'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker' nabs second best Xmas box office ever, crosses $500m worldwide

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is flying high at the global box office, soaring past the $500m (£382m) mark having secured the second biggest domestic Christmas Day gross of all time.

The ninth and final episode of the Skywalker Saga netted $32m (£24.4m) on 25 December, beating previous installment The Last Jedi ($27.5m/£21m) and sitting second only to The Force Awakens, which made $49.3m (£37.7m).

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According to The Hollywood Reporter, the movie’s success over the holiday means it has now secured a domestic total of $258.9m (£197.8m) for a worldwide figure of $516.8m (£394.9m).

Christmas period box office is crucial for big blockbusters, with The Rise of Skywalker predicted to bring in an extra $150m (£115m) in the USA alone by the end of the weekend.

Other movies doing well over the festive period include Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, animated comedy Spies in Disguise and twisty whodunnit Knives Out — directed by The Last Jedi filmmaker Rian Johnson.

It’s something of a turnaround in fortunes for The Rise of Skywalker, which debuted to the lowest opening of the current Star Wars trilogy.

The film has split critics almost entirely in half, with the movie’s approval rating on aggregator Rotten Tomatoes currently set at 55%.

The site’s consensus says the film suffers from “a frustrating lack of imagination, but concludes this beloved saga with fan-focused devotion”.

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Director J.J. Abrams returned to the franchise for The Rise of Skywalker after previously helming The Force Awakens in 2015.

The film was sold as the conclusion of the saga that began with A New Hope way back in 1977, though it seems likely that the Star Wars franchise will continue way into the future.