Box Office Preview: 'Star Wars' to Devour 'Cats' With $175M-Plus U.S. Bow

The two event pics kick off the merriest time of the year at the box office, although no one is sure how high the latest 'Star Wars' installment will fly.

Jedi knights will have no trouble knocking off furry felines when the year-end box office commences this weekend.

J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will easily blast past Tom Hooper's Cats, although it's unclear how high the former will soar.

Tracking services are suggesting $175 million to $200 million for Rise of Skywalker (Disney is being even more cautious in predicting $160 million-plus).

That would put it below the $220 million debut of Rian Johnson's Star Wars: The Last Jedi — which divided fans — and a then-record $248 million bow for Abrams' Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2016.

The nostalgia factor is riding high as the movie closes out the Skywalker saga that George Lucas first brought to the big screen 42 years ago. Abrams gathered together numerous stars from Force Awakens and Last Jedi — led by Daisy Ridley as Rey and Adam Driver as Kylo Ren — as well as actors from the original Star Wars pics, including Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams and the late Carrie Fisher.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker's true fate will be revealed over the next two weeks, which signify the most lucrative moviegoing corridor of the year (the same is true for Cats and a flurry of other titles opening in the coming days). It remains to be seen whether a disappointing Rotten Tomatoes score of 58 percent will ding Rise of Skywalker (only Star Wars — Episode I: Phantom Menace fared worse at 53 percent).

Reviews are all-out bleak for Cats, from Universal, Working Title and Amblin Entertainment. Its Rotten Tomatoes score was hovering around 17 percent on Thursday evening, a career-worst for Hooper, whose directing credits include the Oscar-winning The King's Speech and Les Miserables.

In a bold move, Cats is the first event pic daring to open against a modern-day Star Wars title.

Tracking figures show the adaptation of the hit Broadway musical debuting to a modest $14 million to $17 million. (Two years ago, The Greatest Showman bowed to $8.8 million over Christmas on its way to grossing $174.3 million domestically.)

The cast of Cats includes James Corden, Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift and Rebel Wilson, in addition to introducing Francesca Hayward.

Rise of Skywalker and Cats also face competition from Sony's Jumanji: The Next Level, which hit theaters last week to a better-than-expected $59.3 million domestically.

Going after the adult crowd is Jay Roach's Bombshell, which Lionsgate expands nationwide this weekend. The Fox News drama, starring Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie, is projected to take in $8 million to $10 million. Bombshell, an awards contender, opened last weekend to a stellar location average of $78,025 from four theaters in New York and Los Angeles.