Rogue One Crosses a Billion Dollars at the Worldwide Box Office

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story did exactly what Lucasfilm needed it to do and finally passed one billion dollars at the worldwide box office.

While many people at Lucasfilm and Disney understood that Rogue One wasn’t going to make as much money as The Force Awakens did at the box office, they still needed it to cross a billion before they could truly consider it a success. Obviously, it was only a matter of time and now it finally has. Rogue One enjoyed a really solid opening weekend. Then, it stayed on top for three weeks before Hidden Figures knocked it down.

Of course, Rogue One had a lot to prove. As the first standalone, Lucasfilm saw Rogue One as a test — if it performed well, standalone films could sustain the Star Wars franchise without the core saga films. Basically, this means they can make space opera films forever. Just put a lightsaber in someone’s hand, slap a Star Wars label on it, and call it a day. And with the Han Solo film due in theaters next year, Rogue One‘s billion dollar pull is probably the prettiest green light Lucasfilm has ever seen. I mean, they wanted Rogue One at the top so bad, they fudged some of the box office numbers early.

Since its debut, Rogue One stayed in the top ten every week. And while the weekend estimates keep it around No. 5, it’s earned $512.2 million domestically, plus $499.1 million worldwide. Okay, that’s not anywhere near The Force Awakens‘ domestic total of $936.6 million. But even still, Rogue One can call itself the second-highest domestic earner in the Star Wars franchise.

With the bar set so high, we only look ahead. Later this year, Star Wars Episode VIII hits theaters. Can it make as much as The Force Awakens? Did the Force really awaken and pave the way for Episode VIII to make even more? Can every Star Wars movie break a billion?