“Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker” Did Finally Reach $1 Billion, But Has Fallen Behind “Rogue One” Domestically

On Jan 15, 2020, “#StarWars IX: #TheRiseOfSkywalker” did finally reach $1 billion in gross box office revenue worldwide. This occurred 26 days after the film opened in theaters, which was 9 days longer than it took “Star Wars VIII: #TheLastJedi” and 14 days longer than “Star Wars VII: #TheForceAwakens”.

But, on that exact same day “The Rise of Skywalker” reached $1 billion worldwide, the film’s domestic cumulative gross box office revenue also slid below the cumulative domestic gross box office earnings that “#RogueOne: A Star Wars Story” had earned in 2016 after the same number of days in theaters. And, since then, “The Rise of Skywalker” has remained below “Rogue One” in terms of cumulative domestic gross box office.

Thus, the earnings for “The Rise of Skywalker” continue to drop at a rate faster than what “Rogue One” experienced in 2016, and we suspected that the film may not earn as much as “Rogue One” after viewing last week’s box office numbers when “The Rise of Skywalker” was barely doing better than “Rogue One”.

References

• ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ tops $1 billion at the global box office
• Comparing Domestic Earnings of the Disney “Star Wars” Trilogy
• “Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker” Box Office Plummets over 90%, Worst Drop of the Disney Sequels

Teaser Trailer for “Morbius” Released

The first teaser trailer for #Morbius, a #Sony movie, has been released. The character Morbius was created by #MarvelComics in the early 1970’s with a blend of #SciFi and horror.

“Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker” Box Office Plummets over 90%, Worst Drop of the Disney Sequels

While the box office for “#StarWars IX: #TheRiseOfSkywalker” was the highest during first 3 weekends, that is no longer the case with the opening of the war drama #1917 in wide release.  The film’s 4th weekend earnings were only $15.1 million domestic, which, when compared with the film’s opening weekend, is a 91.5% drop in box office earnings. This is the biggest 4th weekend drop of all of the #Disney “Star Wars” sequel trilogy films, and the film also had the largest 3rd weekend drop of the three.

In terms of overall box office performance, “The Rise of Skywalker” has broken the long-standing tradition of the 3rd film in a trilogy outperforming the 2nd film in the trilogy. (The 3rd films in the original and prequel trilogies that were produced by George Lucas both outperformed their respective 2nd trilogy films.)

 

Comparing the gross box office receipts for each of the Disney “Star Wars” sequel films, the following patterns emerge.

• The opening weekends for each film were progressively worse, which is not consistent with how well the 3rd films performed during the original or prequel trilogies.
• With the exception of the 2nd weekend, “The Rise of Skywalker” earned less than its sequel trilogy predecessors for each subsequent weekend.
• “The Rise of Skywalker” has seen more than a 50% drop in gross weekend box office receipts between all subsequent weekends. “Star Wars VII: #TheForceAwakens” did not experience a weekend-to-weekend drop in box office of more than 50% until its 4th weekend.
• With the exception of the 2nd weekend, “The Rise of Skywalker” has experienced the largest percentage drops in box office receipts when compared with opening weekend.
• “The Rise of Skywalker” is the first of the three films to reach a more than 90% drop in overall box office receipts when compared with opening weekend. It was also the first to experience a more than 80% drop during its 3rd weekend. In comparison, “The Force Awakens” and “Star Wars VIII: #TheLastJedi” didn’t experience an 80% drop in overall box office receipts until their 4th weekends.

When looking at worldwide gross box office earnings, “The Rise of Skywalker” still hasn’t reached the $1 billion dollar mark:

If we compare the current earnings of “The Rise of Skywalker” with those of the Disney sequel trilogy and “#RogueOne: A Star Wars Story”, we’ll see that the current earnings of “The Rise of Skywalker” are almost the same for what they were for “Rogue One”, so it’s entirely possible that (from the graph below) “The Rise of Skywalker” may not earn as much as “Rogue One” or it may only earn slightly over the overall earnings of “Rogue One”. With more films being released in theaters in the coming weeks, “The Rise of Skywalker” will have more competition, which will take more earnings away from it.

Earnings of “Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens”, “Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi”, “Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker” & “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”.

References

• Box Office for “Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker”
• Box Office Comparison for the Disney Star Wars Trilogy
• Box Office Results for the Weekend of Jan 3 – 5, 2020
• ‘The Force Awakens’ To Record $52.6M In China; Now #3 At All-Time Global B.O.
• Box Office: ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ Tops $1 Billion Worldwide

Revised User Rating Demographics on IMDb for “Star Wars”

Since we first posted our analysis of user rating demographics on IMDb for all #StarWars films on Dec. 23, 2019, there has been a change in overall user ratings for “Star Wars IX: #TheRiseOfSkywalker” that we will now share. Namely, the overall user ratings for Ep. IX have dropped and now are in sync with the previously released “Star Wars” film: “#Solo: A Star Wars Story”.

Revised User Rating Demographics on IMDb for “Star Wars” (Updated on Jan. 2, 2020)

This downward shift for Ep. IX gives the film an overall “D+” rating and places it into the same “D”-rated films as “Star Wars I: #ThePhantomMenace”, “Star Wars II: #AttackOfTheClones” and “Solo: A Star Wars Story”.

