Lucasfilm/Marvel StudiosAvengers: Endgame may be the biggest movie of all time, but ‘every generation has a legend’ – Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker is already smashing records set by the superhero behemoth.
This Christmas, a saga that started back in 1977 with A New Hope will reach its almighty conclusion.
Star Wars is a worldwide, beloved franchise – it’s an escape to a galaxy far, far away for millions, and almost a religion for some. So it’s understandable the pre-sales are rammed with fans securing their seats for the most anticipated film of the fall.
Check out the new trailer for Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker below:
The final part of the sequel trilogy – and the overarching Skywalker story – has already beat Avengers: Endgame’s pre-sale record on Atom Tickets.
As per The Observer’s Brandon Katz, the demand for The Rise of Skywalker on Atom Tickets – a US-based movie service – has been so great the film sold 45% more tickets in the first hour of sales yesterday than Endgame did earlier this year.
To date, #StaWars: #TheRiseofSkywalker has sold 45% more tickets on @atomtickets in the first hour of pre-sales than #AvengersEndgame did earlier this year. The first hour of pre-sales for SKYWALKER sets a new record for Atom Tickets.
— Brandon Katz (@Great_Katzby) October 22, 2019
When Endgame was released, it raked in an earth-shattering amount of money in its opening weekend – with regards to worldwide box office, it made more than $1 billion, which was an unprecedented cash sweep.
If The Rise Of Skywalker continues to build momentum, it’ll be very interesting to see where it lands on the record table. The most amount of money a Star Wars film has earned globally in its first weekend is nearly $529,000,000 thanks to The Force Awakens.
LucasfilmFollowing the pre-sales, the top five best-selling movies in the first hour of availability on Atom Tickets are now The Rise of Skywalker; Avengers: Endgame; Avengers: Infinity War; Star Wars: The Last Jedi; and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Endgame finished its worldwide box office haul on an Avatar-destroying $2.79bn – its closest galactic competitor is The Force Awakens, which made $2.06bn.
Picking up a year after the events of The Last Jedi, our surviving heroes must band together to face off against the nefarious First Order once and for all.
Check out this special look at Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker below:
The new trilogy’s gang are set to reunite: Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega) and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac). Of course, there’s also the small matter of Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), and a certain Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid).
Abrams previously spoke to Rolling Stone about the film, saying he was excited to enter the Star Wars world once again:
I had no intention to return, but when the opportunity presented itself to finish a story that we had begun with these new characters, to tell the last chapter of their story, it felt like there was a chance to do it in a way where we could go beyond, and do better than we did in Seven.
I learned so much in that movie and I saw that this was a chance to sort of realise something that we hadn’t quite achieved – and part of that was it was simply the beginning of these new characters and their story.
Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker hits UK cinemas on December 19 – tickets are on sale now, but you better hurry. May the Force be with you.
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.