We’ve no reason whatsoever to expect The Rise of Skywalker to be anything but a mega smash hit when it arrives on 19th December, and AMC Entertainment Holdings CFO Craig Ramsey will certainly be watching those numbers as the 9th Skywalker saga episode rolls out across the planet. The domestic industry reached an all-time record of $11.85 billion in 2018 and The Hollywood Reporter take a look at the year so far.
The AMC exec pointed to the Marvel Studios title Avengers: Endgame powering through every record in its path, and The Lion King, Toy Story 4, It: Chapter Two, Frozen 2 and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker all set to dominate the multiplex in 2019.
Ramsey then predicted how the final part of J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars trilogy does as 2019 closes will likely determine if another record box office year for Hollywood is possible. “So you’ll likely have to stay up late on Dec. 31 to not only welcome the New Year, but see if we nip over the $12 billion benchmark, because it will be the last couple weeks of the year and the contribution of the year-end product that makes the difference,” he said.
At this stage of the year, Ramsey said the domestic box office is down 8 percent, compared with the year-ago mid-2018 performance. But he added: “It’s catching up fast,” thanks to Avengers: Endgame.