Examining Age Demographics More Closely

We also decided to take a closer look at the overall demographics for each film regarding age groups and gender to see if any patterns emerge. The results follow.

Sorry that this chart is a little busy, but some interesting patterns do emerge, though the user ratings per age group also need to take into consideration the age of the IMDb website, the age of the Internet, how many people had Internet access over time, and the age when the voters actually saw the films:

• Since IMDb was launched on Oct. 17, 1990, it didn’t exist when the original trilogy was released. Hence, all of the user ratings for those films would’ve all occurred at least 7 to 13 years after the films were released; but the vast majority of those user ratings wouldn’t have started to probably accumulate for another 10 years over that. Hence, the age data won’t be based on when the films were released.
• Only 4.1% of the world’s population was on the Internet when “Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace” was released. This grew to 14.6% when “Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith” was released. 46% of the world’s population had Internet access when “Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens” was released, and that number is now 58.8%.
• The older the films, the more user ratings accumulate over time and the recorded age for each user rating is based on the age of the individual when the user ratings were first recorded. Some individuals may also have changed their user ratings over time and it’s not clear which age would remain: the age of the original user rating or of the most recent user rating.

So we can draw the following conclusions from these data issues:

• The older the films are, the less likely the age data will reflect the age of the users when they rated the films.
• The age data is less valid for older films than for newer films.

In spite of these data issues, we can still find some interesting patterns and correspondences.

• Only those users who are at least 42 years of age were alive when “Star Wars IV: A New Hope” was released. The “45 >” age group most closely represents those who would’ve been able to see this film in theaters; but they would’ve been young children at the low end of this age range.
• Only those users who are at least 36 years of age were alive when “Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi” was released. Everyone in the “45 >” age group could’ve seen this film in theaters, as well as the upper range of the “30-44” age group. Anyone who saw this film who are currently in the “30-44” age group would’ve been very young children when this film came out; and people in the “45 >” age group would’ve been at least 9 years old.
• Only those users who are at least 20 years of age were alive when “Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace” was released. Anyone currently in the “30-44” age group would’ve been 10 to 24 years old when this film came out. Anyone currently in the “45 >” age group would’ve been at least 25 when this film came out.
• Only those users who are at least 14 years of age were alive when “Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith” was released. Anyone currently in the “30-44” age group would’ve been 16 to 30 years old when this film came out. Anyone currently in the “45 >” age group would’ve been at least 31 when this film came out.
• Since 10 years separate “Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens” from “Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith”, anyone who saw the latter film in theaters as children would now be in their late teens or early 20’s now. Those in their 20’s then would be in their 30’s now and those in their 30’s then would be in their 40’s now. Anyone who remembers seeing “Star Wars IV: A New Hope” in 1977 would likely be at least in their 50’s or older now.

In other words, grandparents today who saw the original trilogy in theaters could be taking their grandchildren to see the Disney sequel trilogy. Parents who saw the prequels as children could be taking their children to see the Disney trilogy. And, the people who were parents when the prequels came out would likely have been children themselves when the original trilogy came out.

So what does the age data on IMDb tell us?

• The people who most love the the first two original trilogy films are either children today or were children when the films first came out. The people in between (who were children when the prequels came out) like these two films slightly less.
• Males who were young children when Ep. VI came out liked the film more than other male groups: Ewoks. Ewoks don’t appear to have had the same impact with female viewers.
• Males who were young children to early 20’s when the prequels came out enjoyed them more than other males, including those who were children when the original trilogy came out. For females, the older they get, the less they like the prequels regardless of how old they were when the films came out or weren’t yet born when they came out.
• For Ep. VII, males who were children when the prequels came out liked the film best, as do all females who are 29 years of age or younger.
• For Ep. VIII, both males and females who are 29 years of age or younger prefer this film over other age groups, which includes people who were young children when the prequels came out. Males who could’ve seen the original trilogy in theaters also like the film slightly more, but not as much as males 29 years of age and younger.
• For Ep. IX, the greatest appeal is for both males and females who could’ve seen the original trilogy in theaters. In other words, nostalgia made a difference, but the younger the males, the more likely the disliked the film. Females who could’ve seen the prequels as children liked this film the least among female viewers.

Conclusion

While Disney succeeded in having their sequel trilogy appeal more to female viewers than male viewers overall, they weren’t as successful in building an audience with today’s children, which isn’t necessarily a positive long-term development when combined with the lack of overall appeal for the prequels a generation earlier. As the older generation who grew up with the original trilogy as children dies, the most appealing films continue to be the original trilogy. In other words, none of the Disney sequel trilogy films were able to touch the love that the original trilogy continues to have and has had for several generations.

References

• Examining User Rating Demographics on IMDb for All “Star Wars” Films

RIP Syd Mead

#RIP: visionary conceptual futurist artist Syd Mead passed away yesterday at the age of 86. He worked in the art departments for a number of #SciFi & #fantasy films, including “#StarTrek: #TheMotionPicture”, #BladeRunner, #Tron, #2010, #Aliens, #Timecop, #MissionToMars, #Elysium, #Tomorrowland, #BladeRunner2049, & more.

