Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Soars to Top of Weekend Box Office

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story soared to top of box office with $290.5 million globally on its opening weekend.

It is the second-biggest weekend December debut in history.

The US accounted for about half of the first Star Wars spinoff’s total, making $155 million, according to box office analyst Exhibitor Relations.

However, the tally is less than the record $248 million taken in 2015 by Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Rogue One is yet to open in China and South Korea.

The biggest movie of all time title is still held by Avatar, which made almost $2.8 billion in 2009, followed by Titanic on close to $2.2 billion in 1997. The Force Awakens has made about $2.07 billion.

Produced by Lucasfilm and directed by Briton Gareth Edwards, Rogue One stars Felicity Jones and Riz Ahmed, alongside Forest Whitaker and Diego Luna.

The first standalone chapter in Rogue One is set shortly before the events of the original 1977 movie and tells the story of Rebel Alliance fighters trying to steal plans for the Empire’s feared Death Star.

The next movie in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, known as Episode VIII, is scheduled to be released in December 2017.