 million domestically. This is a huge amount of money. It sets some records no doubt.

But “The Force Awakens” took in $540 million in its first 10 days, two years ago. That’s almost $175 million difference. And that’s BIG.

Everyone has a theory. Schools weren’t completely out for Christmas. The wind was coming from the north. Odd days vs. even days.

But now that two weekends have passed, we can state the obvious: they killed off Luke Skywalker. I mean, come on. Happy, peppy Luke became a wizened old man on a mountain with no family, no love, no connections, no friends, no faith. Both he and Han Solo were essentially knocked off by Han and Leia’s son. I mean, WTF? None of it makes sense. It’s a bitter pill to swallow. Plus, Rey isn’t related to anyone, and Kylo mocks her for it. It’s a drag.

Now Mark Hamill is speaking out, saying he took direction from Rian Johnson but knew it was all wrong. He says. maybe it’s a cousin “Jake Skywalker” but certainly not the Luke he knew.

George Lucas must be furious. In two movies they killed off two of his three main characters. And who could have foreseen Carrie Fisher’s real life death? So now Leia will expire in Episode IX. Her son– and Han’s– is irredeemably evil. So that’s it.

This is why I wrote back at the beginning that I am done with “Star Wars.” If you’re from the generation that started with the series in 1977, the death of our heroes is not what we signed up for. So I am out, and I sense from the box office so are a lot of people. Big mistakes were made here.

Sunday update click here: “Jedi” now $175 million behind “Force Awakens”

Earlier: School is out, but it didn’t help “The Last Jedi.” The new “Star Wars” movie is running over $120 million behind the last one on a day to day comparison.

On its second Friday in release, “The Force Awakens” logged $49 million for a domestic total of $440 million.

Last night, “The Last Jedi” came in at $24.7 million. The domestic total is $321 million.

Well, one week and $321 million is nothing to sneeze at. That’s a damn good showing, second best to “The Force Awakens.” But it’s still quite a distance behind the first part of this trilogy.

The theory that school wasn’t completely dismissed for the holidays didn’t pan out. Since its opening last week, “Jedi” has been struggling to maintain momentum. Maybe tonight, with school out and nothing but time on their hands, kids will flock to theaters. I hope they do!

There are some real duds this weekend– “Pitch Perfect 3,” and “Father Figures” are each sorta DOA. But there are plenty of really great Oscar ready movies including “The Post,” “Phantom Thread,” “Lady Bird,” “Shape of Water,” and so on. That’s like a feast!

PS December 29th– Annette Bening and Jamie Bell in “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool”– not to be missed!

Earlier this year, Tom Cruise starred in a remake of “The Mummy.” It didn’t do much at the US Box office– just $80 million. But in China, “The Mummy” tickets sold faster than chopsticks. It made $91 million– not only much more than in the US but a major chunk of its total non US worldwide sales of $330 million.

So you’d think “American Made,” the next Tom Cruise movie, would have been eagerly embraced in Chinese cine-philes.

Alas, months after its release, “American Made” has never been released in China. It was a huge dud in the US– just $51.3 million, an all time low in the Cruise canon. Without China, international sales for “American Made” were just $83 million. The total worldwide box office was less than what Cruise spends on [fill in the blank– fast cars, planes, Scientology centers…].

The no China release is particularly weird since the second biggest Chinese theater owner, Dadi, announced in June it was investing in the movie. A press release read: “Dadi will serve as a marketing and promotional partner for American Made in China.”

But it does seem like whatever investment Dadi intended, once they saw the US box office they cut their losses. Too bad, since “American Made” was a very good movie.

Was it the title? The original title was “Mena.” Did everyone in the world turn off to the “American”? Was it the nature of Cruise’s character, Barry Seal? He was a conniving guy, but very charismatic. The Russians didn’t mind him in their theaters. But China wasn’t having it. Or maybe it was just that $91 million was such a crazy number, they figured they couldn’t compete with it– better let Cruise sit this one out until “Mission Impossible 6.”

Two years ago, on its first Wednesday past opening weekend, “The Force Awakens” made $38 million.

Last night, on its first Wednesday, “The Last Jedi” made just $16.8 million. That’s a 77% difference, and a little shocking, frankly.

I’m not sure what’s going. Some say it’s because more schools had already broken for holiday vacation back in 2015. Could be.

But there’s some kind of indifference or hostility to “Last Jedi” that I don’t get. I loved it. For true “Star Wars” fans, it’s a must see movie, a really big moment of closure for original fans. It’s also a beacon for the next generation.

Something is definitely wrong, however. Even kids still in school would be at 5 or 6pm shows. And now there are reports that the merchandise is doing so-so business. Me, I want a Porg!

But you can see the discrepancies: by now, “Force Awakens” had banked $363 million. “Jedi” has $278 million. And the gap is widening every day.

We won’t be seeing Lady Gaga going up the red carpet in Cannes next May after all.

Warner Bros. has decided to movie “A Star Is Born,” directed by Bradley Cooper, starring him and Gaga, from May 2018 to October 5, 2018– a difference of five months.

The May date was a perfect launch for “Star,” with Cannes the right kind of glamorous setting.

Now the thinking is October 5th is good for Oscars exposure. But that reasoning is faulty– you can see what October 5th did for “Blade Runner 2049” this year. That date– last weekend of September, first of October– is generally a dumping ground for high profile projects that didn’t work out.

“A Star is Born” could go the New York Film Festival and open there, but that doesn’t seem like the right fit for a very Hollywood-themed movie. And given the number of original Gaga songs we’re expecting from “Star,” it’s a little unclear how a soundtrack CD will tie in for then.

It’s unlikely anything’s wrong with the music. But Cooper is a first time director, this is a huge project with lots of moving parts, and time means everything. The last “A Star is Born,” starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, was a disaster right up its opening day. John Gregory Dunne even wrote a famous book about it.

My guess is “A Star is Born” needs a lot more to marinate– i.e. be edited into something coherent–and that’s the need for the extra time.

WEDS UPDATE: “Last Jedi” Tuesday was $20.3 million vs. $37 mil for “Force Awakens” on its first Tuesday. That’s around 42% off. $17 million is a big difference.  Monday and Tuesday are big days for adults going to the movies, so this development is a little surprising. Almost every other film increased from Monday to Tuesday by quite a lot. Only “Last Jedi” declined, by 6%. Again, Monday and Tuesday are days when adults come out and sample “smart” movies. For some reason, their interest in “Star Wars” less than was imagined.

TUESDAY: Monday’s box office numbers turned up a new glitch in the numbers for “The Last Jedi.”

Even the Disney experts must have been surprised. “Jedi” took home $21.5 million on Monday, an important night for adult filmgoers.

But two years ago, “The Force Awakens” reaped just over $40 million on its first Monday. It’s almost twice as much.

There’s a feeling that “Jedi” is soft at the box office. I don’t know why. It’s just as good if not better. And it has major plot developments for “Star Wars” fans.

So this afternoon’s report on Tuesday numbers will be scrutinized closely. “Force Awakens” did $37.3 million on its first Tuesday. Will “Jedi” compare favorably? Stay tuned…