Our condolences to his family, friends and fans. May he rest in peace.

Syd Mead (1933 – 2019)

References

• Syd Mead, Visionary Conceptual Artist Behind ‘Blade Runner’ and ‘Tron’, Dies at 86

2019 Sci-Fi & Fantasy Artist Deaths

We come again to that time of year when we honor and remember those #SciFi & #Fantasy artists that the world has lost over the past year. 2019 hasn’t been an easy year, as we lost 32 artists, which was more than 2018. While these artists may be gone, their legacies will never be forgotten for generations to come.

Most of the sci-fi & fantasy franchises impacted by these deaths are listed below.

• A Christmas Carol / Scrooge
• Airwolf
• Alf
• Babylon 5
• Battle Beyond the Stars
• Beastmaster
• Big Fish
• Bionic Woman
• The Black Hole
• Blade Runner
• Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
• Charmed
• Corpse Bride
• D.C. Comics (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman)
• Damnation Alley
• Dark Shadows
• Delivering Milo
• Doctor Who
• Dudes & Dragons
• Dune
• Earth 2
• Earth Final Conflict
• Excalibur
• Faerie Tale Theatre
• Fantasy Island
• The Fifth Element
• I Dream of Jeannie
• Joe 90
• Knight Rider
• Krull
• Logan’s Run
• Lost in Space
• Marvel Comics (Incredible Hulk)
• Men in Black
• Millennium
• My Favorite Martian
• Night Man
• The People that Time Forgot
• Planet of the Apes
• Power Rangers
• Quantum Leap
• RoboCop
• Singularity
• Six Million Dollar Man
• Sliders
• Smallville
• Space 1999
• Star Trek
• Star Wars
• Stargate SG1
• THX 1138
• Time Bandits
• Thunderbirds
• True Blood
• UFO (Gerry Anderson’s)
• Viper
• Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
• Warlords of the Deep
• Willy Wonka
• The X-Files

Our condolences to all of the families, friends & fans of the following artists that we lost in 2019.

January

Actor & director James Frawley died at the age of 82 on January 25, 2019. He directed episodes of #Smallville, #Earth2 & #FaerieTaleTheatre. He also played Mr. Frisby in #MyFavoriteMartian, Manolo / Semenev / Smiling Jack in #VoyageToTheBottomOfTheSea, Pvt. Renalto in #TheOuterLimits; & more.

James Frawley (1936-2019)

February

British actor Clive Swift died at the age of 82 on Feb. 1, 2019. He played Jobel / Mr. Cooper in #DoctorWho, Ector in #Excalibur, Tony Doran in #1990, Snug in #AMidsummersNightDream, & much more, including Richard Bucket in the long-running Brit-com #KeepingUpAppearances.

Clive Swift (1936-2019)

Actor Albert Finney died at the age of 82 on Feb. 8, 2019. He played Ebenezer Scrooge in #Scrooge, Elmore Dahl in #DeliveringMilo, Ed Bloom in #BigFish, Finis Everglot (voice) in #CorpseBride, & much more.

Albert Finney (1936-2019)

Actor Jan-Michael Vincent died at the age of 74 on Feb. 10, 2019. He played Stringfellow Hawke in #Airwolf, Tanner in #DamnationAlley, & much more, including playing Steve McKenna in the crime-thriller #TheMechanic with Charles Bronson among his many credits.

Jan-Michael Vincent (1945-2019)

Actor Carmen Argenziano died at the age of 75 on Feb. 11, 2019. He played Gen. Jacob Carter / Selmak in #StargateSG1, Urza Jaddo in #Babylon5, Damien Walsh in #Singularity, Mr. Corleone in #NightMan, King Kusari in #BionicWoman, & much more.

Carmen Argenziano (1943-2019)

Actor Morgan Woodward died at the age of 93 on Feb. 24, 2019. He played Capt. Tracy / Dr. Simon van Gelder in #StarTrek #TOS, Cayman in #BattleBeyondTheStars, Old Harry Cokely in #TheXFiles, Iron Lung Man in #Millennium, Sheriff Winston in #KnightRider, Uncle Jack / Nick Hall / Tribal Elder / Marshall Victor Grennan in #FantasyIsland, Martin in #PlanetOfTheApes (TV series), Morgan in #LogansRun (TV series), Carlton Tanner in #ProjectUFO, Ben Madrid in #TheIncredibleHulk, & much more.

Morgan Woodward (1925-2019)

March

Actress Katherine Helmond died at the age of 89 on March 2, 2019. She played Mrs. Ogre in #TimeBandits, Caroline Bellefleur in #TrueBlood, Dr. Harkens in #BionicWoman, Laura Walters in #FantasyIsland, & much more, including two well known TV sitcom roles: Jessica Tate in #Soap, and Lois Whelan in #EverybodyLovesRaymond.

Katherine Helmond (1929-2019)

Actor Luke Perry died at the untimely age of 52 on March 4, 2019. He played Billy in #TheFifthElement, Pike in #BuffyTheVampireSlayer, Lorash in #DudesAndDragons, & much more, including his very long run of playing Dylan McCay / Billy McCoy / Peter Brinkley in romance-drama “Beverly Hills, 90210”.

