Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi crossed $600 million at the worldwide box office, thus propelling Walt Disney Studios past $6 billion globally for 2017. So far, 2017’s box office totals have been down by at least 2 percent compared to last year’s record-breaking haul. That’s partially due to lackluster performances at the domestic box office by blockbuster movies such as Transformers: The Last Knight and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, among others.


Although moviegoers aren’t coming out in droves for the latest blockbuster films anymore, the box office has still been robust globally. Walt Disney Studios crossed the $5 billion milestone for the third consecutive year in November, thanks to releases such as Bill Condon’s Beauty and the Beast and Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok. Warner Bros. Pictures followed suit a few days later, with Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman and Andrés Muschietti’s IT leading the charge. Then, Universal Pictures became the third studio to cross the coveted threshold, due to strong worldwide performances by F. Gary Gray’s The Fate of the Furious and Kyle Balda and Pierre Coffin’s Despicable Me 3. But it looks like the Mouse House has added yet another billion dollars to its tally this year.


Variety reports that Walt Disney Studios is expected to cross $6 billion today – December 22, 2017 – thanks to strong turnout for Rian Johnson’s highly-anticipated film, Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The long-awaited sequel to J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens crossed $600 million globally on Thursday, December 21, of which $296.6 million was earned domestically and approximately $314 million was earned internationally. Moreover, Disney is the only studio ever to cross $6 billion twice in cinema history.


Beauty and the Beast currently reigns as the box office champion of the year, having earned $1.263 billion globally, of which $504 million was earned domestically. While The Last Jedi isn’t expected to reach The Force Awakens‘ record $936.6 million domestic gross, it should cross Beauty and the Beast‘s haul and maybe even Gareth Edwards’ Rogue One: A Star Wars Story‘s gross of $532 million. In addition to being the top studio at the box office in 2017, Disney also holds the top three spots for domestic openings – Guardians 2, Beauty and the Beast, and The Last Jedi – though Universal’s The Fate of the Furious holds the record for biggest worldwide opening of all-time.


The Last Jedi is currently trailing The Force Awakens‘ record-breaking box office run but is still expected to cross the billion-dollar threshold before year’s end, just as Abrams’ film did in 2015. Depending on the film’s performance, Disney stands a chance at crossing $7 billion as well, but we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.