The Rise of Skywalker Has Lower CinemaScore Than Prequel Trilogy

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker officially has a lower CinemaScore than the Star Wars prequel trilogy. The newest installment of the space opera mega-franchise just hit theaters this past Friday. The Rise of Skywalker is the final chapter in the new Star Wars sequel series, and is also the last movie following the Skywalkers, marking the end of an era.

The sequels kicked off with The Force Awakens in 2015 to much fanfare. The film used elements of the original series which were loved by fans, brought in brand new characters, and introduced Star Wars to a new generation of viewers. The sequels told the story about what happened to the galaxy after the fall of the Empire. From the ashes of the Empire, which fell in The Return of the Jedi, the First Order arose. Rey and the other new characters then faced off against the First Order to save the galaxy once again.

CinemaScore just revealed that The Rise of Skywalker scored a B+. This puts the latest Star Wars movie score lower than that of each prequels. The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith each scored an A- on CinemaScore. This also places the newest movie below the previous two sequel movies, The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, which both scored an A. The Rise of Skywalker is now the second lowest Star Wars film according to the site’s scoring system, just above the animated The Clone Wars. CinemaScore is a movie research company which measures audience response in order to create reports and forecast how a movie will do in the box office. More popularly, they provide letter grades to films based on viewer response.

CinemaScore polls movie attendees at theaters throughout North America (including Canada) during opening weekend. Audience members are given a poll consisting of six questions, all on an A to F scale. This also includes information on demographics, as well as purchase and rental interest.

Perhaps the expectations of the final movie were simply too high to meet. Much of pop culture today, whether it be film or television, is enveloped in hype culture. Trailers can amp up the enthusiasm for a movie, especially Star Wars trailers, and fans will discuss these movies online months in advance. Before The Phantom Menace in 1999, nearly 16 years had passed since The Return of the Jedi. Even if the prequel movies may be widely lampooned today, perhaps fans were still just happy to have Star Wars again. Today, there is a steady stream of new Star Wars content coming out, with animated series like Rebels, standalone films like Rogue One, and live-action series such as The Mandalorian. Hype may be at an all-time high, but so are fan expectations, judging by some Star Wars fan petitions.

Metrics like the ones from CinemaScore can tell a lot and nothing at the same time. CinemaScore can provide the general audience response, but that may not necessarily mean anything about the film’s technical merits or its ability to tell a story. Similarly, a site like Rotten Tomatoes may aggregate the data of critics and come up with a consensus, but may not accurately depict whether people will enjoy a movie. Film, like any other creative expression, is largely subjective. At the end of the day, whether or not a movie is worth it is up to the individual viewer. For those fans, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is currently out in theaters.

Source: CinemaScore

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