'Rogue One' on Track for $300 Million Global Opening
The box office projections just keep on looking better for "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," with the standalone flick eyeing a potential $300 million worldwide haul on its upcoming opening weekend.
While industry analysts were initially conservative in their estimates for the flick, predicting a domestic take of about $130 million, some prognosticators were predicting an opening frame in the $150 million take. And it looks like that latter number could be closer to the film's actual haul come this Friday, with analysts now adjusting their projections to predict at least $135 million in domestic receipts (with some still saying $150 million is likely), and an overall worldwide total in the range of $300 to $350 million once Sunday evening rolls around.
Disney is keeping its own internal projections a bit more down-to-earth, with the Mouse House now saying it predicts a domestic take of $120 million on the low end, to $150 million on the high end. According to THR, Disney has always been quick to point out that it expects "Rogue One" to perform differently from the in-anthology "Star Wars" flicks, since it features new characters and an unfamiliar, one-off story. But the studio is still expecting the film to do quite well, putting its overseas projections between $130 million and $150 million, for a total worldwide opening weekend somewhere in the range of $250 million and $300 million.
THR also points out that Disney is perhaps keeping its predictions conservative thanks to the fact that December openings aren't typically very large, thanks to the rush of the holiday season. While last year's "The Force Awakens" earned a whopping $529 million worldwide opening weekend, it was an extreme outlier, with not even the highest-grossing worldwide movie of all time, "Avatar," approaching that type of opening when it bowed back in December 2009.
"Rogue One" may not break any records, but based on high fan anticipation, it's sure to score big at the box office. The flick opens on December 16.
[via: The Hollywood Reporter]