Luke Perry (1966-2019)

Actor Shane Rimmer has died at the age of 89 on March 29, 2019. Born May 28, 1929, Shane Rimmer voiced the character of Scott Tracy in #Thunderbirds. He also played an InCom Engineer in “#StarWars IV: #ANewHope”, Hogan in #ThePeopleThatTimeForgot, Capt. Daniels in #WarlordsOfTheDeep, Seth Harper in #DoctorWho, an Eagle Pilot / Maintenance Section Voice / James Kelly / Voice of Bannion in #Space1999, a CIA agent / Lt. Bill Johnson / an alien / Seagull X-Ray co-pilot in Gerry Anderson’s #UFO, Older Gotham Water Board Technician in #BatmanBegins, Colonel in #AlienAutopsy, Board Member 1 in #DarkShadows, E. J. Saggs in #SpaceTruckers, Naval Transport Commander in #Superman (1978), Controller #2 in #SupermanII, state policeman in #SupermanIII, voiced several characters in #CaptainScarletAndTheMysterons, voiced several characters in #Joe90, played Rusty / team executive in #Rollerball (1975), played Redneck (Melvin) in #MoronsFromOuterSpace, & much more, including playing Cmdr. Carter in the James Bond movie #TheSpyWhoLovedMe.

Shane Rimmer (1929-2019)

April

#SciFi author Vonda N. McIntyre died on April 1, 2019, at the age of 70. Her works include the following sci-fi novels:

• “The Exile Waiting” (1975)
• “Dreamsnake” (1978)
• “Superluminal” (1983)
• “The Bride” (1985)
• “Barbary” (1986)
• “The Moon and the Sun” (1997)

She also wrote the “Starfarers” series of novels:

• “Starfarers” (1989)
• “Transition” (1991)
• “Metaphase” (1992)
• “Nautilus” (1994)

She wrote the novelizations for the several #StarTrek movies:

• “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn” (1982)
• “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock” (1984)
• “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home” (1986)

She also wrote the #StarWars novel “The Crystal Star” (1994). “Fireflood and Other Stories” (1979) is a collection of her short stories.

She won the Nebula Award & was nominated for the Hugo Award for her 1974 short story “Of Mist, Grass and Sand”. She won the Hugo Award & Nebula Award both for Best Novel for “Dreamscape” in 1979. Robert A. Heinlein in part dedicated his novel “Friday” to Vonda in 1982. She won the Nebula Award for her novel “The Moon and the Sun” in 1998.

Vonda N. McIntyr (1948-2019)

Actor Peter Mayhew died at the age of 74 on April 30, 2019. He played the iconic #StarWars character #Chewbacca in the films #ANewHope (Ep. IV, 1977), #TheEmpireStrikesBack (Ep V, 1980), #ReturnOfTheJedi (Ep. VI, 1983) & #RevengeOfTheSith (Ep. III, 2005). He also appeared in the #HolidaySpecial (1978) and voiced Chewbacca in the film #TheForceAwakens (Ep. VII, 2015), as well as voicing Chewbacca in 1 episode of #TheCloneWars. He also appeared as the Minoton in #SinbadAndTheEyeOfTheTiger (1977).

Peter Mayhew (1944-2019)

May

Actor Pua Magasiva died at the age of 38 on May 11, 2019. He played Shane Clarke / Red Wind Ranger in “#PowerRangers Ninja Storm” & “Power Rangers #DinoThunder”; & more.

Pua Magasiva (1980 – 2019)

June

Actress Stephanie Niznik passed away at the age of 52 on June 23, 2019. She played Lt. Peril in “#StarTrek IX: #Insurrection”, the Wraith in #Enterprise; Dr. Evelyn Ariza in #Lost; Lena Weisinger in #Viper; Debra Carbol in #Sliders; & much more, including playing Nina Feeney in 82 episodes of the drama TV series #Everwood.

Stephanie Niznik (1967-2019)

Actor Max Wright died at the age of 75 on June 26, 2019. Born in 1943, he played the main character Willie Tanner in the long-running TV sitcom #Alf. He also played Robin Starveling in #AMidsummersNightDream (1999), Berger in #TheShadow, Doc Kinman in #QuantumLeap, Prince Heinrick in #FaerieTaleTheatre, Dick Stetmeyer in #MisfitsOfScience, & more.

Max Wright (1943-2019)

July

Actor Rip Torn passed away on July 9, 2019 at the age of 88. He played Zed in #MenInBlack I & II, large headed alien at funeral in “Men in Black III”; Larraby in #Zoom; Maax in #Beastmaster; Bob Diamond in #DefendingYourLife; Bud Kruger in “#Airplane II: The Sequel”; Nathan Bryce in #TheManWhoFellToEarth; the CEO in “#Robocop 3”; & much more.

Rip Torn (1931-2019)

Actor Freddie Jones died at the age of 91 on July 9, 2019. He played Thufir Hawat in #Dune, Ynyr in #Krull, Dr. Charles Logan in #Space1999, & more, including playing Sandy Thomas in the long-running British TV series #Emmerdale from 2005 to 2018 (for a total of 632 episodes). He also appeared in the drama #TheElephantMan (which received 8 Oscar nominations) and the action-thriller #Firefox.

