Disney's "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" Shows the Force Has Weakened

The $175.5 million domestic opening weekend for Disney's (NYSE: DIS) Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is both one of the best-ever bows for a December picture and a staggering step down for the mainline franchise. Despite delivering the third-best opening weekend for any December film, the picture will likely go down as a disappointment for The House of Mouse.

Episode IX's domestic opening weekend came in well below the $248 million opening in 2015 for The Force Awakens (Episode VII) and the $220 million opening in 2017 for The Last Jedi (Episode VIII).

And the decline in international performance was similarly stark. The Rise of Skywalker delivered an international opening of roughly $373 million, down from $437.5 million for The Last Jedi and $494 million for The Force Awakens. Judged by the standards of a less-storied franchise, the opening weekend for the latest Star Wars could be heralded as a huge win. But the picture is different when placed in the context of previous titles in the series. Basically, Star Wars is declining.

Source Fool.com