Profits Revealed: The Real Winners and Losers of Disney’s ‘Star Wars’ Era
Disney’s takeover of Lucasfilm in 2012 brought Star Wars back to life for a new generation of fans. Since then, the studio has released five Star Wars movies, but new documents have revealed how much each of them actually earned and cost to make. The numbers show some big surprises, especially when it comes to which film made the most profit.
The information comes from financial reports Disney filed in the United Kingdom. Because all of its Star Wars films were shot there, Disney had to set up local production companies to qualify for U.K. tax rebates.
These companies are required by law to file financial statements, which reveal exactly how much was spent on each movie and how much of that was reimbursed by the government. That transparency has now given fans a rare look at the real costs behind these blockbusters.
In the U.K., film studios can claim back up to 25.5% of what they spend during production if they meet certain requirements.
Those filings also show that Disney spent massive amounts on its Star Wars movies, with some reaching record-breaking levels. Analysts combined those numbers with data from Box Office Mojo, which tracks box office earnings, to estimate Disney’s profits from each film.
Not all the money from ticket sales goes to Disney, though. According to research by film consultant Stephen Follows, theaters usually keep around half of the box office revenue, meaning Disney takes home roughly the other half. That’s called the studio’s “rental fee.”
A Disney spokesperson explained last year that box office figures don’t tell the full story. “There will be other income generated by the production (such as DVD/Blu Ray sales, merchandising, etc.). It’s not reflecting a true account of whether the film was overall profitable.” Even so, marketing costs, often huge for major films, aren’t shown in the filings, making the pure box office profits an important measure on their own.
Among the five movies made under Disney, The Force Awakens turned out to be the biggest winner. It’s also the most expensive one, costing around $639 million to produce, but it earned Disney more than $1 billion from box office returns alone.
That left the studio with about $500 million in profit. The film benefited from massive hype as the first new Star Wars movie in ten years and brought back familiar faces like Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill, alongside a new generation of stars.
Next in line was The Last Jedi, which made about $324 million, and Rogue One, which brought in around $258 million. Interestingly, Rogue One also had the highest return on investment, since its production costs were much lower compared to the main trilogy films.
Things didn’t go as well for The Rise of Skywalker, which made only about $48 million in profit, despite huge production costs of nearly $594 million. The biggest disappointment was Solo: A Star Wars Story, which lost more than $100 million. That film’s poor box office performance was a wake-up call for Disney, showing that Star Wars fatigue had set in.
To summarize:
- 1. ‘The Force Awakens’ – $500.2M
- 2. ‘The Last Jedi’ – $324M
- 3. ‘Rogue One’ – $258.4M
- 4. ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ – $48.3M
- 5. ‘Solo’ –$103.3M
These results explain why Disney hasn’t released another Star Wars movie since 2019. The studio shifted its focus to streaming shows like The Mandalorian, which became a major hit on Disney+.
However, the saga is set to return to theaters in 2026 with The Mandalorian & Grogu, and Disney will be hoping that fans’ excitement for the big screen will match what The Force Awakens achieved back in 2015.
Looking at these numbers, it’s clear that even for a franchise as massive as Star Wars, success at the box office isn’t guaranteed. Costs keep rising, and fans are harder to please than ever. Still, the galaxy far, far away remains one of the biggest brands in movie history, and Disney’s next move will show whether it can make the Force strong again.
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