Star Wars is one of the most profitable box office franchises in history, but how did each movie compare when looking at opening weekend box office totals? The ranking of Star Wars movies aside, none can deny how profitable even the “worst” of the franchise have been. All three sequels, despite their divisiveness, crossed the $1 billion mark, for example.

The original trilogy, especially A New Hope, is often considered something that changed the industry completely. The franchise’s success was unprecedented, which is only likely to continue with the upcoming Star Wars movies. In recent decades, the box office of Star Wars movies has been analyzed to no end, given the industry’s focus on profits and losses.

The following list focuses solely on domestic box office numbers, with each total adjusted for inflation, and discounts the animated release of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

However, overall box office hauls aside, many are curious how each Star Wars movie began its theatrical run. Opening weekend box office totals are becoming more important than ever, thanks to the reduced time Hollywood movies spend in cinemas, causing interest in how Star Wars has fared in this regard.

11

A New Hope

Release Date: May 25, 1977

Many may be surprised to find A New Hope as the worst-performing Star Wars movie concerning opening weekend box office, but there is a good reason for this. A strategy employed by Lucasfilm for A New Hope, then simply тιтled Star Wars, was to give it a small release and generate positive word of mouth.

This meant that the film only played in 32 theaters in the entirety of the United States on the weekend of May 25, 1977. As a result, A New Hope‘s opening weekend numbers do not reflect the box office behemoth it became. Despite going on to gross over $775 million worldwide, which is over $4 billion in today’s markets, A New Hope opened to only $1.5 million.

10

The Empire Strikes Back

Release Date: May 21, 1980

Three years after A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back was released on the Memorial Day weekend. The sequel naturally had a much wider release than its predecessor, given the latter’s success. This meant that The Empire Strikes Back earned around $6.4 million in its opening weekend, accounting for the extra Memorial Day return.

When adjusted for inflation, this figure stands at $25 million. Evidently, The Empire Strikes Back was bolstered by Star Wars’ success three years earlier, allowing it to earn significantly more in its opening weekend. Nonetheless, despite being considered the best Star Wars film, it holds the second-worst opening weekend in the franchise’s history.

9

Return of the Jedi

Release Date: May 25, 1983

The third movie in Star Wars‘ original trilogy, Return of the Jedi, goes down as the third smallest opening in the franchise. Released three years after Empire, Return of the Jedi was a great success at the time of its release; Return of the Jedi earned a domestic opening weekend total of $23 million, which almost matches Empire‘s numbers AFTER inflation.

These opening weekend numbers were record-breaking in 1983. Regardless, eight other Star Wars movies rank above Return of the Jedi‘s inflation-adjusted $74 million opening weekend haul, proving just how successful the franchise has been since the 80s.

8

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Release Date: May 25, 2018

Although it has a better opening weekend than all three original trilogy films​​​​​, Solo: A Star Wars Story can be considered the only flop in the franchise. This only proves that the opening weekend box office is becoming more important in the modern industry, with Solo not having the box office legs to compete with the original trilogy’s overall totals.

Solo‘s opening weekend box office of $88 million in 2018 is worth $113 million in 2025, ranking it higher than Return of the Jedi. However, Solo‘s $300+ million budget and lack of box office legs saw it fall severely short of expectations. In a way, its ranking as the fourth-lowest Star Wars opening reflects that.

7

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace

Release Date: May 19, 1999

Moving into the prequel trilogy, The Phantom Menace is the fifth-lowest-grossing Star Wars movie in its opening weekend. The hype for this movie in 1999 was immeasurable, only further proving how successful Star Wars has become under Disney from a box office perspective. Nonetheless, The Phantom Menace‘s opening was admirable.

The film opened with a domestic weekend total of $64 million, which is worth around double that at $125 million in 2025. As was the case with the original trilogy films, The Phantom Menace had box office legs and multiple re-releases to see it earn over $1 billion at the worldwide box office across its theatrical run.

6

Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith

Release Date: May 19, 2005

Unlike Return of the Jedi with the original trilogy, the third movie of Star Wars’ prequel trilogy, Revenge of the Sith, was not the highest-grossing movie in its opening weekend. Instead, it grossed more than The Phantom Menace‘s opening, but less than its predecessor, Attack of the Clones​​​​​​.

At the time of release, Revenge of the Sith earned $108 million in its domestic opening weekend, worth $178 million in 2025. The film went on to gross almost $1 billion, contrasting with Attack of the Clones’ $650 million haul despite the latter’s better opening.

Revenge of the Sith is often considered the best of the Star Wars prequels, explaining why it had better legs at the box office than its predecessor.

5

Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones

Release Date: May 16, 2002

Attack of the Clones fared worse than Revenge of the Sith by the end of both films’ theatrical run, but the former opened stronger than the latter. The reason for this was the disappointment of The Phantom Menace. This disappointment, rather than turn audiences away from a sequel, drove them to theaters to see if Attack of the Clones was an improvement.

This saw Attack of the Clones earn the fifth-best opening in Star Wars history. The film earned $110.2 million on its four-day opening weekend, which stands at $196.9 million after inflation. This was a record for a four-day opening in 2002, yet the similar feeling of disappointment Attack of the Clones evoked in audiences saw its box office fortunes dwindle.

4

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Release Date: December 16, 2016

The first of Star Wars’ anthology spin-offs proved a success, given Rogue One‘s position as the fourth-best opening the franchise has ever seen. Rogue One followed The Force Awakens’ lead with a December release, allowing the film to haul $155.1 million in its opening weekend, before inflation.

After inflation, this stands Rogue One‘s domestic opening weekend at just over $207 million. Clearly, there was a demand for Star Wars spin-offs in 2016, as evidenced by Rogue One going on to earn a worldwide total of over $1 billion at the box office.

3

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Release Date: December 20, 2019

The first of the sequels on this list is Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, holding the bronze medal as the third-highest opening weekend in Star Wars history.

The film earned $175.5 million in 2019. When adjusted for inflation, six years later, The Rise of Skywalker‘s opening stands at $220.8 million. This ranks it above Rogue One and Solo, the prequels, and the originals, yet it could not match the opening numbers of its two predecessors.

2

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Release Date: December 15, 2017

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is controversial, perhaps standing tall as the most divisive installment in the entire franchise. Nonetheless, it performed very well in its opening weekend.

The Last Jedi‘s $220 million opening weekend haul is worth $288.5 million in 2025, significantly higher than The Rise of Skywalker‘s opening. Regardless of the controversy The Last Jedi caused, it is the second-best-performing Star Wars movie in history, in terms of opening weekends.