We’re now just hours away from the arrival of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which opens here in the UK at midnight tonight, and as you’d expect, box office tracking is predicting a rather impressive opening weekend for the latest chapter in the Star Wars saga.
According to THR, The Last Jedi is looking at a worldwide opening of $425 million plus, which would give it one of the top five box office openings of all time. Impressive, considering that it doesn’t open in China until January 5th.
For comparison, Star Wars: The Force Awakens debuted to $529 million worldwide back in 2015, the second-biggest ever behind this year’s The Fate of the Furious on $541.9 million, although that included a whopping $184.9 million from China.
SEE ALSO: Read our review of Star Wars: The Last Jedi here
The only other new competition facing The Last Jedi this weekend is the animated movie Ferdinand, which is expected to pull in around $20 million domestically.
In Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the Skywalker saga continues as the heroes of The Force Awakens join the galactic legends in an epic adventure that unlocks age-old mysteries of the Force and shocking revelations of the past.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is set for release on December 14th in the UK and December 15th in the States and sees returning cast members Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Leia Organa), Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron), Lupita Nyong’o (Maz Kanata), Domhnall Gleeson (General Hux), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Gwendoline Christie (Captain Phasma), Billie Lourd (Lieutenant Connix), Andy Serkis (Supreme Leader Snoke), Peter Mayhew and Joonas Suotamo (Chewbacca), Tim Rose (Admiral Ackbar), Mike Quinn (Nien Nunb), Simon Pegg (Unkar Plutt), and Warwick Davis joined by new additions Jimmy Vee (Pan) as R2-D2, Kelly Marie Tran (Ladies Like Us) as Rose, and Benicio Del Toro (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Laura Dern (Jurassic Park).