Freddie Jones (1927-2019)

Actress Diane Nickerson passed away at the age of 62 on July 11, 2019. She played Violet Beauregarde in #WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory, Amy Collins in #DarkShadows (71 episodes), & more, including playing Pamela Harris in an episode of #TheBradyBunch and as Allison in the educational comedy TV show #TheElectricCompany (130 episodes).

Denise Nickerson (1957-2019)

Actor David Hedison has died at the age of 92 on July 18, 2019. He played Capt. Lee B. Crane in #VoyageToTheBottomOfTheSea, Ed Malone in #TheLostWorld, Andre Delambre in #TheFly (1958), Evan Robly in #WonderWoman (TV series), Frederick Flanagan in #ProjectUFO, Daniel Garman / Phillip Camden / Captain John Day / David Tabori / Karl Dixon / Claude Duncan / Carlyle Cranston in #FantasyIsland, Theodore Cooper in #KnightRider, & much more, including playing Felix Leiter in 2 James Bond films: #LiveAndLetDie & #LicenseToKill.

David Hedison (1927-2019)

Actor Rutger Hauer died at the age of 75 on July 19, 2019. He played Roy Batty in #BladeRunner, President of the World State Federation in #ValerianAndTheCityOfAThousandPlanets, Niall Brigant in #TrueBlood, Earle in #BatmanBegins, Morgan Edge in #Smallville, King Vortigern in #Merlin, Bog in #Lexx, Lothos in #BuffyTheVampireSlayer, Navarre in #Ladyhawke, & more.

Rutger Hauer (1944-2019)

Actor Jeremy Kemp died at the age of 84 on July 19, 2019. He played Robert Picard (Jean-Luc’s older brother) in one of the most memorable & powerful episodes of #StarTrek #TNG, Dr. Ernst Linden in #Space1999, Hissah Zul in #Conan (TV series), & more, including playing PC Bob Steele / vagrant in the British police drama TV show “Z Cars”.

Jeremy Kemp (1935-2019)

August

Actress Barbara March (a.k.a., Barbara Scarfe), died on Aug. 11, 2019, at the age of 65. She played Lursa of the House of Duras in #StarTrek #TNG, #DS9, & “Star Trek VII: #Generations”; & more, including work on stage. She was also a writer.

Barbara March (a.k.a., Barbara Scarfe; 1953-2019)

September

Actor Robert Axelrod has died at the age of 70 on Sept. 7, 2019. He voiced Lord Zedd in “#MightyMorphinPowerRangers: The Movie”; Lord Zedd / Finster “Might Morphin #PowerRangers” (TV series), “Power Rangers #Zeo”, “Power Rangers in Space”; Mutantrum in “Power Rangers #LostGalaxy”; Thin Man in “Power Rangers #TimeForce”; played Egrid in #StarTrek #Voyager; racially confused veteran in #TheRevenant; Shimazaki (voice) in #Akira; Frank in #AmazingStories; & more, including a lot more voice work.

Robert Axelrod (1949-2019)

Actor Aron Eisenberg at the age of 50 on Sept. 21, 2019. Born on January 6, 1969, he played Nog & a newspaper vendor in “#StarTrek #DS9”, Kar in #Voyager; Aaron in #TalesFromTheCrypt; & more.

Aron Eisenberg (1969-2019)

Actor Sid Haig has died at the age of 80 on Sept. 21, 2019. Born on July 14, 1939, he was best known for his work in horror, but he did perform in several #SciFi & #Fantasy works, including playing the First Lawgiver in #StarTrek #TOS (ep. #TheReturnOfTheArchons), Royal Apothecary in #Batman (1966 TV series), guard / Bruce / Turk in #GetSmart, NCH in #THX1138, Dragos in #JasonOfStarCommand, Pratt / Spirot in #BuckRogersInThe25thCentury, Otto / Harlen / Hakeem in #FantasyIsland, 1st gang member in #Automan, Swarthy Man in #MisfitsOfScience, 3rd passenger in #TheSixMillionDollarMan, the genie in #ElectraWomanAndDynaGirl, & more, including an appearance in the James Bond film #DiamondsAreForever. He also played Texas in the nighttime soap opera #MaryHartmanMaryHartman, as well as Captain Spaulding in the horror flick #HouseOf1000Corpses.

Sig Haig (1939 – 2019)

Actor Jack Donner died on Sept. 21, 2019 at the age of 90. He played Romulan Subcommander Tal in #StarTrek #TOS, a Vulcan priest in #Enterprise; Commander Kinwon in “#PowerRangers in Space”; Joe in #IDreamOfJeannie; the courier in #GetSmart; master of ceremonies in #MyFavoriteMartian; man in hospital room in #GhostWhisperer; in #IDreamOfJeannie, Judge Renault in #Charmed; Morris in #TheInvisible; Clayton Wheeler in #Roswell; cleric #1 in #BuffyTheVampireSlayer (TV series); blind man in #Conan (TV series); & more.

