How ‘Star Wars' Tapped Into Audience Enthusiasm In $25 Million Weekend
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith's impressive North American cume came in behind only the acclaimed $45-million-grossing Sinners from writer-director Ryan Coogler, and ahead of new arrival The Accountant 2 and The Minecraft Movie's fourth weekend at $24.5 and $22.7 million, respectively.
Most surprising in all of this math is that despite Sinners beating estimates by nearly doubling them and Revenge of the Sith overperforming with a high second-place tally, and this being a typically slow weekend at multiplexes, The Accountant 2 and Minecraft didn't suffer from suppressed attendance. There were just more than enough people out looking for a movie to watch, and the crop of current releases was more than enough to make everyone happy.
But there's more than merely renewed enthusiasm among moviegoers and some obvious pre-summer excitement that has many folks trying to get a jump on festivities – even if only to take their minds off rising prices, economic concerns as supply chains strain and freight comes to a stop in many places, and other such daily concerns.
That all matters, as does the fact theater prices are comparatively cheap at a time other entertainment options see rising prices that make a family outing or friends-night-out less affordable.
But similar or equally valid pressures – not the least of which was Covid and global shutdowns – were keeping folks away from cinemas for the past several years, with even beloved tentpole franchises suffering or outright falling flat on their faces.
Audiences are responding to themes and familiar faces, to escapism but also with relevance, and when that's wrapped in the cinematic comfort food of franchises and performers the public welcomes (especially, again, at times like these), you've got a recipe for what we're seeing this past weekend and – I'm betting – what we'll see through summer months. If, that is, the films deliver the goods.
But nobody doubts Star Wars delivers the goods. Well, some folks do, but they've always been a small minority of viewership and haven't stymied the films' ability to deliver blockbuster results.
Few franchises prove themselves worthy of the price of admission to premium viewing experiences like a Star Wars film. Revenge of the Sith is, in my opinion, not only the best film of the prequel series but also the second-best Star Wars film of the entire franchise, behind only The Empire Strikes Back.
I think Revenge of the Sith might also be the 'most Star Wars' of all Star Wars movies, in terms of symbolizing and including so much of the mythology, characters (even Luke and Leia show up!) expectations, and themes, as well as spectacle and transition between not only trilogy eras but technological eras and centuries.
And being the most of something that's already popular helps, and has done much to boost Revenge of the Sith's reputation in the series amid so much negative hyperbole about the prequels. Watch the exceptional Lights & Magic series' two seasons on Disney+, if you need to gain better perspective and insight into how much work and love and brilliance went into all of these films, including the prequels.
It also helps that Andor season 2 just dropped on Disney+, widely hailed as one of the best things on TV and best things related to Star Wars. Promotion of that show, it's proximity storywise to the prequels (coming between them and the original trilogy), and the 20th anniversary framing all served to boost Revenge of the Sith's profile and gross.
Star Wars is one of, if not the, greatest cinematic franchises of all time. Only a few – including notably Marvel's MCU – can compare to the scope, longevity, popularity, quality, and thematic resonance of these films.
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