'The Last Jedi' second-highest opening ever in N America

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"Star Wars: The Last Jedi" rocketed to 220 million US dollars on its North American opening weekend, making the eighth installment of the space adventure franchise to the second-highest opening of all time in the region.

The total ranked second only to the 248 million US dollars for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" two years ago.

Internationally, "The Last Jedi" raked in a staggering 450 million US dollars in its opening weekend excluding the Chinese market, which will not see the film until January 5.

Hollywood Blvd was abuzz as "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" opened at the famed El Capitan Theater, Dec. 14, 2017, in Los Angeles. /AP Photo

The debut marks another major success for Walt Disney Co, which bought "Star Wars" producer Lucasfilm in 2012 and reinvigorated the story set in a galaxy far, far away.

But despite a "certified fresh" rating of 93 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and lofty comparisons to "The Empire Strikes Back," widely seen as the best film in the franchise, 95,000 movie-goers were less enthused, bestowing it a 56 percent average that was colder than the ice planet Hoth.

The numbers could still converge, but the discrepancy so far is unusual.

By comparison, "The Force Awakens" received a 93 percent critic score and 88 percent audience rating, while 2016 spin-off "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" got 85 and 87 percent respectively.

"The Last Jedi" sees the return of the characters introduced in J.J. Abrams's first entry in the rebooted trilogy, and is also the last outing for character Leia Organa, played by Carrie Fisher, who died last December.

Britain's Prince William and Prince Harry arrive for the European Premiere of "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Dec. 12, 2017. /Reuters Photo

"Seeing a movie like this in the movie theater, getting the collective goose bumps and having the OMG-moments, that's something you cannot replicate at home on the small screen," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for comScore. "Rian Johnson has made a movie that showcases the movie theater experience in a truly brilliant way."

Rian Johnson, who wrote and directed, managed to distinguish "The Last Jedi" by introducing some new tones to George Lucas' space opera.

The massive debut for “The Last Jedi” singlehandedly brightens what has been a disappointing year for Hollywood. The weekend was far and away the highest grossing of the year. According to comScore, the industry was down about 3.9 percent from last year before this weekend. Now it's 2.9 percent off the 2016 pace.

Source(s): AP ,AFP ,Reuters