Star Wars is seen as one of the major Hollywood box office hitters in modern cinema, yet the franchise has seen some recurring competition over the years. While Star Wars’ box-office credentials are respected now, the release of the first film in 1977 was widely expected to be a failure. Even George Lucas himself, the creator of the franchise, was convinced Star Wars would flop at the box office.
Since then, Star Wars has grown into arguably the largest multimedia franchise in the world, spawning 11 theatrically released films since 1977. From the conclusion of the original trilogy and Lucas’ prequels to Disney’s Star Wars sequels and spin-offs, the franchise has seen immeasurable success at the worldwide box office. That being said, the competition for the franchise has always been prevalent as with every film series. From the expected flop of 1977’s Star Wars to the modern film landscape, here is every film that went up against Star Wars at the domestic box office and how each one fared against such opposition.
10 Smokey and the Bandit – 1977
The first theatrically released Star Wars film was the one that started it all and gave the franchise its name. The then-titled Star Wars was released on May 27, 1977 in 43 theaters domestically. Despite the small number of theaters – mainly due to the expectation of Star Wars’ failure – the film pulled in an opening weekend total of $1,554,475 domestically at an average of over $36,000 per theater. The only competition for Star Wars – later retitled A New Hope – that weekend was Smokey and the Bandit, which out-grossed Star Wars with a weekend haul of $1,728,060.
However, despite out-grossing Star Wars, Smokey and the Bandit opened wide in 498 theaters. This truly exemplifies Star Wars‘ early success, with its main competition only grossing $200,000 more despite playing in over 400 more theaters. For comparison, Smokey and the Bandit earned an average of $3,470 per theater, only proving Star Wars’ success by almost matching the wide release of its opposition on a much smaller scale.
9 The Shining – 1980
After the major success of Star Wars, the sequel – The Empire Strikes Back – was released on Wednesday, May 21, 1980. In terms of its opening weekend, The Empire Strikes Back grossed $4,910,483 from 126 theaters, taking its total to $7,244,308 when accounting for its Wednesday release. The main film Empire opened against was Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. Despite now being regarded as one of the greatest horror movies ever made, The Shining opened with $622,337, drastically smaller than The Empire Strikes Back and providing little in the way of competition.
8 Chained Heat – 1983
Much like The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi opened on a Wednesday, specifically May 25, 1983. However, when looking solely at its following opening weekend, Return of the Jedi pulled in a massive $23,019,618 at 1002 theaters. This marks the biggest release and weekend box office total for a Star Wars film thus far, with Return of the Jedi standing easily as the pack’s leader that weekend. The only other film to be released opposite Jedi that weekend was Chained Heat, an American-German film starring Linda Blair. That film grossed $2,252,682 in its opening weekend, proving no match for the final installment of the original Star Wars trilogy.
7 The Love Letter – 1999
The next theatrical Star Wars release was Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Lucas’ first film in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. Like both Empire and Jedi, The Phantom Menace was released midweek on a Wednesday: May 19, 1999. The following weekend, Episode I grossed $64,810,970 taking its domestic total to $105,661,237. The only other film to be released that weekend was a Dreamworks romantic-comedy titled The Love Letter. That film earned $2,692,819 in its opening weekend, against a budget of $20 million.
6 About A Boy – 2002
2002 saw the release of the second prequel movie, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, on May 16 of that year. The following weekend – beginning May 17, 2002 – saw Attack of the Clones earn a domestic weekend total of $80,027,814, out-grossing its record-breaking predecessor’s opening weekend. The primary competition for Attack of the Clones, arguably the most hated of the Star Wars prequels despite a recent change in overall opinion, came in the form of the critically acclaimed About a Boy. The Hugh Grant-led film earned $8,557,630 in its opening weekend, going on to gross a total of over $49 million domestically.
5 Dominion: Prequel To The Exorcist – 2005
May 19, 2005 saw the culmination of George Lucas’ Star Wars prequel trilogy with Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. The following day began Revenge of the Sith’s opening weekend, in which the film hauled in a total of $108,435,841, besting both prior prequel films. The only other release that weekend was one of the biggest box office flops in history, the dreadfully-titled Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist. On a budget of $30 million, Dominion grossed $138,311 in its opening weekend, only going on to earn a domestic total of $251,495.
4 Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Road Chip & Sisters – 2015
The first film released in the Star Wars franchise after Lucasfilm’s sale to Disney was the first sequel trilogy movie, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Much like The Phantom Menace, the long-awaited return to Star Wars caused a huge opening weekend total to be grossed. Commencing December 19, 2015, Star Wars: The Force Awakens earned a domestic weekend total of $247,966,675, vastly outperforming every other Star Wars film thus far. The Force Awakens went up against two major competitors that weekend in the form of Alvin and the Chipmunk: The Road Chip and Sisters.
Both films performed respectfully, despite going up against one of the biggest box office phenomenons in movie history. Alvin and the Chipmunks earned a total of $14,287,159, while Sisters earned $13,922,855. While their opening weekends were overshadowed by The Force Awakens, both films went on to earn a profit due to the appeal to their specific demographics.
3 Collateral Beauty – 2016
The following year saw the release of Star Wars’ first-ever live-action spin-off: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The opening weekend commencing December 16, 2016 saw Rogue One pull in a domestic box office haul of $155,081,681, the second-highest opening weekend total in the franchise at that point. The only other major Hollywood release that weekend was the Will Smith-led Collateral Beauty. The film earned $7,102,085 in its opening weekend, coming fourth behind Rogue One, Moana, and Office Christmas Party respectively.
2 Ferdinand – 2017
The second installment in Disney’s sequel trilogy was Star Wars: The Last Jedi. After the box office smash of The Force Awakens two years prior, the hype for The Last Jedi translated into its opening weekend. The weekend domestic gross for Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi commencing December 15, 2017 saw the film pull in a total of $220,009,584, almost equaling that of its predecessor. Similar to The Force Awakens, the main competition for The Last Jedi came in the form of an animated film: Ferdinand. That film opened with a domestic weekend total of $13,401,586 which had no chance of competing with Star Wars.
1 Cats & Bombshell – 2019
The final installment in Disney’s sequel trilogy and the Skywalker Saga was Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker which was released on December 20, 2019. The film pulled in a domestic weekend total of $177,383,864, becoming the third-highest opening weekend domestic gross behind only The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi respectively. The Rise of Skywalker had two main Hollywood competitors opening against it: Cats and Bombshell.
The former earned a domestic weekend haul of $6,619,870 while the latter pulled in $5,109,146. Cats especially suffered through opening against The Rise of Skywalker due to its inflated $90+ million budget, Bombshell, however, was a smaller film meaning its competition with Star Wars did not affect it too much. Overall though, it is clear that Star Wars remains a box office behemoth to be trifled with, with every single film opening against the franchise from 1980 onwards falling short of the movies set in a galaxy far, far away.