Moviegoers rate The Last Jedi 56%

Dec 19, 2017 06:00 am

Star Wars: The Last Jedi soared to US$220 million (S$297 million) on its North American opening weekend, leading to a total of US$450 million in global ticket sales, backing up months of hype and earning critical praise.

The latest instalment was bettered only by 2015's Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which took US$248 million on its debut weekend and a total gross of US$937 million.

But despite a "certified fresh" rating of 93 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes and lofty comparisons to The Empire Strikes Back (1980), widely seen as the best film in the franchise, more than 100,000 moviegoers were less enthused, bestowing it a 56 per cent average.

The numbers could still converge, but the discrepancy so far is unusual.

The Force Awakens received a 93 per cent critic score and 88 per cent audience rating, while the 2016 spin-off Rogue One: A Star Wars Story got 85 per cent and 87 per cent respectively. - AFP