Shropshire Star

The Last Jedi faces box office battle to be 2017’s biggest film

The new Star Wars film needs to beat Beauty and the Beast to top the chart in the UK.

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A group of Star Wars fans attend an advance screening of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, in Leicester Square, London, in 2016.

The new Star Wars film faces two tough tests at the UK box office.

The first will be whether it can pull enough people into cinemas between now and the end of December to become the biggest film of 2017.

It needs to beat £72.4 million, which is the amount taken at the UK box office by this year’s current number one, Beauty and the Beast.

Star Wars at the UK box office (PA Graphic)
Star Wars at the UK box office (PA Graphic)

The second test facing the film is whether it can do as well as recent Star Wars blockbusters.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, a spin-off released last year, ended up taking a total of £65.9 million at the UK box office.

The Last Jedi will be hoping to outperform this, given its status as part of the Star Wars franchise and its cast of familiar characters such as Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher).

Dan Stevens and Emma Watson at the Beauty and the Beast launch Spencer House, London (PA Photo)
Dan Stevens and Emma Watson at the Beauty and the Beast launch Spencer House, London (PA Photo)

A bigger challenge will be whether The Last Jedi can do as well as 2015’s The Force Awakens.

This took an enormous £125.4 million – enough to make it the biggest UK box office film not just of 2015 but of all time.

Star Wars fans queue outside the Odeon Leicester Square cinema in London on the opening day of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace in 1999
Star Wars fans queue outside the Odeon Leicester Square cinema in London on the opening day of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace in 1999 (PA Images)

1. The Force Awakens (2015): £125.4m
2. The Phantom Menace (1999): £78.5m
3. Star Wars (1977): £74.5m
4. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016): £65.9m
5. Attack of the Clones (2002) £49.7m
6. Revenge of the Sith (2005) £48.4m
7. The Empire Strikes Back (1980) £30.4m
8. Return of the Jedi (1983) £14.2m

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