Jack Donner (1928-2019)

October

Actress & singer Diahann Carroll died at the age of 84 on Oct. 4, 2019. She played the hologram Mermeia in “The #StarWars #HolidaySpecial”, Grace Willis in #TouchedByAnAngel, & more.

Diahann Carroll (1935-2019)

Actor Robert Forster has died at the age of 78 on Oct. 11, 2019. He played Capt. Dan Holland in #TheBlackHole, Arthur Petrelli in #Heroes, Robert Bold in #Automata, Frank Shepherd in #Intruders, Sheriff Frank Truman in #TwinPeaks (2017), Sergeant Volkom in #GhostsOfGirlfriendsPast, Yates in #Peacemaker, Gary Cooley in #TalesFromTheDarkside, & more.

Robert Forster (1941-2019)

November

Actor Michael J. Pollard died at the age of 80 on Nov. 20, 2019. He played Jahn in “#StarTrek: #TOS”, the boy in #LostInSpace, Herman in #Scrooged, Aeolus in #TheOdyssey (1997 miniseries), & much more, including Bug Bailey in #DickTracy. His breakout role was playing C.W. Moss, the accomplice-turned-snitch, in the 1967 film #BonnieAndClyde that starred Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. He also played Stucky in the 2003 horror film #HouseOf1000Corpses.

Michael J. Pollard (1939-2019)

December

Writer & story editor D.C. Fontana died at the age of 80 on Dec. 2, 2019. She was one of the key writers who worked on “#StarTrek: #TheOriginalSeries” in the 1960s, helping to bring Gene Roddenberry’s vision to life. She also worked on later “Star Trek” TV series. A full list of her episode writing & editing credits follows:

TOS:

• “Charlie X”
• “Tomorrow is Yesterday“
• “The Side of Paradise“
• “Friday’s Child“”
• “Journey to Babel“
• “By Any Other Name“
• “The Ultimate Computer“
• “The Enterprise Incident“
• “That Which Survives“
• “The Way to Eden”

TAS:

• “Yesteryear”

TNG:

• “Encounter at Farpoint”
• “The Naked Now”
• “Lonely Among Us”
• “Too Short a Season”
• “Heart of Glory”

DS9:

• “Dax”

She also wrote 3 episodes of #Babylon5; 2 episodes of #TheSixMillionDollarMan; 1 episode of #LandOfTheLost; 3 episodes of #LogansRun (TV series); 1 episode of #BuckRogersInThe25thCentury; 1 episode of #WarOfTheWorlds (TV series); 1 episode of #EarthFinalConflict; & much more.

D.C. Fontana (1939 – 2019)

Actor Robert Walker, Jr. passed away at the age of 79 on Dec. 5, 2019. He played Charlie Evans in “#StarTrek: #TOS”, Cloche / Bell in #TheSixMillionDollarMan, Billy the Kid (William H. Bonney) in #TheTimeTunnel, & more.

Robert Walker, Jr. (1940-2019)

Actor René Auberjonois died at the age of 79 on Dec. 8, 2019. He played Col. West in “#StarTrek VI: #TheUndiscoveredCountry”, Odo / Douglas Pabst / Curzon Dax in #DS9, Ezral in #Enterprise; Dr. Burton in #BatmanForever; Dlavan in #TheOuterLimits; Hugo Miller in #Warehouse13; Alar in #StargateSG1; Artemus Bradford in #InspectorGadget (1999 movie); King Boris / King Ulrich in #FaerieTaleTheatre; Kimbal in #WonderWoman (TV series); Havergal in #ManFromAtlantis; Pierre Lambert in #TheBionicWoman; Bagley in #KingKing (1976); William Sharstead in #NightGallery; & much more, including voice work for many animated series. (His 1st major role was playing Father Mulcahy in the 1970 movie #MASH. He also played Paul Lewiston in the comedic crime-drama #BostonLegal alongside William Shatner.)

René Auberjonois (1940-2019)

Visionary conceptual futurist artist Syd Mead passed away on Dec. 30, 2019 at the age of 86. He worked in the art departments for a number of #SciFi & #fantasy films, including “#StarTrek: #TheMotionPicture”, #BladeRunner, #Tron, #2010, #Aliens, #Timecop, #MissionToMars, #Elysium, #Tomorrowland, #BladeRunner2049, & more.

Syd Mead (1933 – 2019)

References

• 2018 Sci-fi & Fantasy Artist Deaths

2nd Weekend Box Office for “Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker” Down 59% Domestically

In its 2nd weekend, “#StarWars IX: #TheRiseOfSkywalker” earned $72 million domestic box office receipts. This is a decline of $105 million, which is 59.4% below what it earned during its opening weekend of $177.4 million (revised from the earlier reported $175.5 million domestic opening weekend). While this decline isn’t as severe as the whopping $149 million decline (67% decline) that “Star Wars VIII: #TheLastJedi” experienced between its 2nd and opening weekends in 2017, the $72 million that “The Rise of Skywalker” earned during its second weekend is only $1 million more than the $71 million earned by “The Last Jedi” during its 2nd weekend.

Currently, the 10-day cumulative domestic box office total for “The Rise of Skywalker” is $361.8 million, which is slightly lower than the 10-day cumulative domestic box office total of $368 million that “The Last Jedi” earned in 2017.

