The new Star Wars film, The Rise Of Skywalker, will almost certainly be one of the biggest films of the year at the box office.
But how might it perform against other films in the Star Wars franchise?
The most successful film to date is 2015’s The Force Awakens.
This took an enormous £130.8 million at the UK and Ireland box office – enough to make it not only the biggest Star Wars film so far, but also the highest-grossing film of all time.
The Rise Of Skywalker will struggle to match this.
It doesn’t have the same buzz as The Force Awakens, which benefited from anticipation at seeing the original Star Wars cast – Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) and Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) – back on the big screen.
It also doesn’t have the novelty of being the first “new” Star Wars film for some time. Instead, it is the fifth of its kind in as many years.
But it might come close to matching or even outperforming the second highest-grossing Star Wars film to date – 2017’s The Last Jedi, which took an impressive £84.1 million.
Next on the list is 1999’s The Phantom Menace (£81.7 million), followed by the first instalment in the franchise, 1977’s Star Wars (£77.0 million).
Box office figures for all of the Star Wars films have been compiled for the PA news agency by the British Film Institute, and have been adjusted for inflation.
At the bottom of the chart is 1983’s Return Of The Jedi, which managed only £14.7 million.
Just ahead of it is 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story, on £19.4 million – a long way behind the other spin-off film on the list, 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (£68.6 million).
The Rise Of Skywalker should outperform these kinds of numbers. But even it if makes it as high as £70 million or £80 million, it would still fall short of being the biggest film of 2019.
That honour currently belongs to Avengers: Endgame, which this year has taken a hefty £88.7 million in the UK and Ireland.
Here is the full list of inflation-adjusted figures for Star Wars at the UK and Ireland box office:
The Force Awakens (2015) – £130.8m
The Last Jedi (2017) – £84.1m
The Phantom Menace (1999) – £81.7m
Star Wars (1977) – £77.0m
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) – £68.6m
Attack Of The Clones (2002) – £51.7m
Revenge Of The Sith (2005) – £50.5m
The Empire Strikes Back (1980) – £31.4m
Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) – £19.4m
Return Of The Jedi (1983) – £14.7m
