10 films that beat Star Wars at the box office

Star Wars has always been a huge box office hit since it began in 1977, but even the legendary sci-fi franchise has faced competition from other blockbusters over the decades. Star WarsInflation-adjusted box office earnings are surprisingly high: only two of the 12 theatrically released films come in under $1 billion when adjusted for inflation. Majority Star Wars the films became the highest-grossing films the year they were released and completely blew the competition out of the water. However, there were some entries in the saga that outperformed, and even the highest earners had to deal with the competition.

There are a few ingredients in the recipe for box office success. Making a movie entertaining is the most important aspect, but things like marketing, target audience, and release dates are also important. Sometimes choosing the wrong release date can put a film in direct competition with another film and end up hurting both, as viewers often have to choose between one or the other. Star Wars is no stranger to this concept, and there have been 10 occasions where the franchise’s box office earnings were directly impacted – or even beaten – by other films.

10

The Shining (1980)

Worldwide box office gross: $44,017,374

The second Star Wars film already released, The Empire Strikes BackIt is also considered one of the greatest in the franchise. He made huge amounts of money – almost $210 million (via Mojo Box Office), and even more so during the 1997 special edition re-release – and it is still considered one of the best sequels of all time. The universal success of Empire Strikes Back it just makes your competition more surprising. In May 1980, just two days after the release of The Empire Strikes BackStanley Kubrick and Stephen King The Shining arrived in theaters and generated fierce competition.

The Shining grossed $44 million in theaters, and while it pales in comparison to The Empire Strikes BackIn total, it still drew crowds far and wide from the galaxy far, far away. Part of the reason The ShiningThe much smaller box office haul of is so impressive because it was only in theaters for a fraction of the time Empire was. Empire Strikes Back was in theaters for 28 weeks in total, longer than most films at the time, and The Shining managed to earn a considerable amount of money in just 12 weeks. This likely drew media attention and some adult viewers away from George Lucas’ film.

9

The Mummy (1999)

Worldwide box office gross: $417,643,286

After a 16-year hiatus, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace signaled the franchise’s return to the theater in 1999. The phantom menace It was a huge cultural moment upon its release, and countless fans eagerly awaited its release. As a result, The phantom menace was the highest-grossing film of 1999, but still had to compete with the Brendan Fraser film The mummy. The phantom menace grossed more than US$207 million domestically in May 1999, but The mummy it also grossed over $117 million in the same month and was released just a week earlier.

The mummy It may not have been the fiercest competition Star Wars already faced, but it was one of the first times the galaxy far, far away was directly challenged at the box office. The mummy was specifically aimed at the same young target audience that The phantom menace was, and also attracted fans of action, adventure and fantasy. While The mummythe box office total certainly did not exceed The phantom menacesignificantly hurt their profit margin, especially for a new idea that competed with the long-awaited return of Star Wars.

8

Spider-Man (2002)

Worldwide box office gross:​​​​​​$825,802,095

Until 2002, competing films could only hope to divert some Star Wars‘ audience and box office dominance. This changed with Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Cloneshowever, and Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire Spider-Man was the film to prove it. Released just two weeks earlier on May 3, 2002 Spider-Man dominated Attack of the Clones at the box office and grossed over US$172 million at the global box office. Spider-Man it was also the most direct competition Star Wars still had faced, considering how the superhero genre appeals to younger viewers.

Spider-Man it was also the first time Star Wars it has already been surpassed by a direct competitor in terms of quality. Attack of the Clones is generally considered the weakest of the films in the prequel trilogy and only earned 65% in Rotten tomatoescompared to Spider-Manis 90%. This drop in quality, along with the backlash some fans have had about the path The phantom menace seemed to change Star Warsprobably helped Sam Raimi surpass George Lucas. Spider-Man it also signaled a shift in major box office trends, as superhero films would continue to be a problem for Jedi and Sith earnings for decades to come.

7

The Dark Knight (2008)

Worldwide box office gross:​​​​​​$1,009,025,676

The film version of Star Wars: The Clone Warswhich preceded the animated show by a few months in August 2008, was the one that made less money than any other Star Wars film. With a worldwide box office total of just $68 million, The Clone Wars it was the eighth highest-grossing film in August 2008. As such, several films surpass The Clone Wars at the box office, but none of them won as easily as The Dark Knight he did. Even though it was released a month earlier on July 18, 2008 The Dark Knight still managed to secure US$151 million in August, blowing The Clone Wars‘$29 million away.

There are several reasons The Dark Knight to knock The Clone Wars at the box office. The biggest reason was simply that The Dark Knight It is considered one of the best films of all time and one of the most profitable. The Clone Wars didn’t stand a chance against such a juggernaut, especially considering it was only a fraction of The Dark Knightbudget ($8.5 million and $185 million, respectively). Additionally, 3-D animated films at the time had a much harder time securing huge box office profits, and The Clone Wars‘The lackluster animation didn’t alleviate this drawback.

6

Sing (2016)

Worldwide box office gross:​​​​​​$634,338,409

Rogue One: Star Wars History It was something of a gamble for the franchise, but it ended up paying dividends. Rogue One was the first Star Wars film set outside of the Skywalker saga, and was also the first to not feature Jedi or Sith in any major way. Despite these changes to the classic formula, Rogue One was also a huge success, grossing more than US$1 billion at the worldwide box office and ensuring itself as one of the best Star Wars movies ever. Even such a huge success had competition, however, and Rogue OneIllumination’s fiercest competitor was Sing.

