Star Wars: The Last Jedi triumphs at the box office, despite fan backlash
The fact that the eighth episode of Star Wars, The Last Jedi, has had a tremendously successful opening weekend, won't surprise many. Ahead of its release last week industry insiders were predicting it to take around $200 million at the US box office during its first weekend in cinemas, and it made that and then some: the total is currently $220 million. According to Box Office Mojo, The Last Jedi's taking from the worldwide box office so far is a total of $450 million – $25 million more than what forecasters were expecting.
What is intriguing, however, is that the film is being met with lukewarm reviews from audiences. The Last Jedi has got one of the top rankings on reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes – currently at 93 per cent, it is a certified "fresh" tomato, thanks to a plethora of enthusiastic four- and five-star reviews.
But there is a gulf between this score and that from audiences, who have granted the film just 56 per cent, with an average rating of 3.3 out of five stars. The difference between the critical and audience reception is the greatest yet seen of all of the eight Star Wars films: only Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, was considered 14 per cent worse by audiences (65 per cent) than critics (79 per cent).
This is partially due to an online campaign from some corners of the fandom to create a backlash towards the film, such as this Facebook user, who has claimed responsibility for the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Audience scores on other review aggregator website, such as Cinemascore, which polls audiences upon leaving, are far higher: The Last Jedi was granted an A, for instance.
It is, however, undeniable that some Star Wars fans have been left disappointed by Rian Johnson's take on the sequel, with many posting their dissatisfaction on Twitter:
I would like to know what those reviewers were smoking when they watched #LastJedi and thought it was a great movie.
— Nat (@Rogue_061) December 15, 2017
Who won you ask? The light side? The dark side? The first order? The resistance? Answer: Disney. Disney won and the hardcore fans lost. #LastJedi#starwars
— Michael Bowers (@Mbow902) December 15, 2017
I'll be starting a #LastJedi support group for all the people that had their lifelong fandom ruined by this new installment. #YoureNotAlone
— Christopher Buchko (@BuchkonianLaw) December 15, 2017
TFA gave us “who are Rey’s parents”, “who is Snoke”, and “what happened to Luke”. #LastJedi gave us “Do I even want to see episode 9?”
— GoonTendy88 (@GoonTendy) December 15, 2017
During a dramatic moment of silence in #LastJedi, a man in the theater said “this is absolutely ridiculous” and that’s all I have to say
— Stacy M. Rodriguez (@StacyM_90) December 15, 2017
Will such a backlash The Last Jedi's commercial success? It remains to be seen, but much of the weekend's box office revenue was generated from walk-ins, rather than those who had pre-booked tickets. While the number of people booking tickets to see The Last Jedi upon opening was 15 per cent behind that of episode seven, The Force Awakens, in 2015, there's been a similar increase in people just showing up: 39 per cent to 24 per cent.
