Back in 2019, Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker managed to break the $1 billion mark at the box office, despite being one of the most divisive entries in the entire Star Wars franchise. While the reported budget for the movie was $416 million, it appears that someone’s calculator may have been on the blink at the time, as it looks like the final movie in the Skywalker Saga actually cost much more to make.
According to Forbes, new figures have revealed that the total cost of The Rise of Skywalker actually came to $593.7 million, making it the third most expensive movie ever made, behind The Force Awakens and Jurassic World: Dominion, which came in only slightly higher. However, despite the eye-watering numbers, the third of Disney’s Star Wars movies actually came in under budget thanks to filming in the U.K.
As with all movies that shoot in the U.K., Disney can claim a reimbursement of up to 25.5% of the cost back if at least 10% of the total budget is spent in the country. As the studio is required to file the exact amount they have spent on a movie in order to claim this money back, the production costs of U.K.-based movies are much easier to discover than those of U.S. productions.
When it comes to The Rise of Skywalker, Disney has been able to reclaim $103.8 million, which takes the net cost of the movie down to $489.9 million, still around 70 million more than originally believed. Thankfully, this still comes in under the assumed $538.5 million the studio would receive from ticket sales (based on the industry standard of a 50/50 split with theaters on all ticket sales), and would see Disney make around $50 million profit from the theatrical run of the movie. Add in the huge amount of VOD sales, DVD and Blu-ray releases, and endless merchandise that accompanied the movie, as it is clear that even with such a ridiculously high budget, The Rise of Skywalker more than paid its way.
The ‘Star Wars’ Franchise Continues Soon
While the arrival of Disney+ saw the Star Wars saga turn to small screen offerings such as The Mandalorian and Obi-Wan Kenobi, things are now shifting back to putting the franchise on the big screen where it belongs. This will happen next year with The Mandalorian & Grogu, a spinoff from The Mandalorian that has already been getting mixed reactions after just one trailer.
Beyond that, Shawn Levy’s Star Wars: Starfighter will follow, with Ryan Gosling starring, and other movies including Daisy Ridley’s New Jedi Order movie, and a Dawn of the Jedi film by James Mangold are in various stages of development with many others. Which movies actually make it to the finish line is yet to be seen, as several prominent projects have been announced and abandoned over the last few years.
- Release Date
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December 18, 2019
- Runtime
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142 minutes
- Producers
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Kathleen Kennedy, Michelle Rejwan, J.J. Abrams