Sing was released just five days later Rogue Oneon December 21, 2016, and grossed $152 million at the box office that month. While Singthe US$152 million was overshadowed by Rogue Onetotal of $408 million in December, this is still a significant portion of the month’s box office receipts. Sing also capitalized on a change in dynamics: Rogue One was essentially a war film, and Sing it was probably more appealing to some families and younger viewers. Younger generations have always been a crucial part of Star Warsthen Singthe ability to fend them off probably took away Rogue Oneprofits.

5

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)

Worldwide box office gross:​​​​​​$962,544,585

Depending on who is asked, Star Wars: The Last Jedi it was either a resounding success or an abysmal failure. One fact that cannot be debated, however, is that it performed very well at the box office, earning over $1.3 billion against a budget of around $300 million. Yet, The Last Jedi could have made even more money if it weren’t for the release of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle just five days later. While The Last Jedi dominated in December 2017, earning over $500 million, Jumanji It more than held its own and secured $170 million in the last 11 days of the month.

As Spider-Man and Sing before that, the legacy sequence of Jumanji served as very direct competition for Star Wars. Both films were marketed toward young audiences and both had big stars, such as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Mark Hamill, to draw crowds. Jumanji did not completely cannibalize The Last Jediaudience, but it certainly made some viewers choose one or the other. This definitely cut The Last Jediprofits, and prevented it from being as dominant as Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

4

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Worldwide box office gross:​​​​​​$2,052,415,039

While The Clone Wars made the least money of all Star Wars film, another title is considered the biggest failure due to its huge budget: Solo: A Star Wars Story. With a budget of around US$275 million and a box office total of just US$393 million, Soil in fact, it lost money after marketing and distribution costs were considered. Because of SoilDespite the poor box office performance, there was no way it could compete with one of the highest-grossing films of all time, which was also released in 2018, Avengers: Infinity War.

Although Infinity War was released in April, it still completely dominated cinemas until June. Infinity War had such a long and successful box office run that it basically swallowed SoilMay 2018 release date and monopolized the film news industry and viewers’ attention. The emotional ending of Infinity War only helped further since fans were too busy theorizing about what Avengers: Endgame could have reserved to think Soila prequel about an already established character. On top of Infinity Wardominance, Soil He held back in terms of marketing, which only worsened his problems.

3

Deadpool 2 (2018)

Worldwide box office gross:​​​​​​$785,896,632

Soil In fact, it performed so poorly for a live-action Star Wars film that wasn’t defeated just by the incomprehensibly high earnings of Infinity Warbut also by another much less dominant superhero film: Deadpool 2. Even though it was rated R, a fact that generally limits the reach of a film, Deadpool 2 exploded Soil came out of the water and earned another US$112 million in May 2018. Deadpool 2 was also released just a week earlier Soilthen it probably had an even more direct effect on the Star Wars film than Infinity War he did.

There are many reasons Soil failed at the box office, from its poor marketing to the numerous changes of director and exhaustion due to the poor reception of The Last Jedi. One of SoilHan Solo’s few advantages, Han Solo’s charming and sarcastic character, may have become a reason Deadpool 2 overcame. One of the main attractions of Dead Pool franchise is the eponymous character’s intelligence and sense of humor, things that are also the main attraction of Han Solo. After seeing Deadpool 2 just a week earlier, audiences may have had their fill of snarky scoundrels.

2

Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)

Worldwide box office gross: $801,693,929

The only and quite surprising film franchise to directly fight a major Star Wars movie twice was Jumanjithanks to the December 2019 sequel. Jumanji: The Next Level was released a week before Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalkerand although neither film fared as well as its predecessor, Jumanji managed to significantly close the gap. In December 2019, The Rise of Skywalker grossed US$390 million at the box office, while Jumanji 3 earned US$192 million. What’s even stranger is that the next Jumanji film has a chance to compete with an upcoming Star Wars film again in 2026.

One of the reasons Jumanji 3 was able to close the gap against The Rise of Skywalker it is because of the reception of the latter. Although it grossed over $1 billion at the box office, many critics and fans didn’t like it. The Rise of Skywalker; it has 51% on Rotten Tomatoes. Furthermore, The Last Jedi turned off several people Star Wars sequel trilogy, which appears to have been shown in The Rise of Skywalkerearnings. Jumanji 3Meanwhile, it was mostly seen as a fun sequel that didn’t come with any baggage Star Wars I had to deal.

1

Frozen II (2019)

Worldwide box office gross:​​​​​​$1,453,683,476

One of the most surprising Star Wars competitors was another Disney film: Frozen II. Typically, Disney spreads out its various theatrical releases very well, giving each title at least a full month to avoid drawing crowds away from the company’s other projects. This strategy did not seem to work for The Rise of Skywalkerhowever, as Frozen II remained popular well past its November release date and grossed $160 million as of December 2019. Frozen II almost certainly stole a large portion of The Rise of Skywalkeraimed at younger audiences and kept December profits below $400 million.

Frozen IIcompetition with The Rise of Skywalker It was probably unintentional. Several other Disney films were released just a month before the five Star Wars films the company created, and none of them cannibalized the sci-fi franchise’s profits like Frozen II he did. It seems Disney simply underestimated how popular Frozen II would be, and it ended up being a huge movie long enough to impact The Rise of Skywalkerbox office earnings. This underestimation makes sense, however, since Frozen II was at one point the most profitable animated film of all time.

The relatively disappointing performance of the The Rise of Skywalkerat least when compared to the rest of the sequel trilogy, it also highlights a strange trend in Star Wars as a whole. The first entry in each trilogy – the original Star Wars, The phantom menaceand The Force Awakens – is invariably the most successful. This fact, along with the few films that actually won Star Wars at the box office, it speaks to the enduring appeal of the galaxy far, far away.

Sources: Mojo Box Office, Rotten tomatoes