Disney’s Star Wars movies have passed cost of Lucasfilm at box office

When Disney bought Lucasfilm for $4 billion back in 2012 you didn't need an economics degree to realize they just made one of the smartest moves in the history of the entertainment industry. If you need further proof you need only to look at the figures, because thanks to STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI, the new movies have officially passed the lofty sales price at the box office.

Though the exact figures for the Thursday box office are not currently available, the actual tally will surely put THE LAST JEDI’s total over $900 million worldwide. Between that and the final global hauls of THE FORCE AWAKENS ($2.068 billion) and ROGUE ONE ($1.056 billion), the recent STAR WARS movies have raked in around $4.06 billion at the global box office (per THR).

Of course, this doesn't mean the studio has recouped all their money from the purchase. Studios only make 40-50% of a movie's final total back, and we also must factor in the production cost of all the movies, which between the three movies is probably between $600-700 million (and that doesn’t even factor in marketing). But then there’s revenue from merchandising and video sales, which is no doubt through the roof. No matter what, though, the box office totals of these are still an impressive stat given what the studio paid for Lucasfilm. 

I’m sure it would take some serious digging to find out how much all the STAR WARS stuff has made for Disney in terms of overall profit, but there’s no doubt these movies, and subsequent merchandising, are bringing in buckets of cash for the studio. $4 billion sure did seem like a lot, but it's only been three movies and already that cost has been passed, and there are even more movies on the way. At this rate, they will even be able to give George Lucas another $4 billion for shits and gigs. 

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI is in theaters now.