The currently predicted total domestic box office expected is between $502 million and $612 million, which is line with our own prediction of $545.8 million domestic box office earnings that we made last week.

Outside of the U.S., “The Rise of Skywalker” earned $94 million during its 2nd weekend and has a current overseas cumulative 10-day box office total of $363 million for a total worldwide 10-day cumulative box office total of $724.8 million. The domestic/overseas split is currently 47/53%, so while the film is earning more overseas than domestically, the overall IMDb user ratings for “The Rise of Skywalker” still have a higher domestic user rating of 7.1 over the overseas user rating of 6.8.

References

• Box Office: ‘Rise Of Skywalker’ Falls 59% To Join The $100M Losers Club
• “The Rise of Skywalker” Debuts with $175.5 Million Domestically; Earning Less than “The Last Jedi”
• IMDb User Ratings for “Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker”

Examining User Rating Demographics on IMDb for All “Star Wars” Films

Now that there are more than 100,000 user ratings for “#StarWars IX: #TheRiseOfSkywalker” on IMDb, we can do a comparison the user rating demographics for all of the live-action “Star Wars” films to see if any patterns emerge. The demographics are illustrated in the chart below.

User Rating Demographics on IMDb for Live-Action “Star Wars” Films

Color Codings

• Overall ratings are color-coded based on the overall score as follows:
  • Green: a score of at least 8.0.
  • Yellow: a score between 7.0 and 7.9.
  • Red: a score that is 6.9 or lower.
• For overall male and female user ratings:
  • Scores marked in blue mean that the overall male score was higher than the overall female score.
  • Scores marked in pink mean that the overall female score was higher than the overall male score.
  • Scores makes in grey mean that the male and female scores are the same.
• For U.S. versus non-U.S. user ratings:
  • Scores marked indigo in either column are the higher of the two scores for each fim.
• For “Demographic Giving Highest Ratings:
  • Blue means that a male demographic gave the highest rating.
  • Pink means that a female demographic gave the highest rating.

Results

The results are quite interesting, as listed below:

• Overall User Ratings:
  • The highest rated film overall from all demographics is “Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back” with an overall user rating of 8.7.
  • The lowest rated film overall from all demographics is “Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace” with an overall user rating of 6.5.
  • The group of films with the highest overall ratings overall is the original trilogy (OT); Episodes IV, V & VI. The average of the 3 overall ratings is 8.53.
  • The group of films with the overall lowest ratings is the prequel trilogy (PT); Episodes I, II & III. The average of the 3 overall ratings is 6.87.
  • Disney’s sequel trilogy (Episodes VII, VIII & IX) have an overall average user rating of 7.33.
• U.S. versus Non-U.S. User Ratings
  • U.S. and Non-U.S. voters disagree on every single “Star Wars” film.
  • The film with the overall highest rating from U.S. voters, as well as Non-U.S. voters, is “Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back” with a U.S. rating of 9.0 and a Non-U.S. voter rating of 8.6.
  • Of the 11 live-action “Star Wars” films, 8 are rated higher by U.S. voters overall than by Non-U.S. voters: the original trilogy (Episodes IV, V & VI), the Disney sequel trilogy (Episodes VII, VIII & IX) and the 2 standalone films (“Rogue One” & “Solo”).
  • The 3 films that Non-U.S. voters gave higher overall ratings than U.S. voters are the three prequels (PT): Episodes I, II and III.
• Male versus Female User Ratings:
  • Three films are preferred by male voters more than female voters: two of the original trilogy films (Episodes IV & V) and the standalone film “Rogue One”.
  • Six films are preferred by female voters more than by male voters: two of the prequel films (Episodes I & II), the Disney sequel trilogy (Episodes VII, VIII & IX) and the standalone film “Solo”.
  • There was agreement between both male and female voters on two films: Episode IV (from the original trilogy) and Episode III (from the prequel trilogy).
  • The two films with the widest margin between male and female ratings are two of the Disney sequel trilogy films: Episodes VIII and IX, which both have discrepancies of 0.6.
  • There is very little overall discrepancy between male and female voters for the six films produced and written by George Lucas (the original trilogy and the prequels): their average difference in overall user ratings is only 0.03, which is only slightly in favor of males.
  • There is a higher overall average discrepancy between male and female voters for the five films produced by Disney (Disney’s sequel trilogy and the 2 standalone films): the overall overage difference in user ratings is 0.3 in favor of female voters.
  • Comparing the overall differences between male & female voters for the films produced by George Lucas and the films produced by Disney, the overall discrepancy between male & female voters for the Disney films is much larger than for the films produced by George Lucas by a factor of 10. This suggests that the films that George Lucas produced had a much broader appeal to both sexes, while the Disney-produced films were intended to appeal more to women.
  • Films that are more popular with female voters tended to have lower overall user ratings:
    • The average overall user ratings for the 3 films preferred by male voters is 8.3.
    • The average overall user ratings for the 6 films preferred by female voters is 7.0.
• Examining the “Demographic Giving Highest Rating” Groups
  • Of the 11 live-action films, only 2 of the films (the two oldest films, Episodes IV and V) had a male demographic giving the highest rating.
  • Of the 11 live-action films, 5 of the films received their highest rating from the females under 18 years old demographic.
  • Of the 9 films that have their highest ratings coming from female voters, 2 of those demographics were from females that are at least 45 years of age or older: “Solo” and Episode IX.

