Disney
Star Wars fans can rejoice.
Tickets for “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” will be available on Monday, ahead of the film’s arrival in U.S. theaters on December 16. Hopes for the latest installment of the science-fiction franchise are high: The film is expected to ring up a massive $150 million in its weekend box-office debut, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
That would make the Disney Co.-backed film the second-biggest December opening ever, after last year’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”
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Final Trailer: 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'
"Rogue One" tells how a group of unlikely heroes unite to undertake a daring and seemingly impossible mission to steal the plans for the Death Star. Image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Tickets can be purchsed on Fandango.com and on Cinemark.com starting at 12.01 a.m. Eastern on Monday.
The film stars Felicity Jones and is the first of a series of standalone movies that are being written to expand the universe created by George Lucas in the 1970s. The plot focuses on a mission first referenced in “Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope,” when rebels steal plans to the Death Star that are passed on to Princess Leia.
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“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” earned more than $2 billion in box office sales world-wide. Disney revived “Star Wars,” after acquiring production company Lucasfilm in 2012 for $4 billion.
Disney is enjoying a record year at the box office surpassing $6 billion in global receipts. That’s after it became the fastest studio to reach $1 billion and then $2 billion in domestic box office receipts.
Hits include “Captain America: Civil War,” “Finding Dory,” Zootopia” , “”Doctor Strange” and this weekend’s family-pleaser “Moana.”
Disney shares closed up 0.6% Friday, but are down 6% in the year so far, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.36% has gained 9.9% and the S&P 500 SPX, +0.39% is up 8.3%.
Here’s another trailer, courtesy of Fandango:
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