The Force is very strong with theStar Warsfranchise at the moment.Rogue One: A Star Wars Storyhas already grossed more than $600 million worldwide after being in theaters for only two weeks and that has helped push the franchise to a very significant milestone:Star Warshas now surpassed the long-runningJames Bondfranchise at the worldwide box office. Given how long theJames Bondmovies have been part of the fabric of cinema, that is a very significant accomplishment.
According toBox Office Mojo, theStar Warsmovies have managed to bring in $7.34 billion worldwide, which gives it the edge over 007. That figure includes the special edition re-releases of the original trilogy, as well as the animatedStar Wars: The Clone Warsanimated movie. To date, theJames Bondfranchise has grossed an impressive $7.04 billion since debuting in 1962. Even with a 15-year head start onStar Wars, Disney and Lucasfilm have managed to assert their box office dominance over the legendary spy franchise.
What is perhaps most impressive about this accomplishment is the number of movies in each franchise. To date, there have been 24 officialJames Bondmovies released theatrically starting withDr. Noin 1962, with the most recent being theDaniel CraigledSpectre, which was released just last year.Star Wars, on the other hand, has only eight live-action movies and theStar Wars: The Clone Warsanimated movie, meaning that with one-third of the titles,Star Warswas able to outgrossJames Bond.
Thehighest-grossing moviein each of the individual franchises happens to be their second to last movie.Skyfallwound up being the firstJames Bond movieto ever gross $1 billion worldwide, winding up with just over $1.1 billion.Star Wars: The Force Awakenswas, pardon the pun, a force to be reckoned with. It is now the third highest-grossing movie ever made and the highest-grossing domestic release of all time, bringing in $936 million domestically alone. Overall, it brought in a staggering $2.06 billion. Both of those movies helped to really push the respective franchises tonew heights, but nothing could really match the anticipated that was felt heading intoStar Wars: The Force Awakens.
TheStar Warsfranchise is showing absolutely no signs of slowing down, asStar Wars: Episode VIIIis due out next year and could easily be another $1 billion (maybe $2 billion) movie. Unfortunately, theJames Bondfranchise is in a much less certain place asDaniel Craigis still being wishy-washy about returning to play 007 again, so we will have to see what happens with that in the future. By next year,Star Warscould wind up overtaking theHarry Potterfranchise in the new year, which currently sits at $8.46 billion worldwide, if you countFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Themas part of the franchise. Jedi are apparently more appealing than wizards and British spies, these days.