Interpreting the Results

Looking at the breakdown of the demographics for the user ratings for all of the “Star Wars” films, a few interpretations can be drawn, but must be taken within the context of the data that was examined.

• It would appear that Disney has tended to make the films that it has produced more appealing to female viewers than male viewers, while George Lucas appears to have tried to appeal more to both genders.
• Even after 11 live-action films, the original three films remain the most highly rated.
• Overall, the films have tended to be preferred by U.S. viewers more than Non-U.S. viewers.

References

• IMDb Ratings for “Star War IV: A New Hope”
• IMDb Ratings for “Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back”
• IMDb Ratings for “Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi”
• IMDb Ratings for “Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace”
• IMDb Ratings for “Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones”
• IMDb Ratings for “Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith”
• IMDb Ratings for “Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens”
• IMDb Ratings for “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”
• IMDb Ratings for “Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi”
• IMDb Ratings for “Solo: A Star Wars Story”
• IMDb Ratings for “Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker”

“The Rise of Skywalker” Debuts with $175.5 Million Domestically; Earning Less than “The Last Jedi”

#Disney’s film “#StarWars IX: #TheRiseOfSkywalker” lead the box office on its opening weekend with $175.5 million in earnings in North America. While this is the third largest December film opening of all time and the performance tops the studio’s conservative $165 million opening prediction, many (including BoxOfficeMojo) expected the film to top $200 million for the weekend. The $175.5 million in earnings is also below where expectations were only yesterday, when it appeared that the film would open anywhere from $190-195 million after Friday estimates, but earnings on Saturday were lower than expected.

The slide began following the film’s opening day, which was pretty much on par with recent “Star Wars” releases, which saw preview grosses making up 44% of the film’s opening day. However, it is the only “Star Wars” release of the five released by Disney thus far to see the Friday gross make up over 50% of the film’s total opening weekend box office earnings. This brings into question what kind of impact word of mouth will have on the film’s final gross.

A comparison of how well each of the 5 Disney “Star Wars” films has performed in opening domestic box office receipts is shown below.

Disney “Star Wars” Domestic Box Office Opening Weekends

Thus, for the sequel trilogy, each successive film has performed lower than the preceding film.

To estimate how well “Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker” may perform and whether it may breakeven, we investigated the multiples of the previous films, as well as how well their final earnings compared with each film’s budget.

To estimate how well “The Rise of Skywalker” may do, we based estimates on performing linear regressions on the multiples and on the worldwide grosses, as well as the reported estimate for the film’s budget, which is estimated to be between $250 to $300 million. Our estimates are that the film will likely break even and make a small profit, but far less than “The Last Jedi”.

Disney “Star Wars” Box Office Multiples & Estimates

References

• “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” Delivers $175.5M Debut While “Cats” Coughs up a Furball
• Box Office: ‘Star Wars: Rise Of Skywalker’ Opens With ‘Just’ $176M
• “Rise of Skywalker” Dominates Box Office Despite Devastating Reviews
• Box Office: ‘Rise Of Skywalker’ ‘Star Wars’ Fatigues To Huge $90M Friday
• ‘Rogue One’ earned the biggest Thursday preview of any movie this year
• Solo: A Star Wars Story Soars at Thursday Box Office
• “Solo: A Star Wars Story” on BoxOfficeMojo

“Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker” Flops in China on Friday Debut

Box office numbers for “#StarWars IX: #TheRiseOfSkywalker” in China on opening weekend are so poor, that it has flopped. Total box office receipts for the film for both Thursday and Friday showings as of 8 p.m. local time were only $2.2 million; and ticketing agency Maoyon is predicting a total ticket sales throughout the country of only $18 million. This is significantly lower than how well previous Disney-era “Star Wars” films have performed in China:

• In Jan. 2016, “Star Wars VII: #TheForceAwakens” opened in China with a $52.3 million weekend and achieved a lifetime score of $126 million.
• “#RogueOne: A Star Wars Story” that released in Dec. 2016 with Chinese stars Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen in prominent roles, managed $30.6 million on opening and a lifetime $69.4 million.
• In 2017, “Star Wars VIII: #TheLastJedi” slipped further, registering an opening weekend of $28.7 million and a lifetime cumulative of $42.6 million.
• In 2018, “Solo: A Star Wars Story” bombed in China, earning only $10.1 million on its opening weekend.

In other words, the total expected box office for “The Rise of Skywalker” in China is less than the opening weekends for 3 of the previous “Star Wars” films that were released there, and is far less than “Solo”, which was a worldwide box office flop.

Currently, the film is only projected to earn $170-$200 million in North America, which would be significantly lower than both “The Force Awakens” and “The Last Jedi”, which had opening weekends of $247,966,675 and $220,009,584 respectively.

References

• ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ Flops in China on Friday Debut
• China Box Office: ‘Solo’ Bombs With Third-Place $10.1M Opening