Sunday update click here: “Jedi” now $175 million behind “Force Awakens”

Earlier: School is out, but it didn’t help “The Last Jedi.” The new “Star Wars” movie is running over $120 million behind the last one on a day to day comparison.

On its second Friday in release, “The Force Awakens” logged $49 million for a domestic total of $440 million.

Last night, “The Last Jedi” came in at $24.7 million. The domestic total is $321 million.

Well, one week and $321 million is nothing to sneeze at. That’s a damn good showing, second best to “The Force Awakens.” But it’s still quite a distance behind the first part of this trilogy.

The theory that school wasn’t completely dismissed for the holidays didn’t pan out. Since its opening last week, “Jedi” has been struggling to maintain momentum. Maybe tonight, with school out and nothing but time on their hands, kids will flock to theaters. I hope they do!

There are some real duds this weekend– “Pitch Perfect 3,” and “Father Figures” are each sorta DOA. But there are plenty of really great Oscar ready movies including “The Post,” “Phantom Thread,” “Lady Bird,” “Shape of Water,” and so on. That’s like a feast!

PS December 29th– Annette Bening and Jamie Bell in “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool”– not to be missed!