It’s time for the story of an entire generation – spanning 42 years, to come to an end.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – hailed as the biggest film of this year, will take the Middle East by storm on 19th December 2019. The ninth concluding episode of the series will explore whole new characters in entirely different parts of the galaxy.
Disney unveiled an exclusive glimpse into the ninth and final installment of the Star Wars saga to more than 100,000 guests at the D23 Expo which took place two weeks back.
The footage left the audience gasping and clapping to an emotional reunion of many members of the cast who took to the stage with Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and director J.J. Abrams.
J.J. Abrams shared emotional stories about the late Carrie Fisher and went on to describe the film as a love letter to her. The actress passed away before filming began, but with unused footage from The Force Awakens, Abrams was thrilled to announce Carrie Fisher’s final onscreen performance as Princess Leia Organa appearing in the final film.
Watch the ‘D23 Special Look’ for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker:
Final installments of long-standing film franchises typically see a 55% global box office uplift on their average film delivery. The Rise of Skywalker is predicted to surpass this trend with an estimated 77% increase on its previous titles.
Here are admission stats for previous Star Wars releases:
Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)
Worldwide Box Office – US$1,316,721,747
UAE Stats – Ran 9 weeks and did over 178K admissions
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
Worldwide Box Office – US$2,053,311,220
UAE Stats – Ran 15 weeks and did over 390K admissions
Motivate Val Morgan forecasts over 230K Admissions for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – releasing 19th December 2019.
Join forces with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and take the Middle East by storm this December!
Contact a member of our sales team for more information on cinema advertising opportunities alongside this MEGA Blockbuster!
Sources: Bandt, Time, The Numbers and MVM Analysis
The possibility of travelling to the moon had long invigorated the dreams of storytellers.
On July 16th 1969 (50 year ago), Apollo 11 carrying three astronauts: Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins began its flight to the moon. The historic journey to the moon – which made fantasy real, opened a new frontier for Hollywood films. It was a giant leap not just for mankind, but for filmmakers alike.
With the landing on the moon invigorating the dreams of storytellers, many of the foremost filmmakers (then coming of age) turned to space. George Lucas debuted Star Wars in 1977, the same year Steven Spielberg released Close Encounters of the Third Kind, followed by Ridley Scott’s Alien two years later.
Since then there have been numerous space themed Hollywood movies that has done relatively well at worldwide box office:
Star Wars franchise – US$9,307,186,202
Star Trek franchise – US$2,267,036,257
Avatar (2009) – US$2,789,705,275
Gravity (2013) – US$693,698,673
Interstellar (2014) – US$666,379,375
The Martian (2015) – US$655,271,443
First Man (2018) – US$105,212,037
Fun Fact – After The Martian, NASA had one of the largest recruiting application pools that they’ve ever had for the astronaut programme.
Upcoming Hollywood space movies in 2019 include:
Ad Astra
Release Date – 19th September 2019
Director – James Gray
Starring – Brad Pitt, Liv Tyler, Donald Sutherland and Tommy Lee Jones
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Release Date – 19th December 2019
Director – J.J. Abrams
Starring – Daisy Ridley, Mark Hamill, Adam Driver and Lupita Nyong’o
Bollywood joins this epic journey with the release of its first space movie this year – coinciding with the 73rd Independence Day of India:
Mission Mangal (Hindi)
Release Date – 15th August 2019
Director – Jagan Shakti
Starring – Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, Taapsee Pannu and Vidya Balan
For us audiences, we go to the movies to escape our personal disappointments, dramas and emotional dissonances suddenly seem far more distant and diffused, and you can’t get any farther away than deep in space. It’s that dreamlike, otherworldly, heavenly, uncanny feeling that makes us gravitate toward space-themed screens, again and again.
For advertisers, here’s your chance to target Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, Fantasy and space-loving audiences over Q3 and Q4 2019. Contact us for cinema advertising opportunities alongside these movies.
Sources: Gulf News, Space.com, The Numbers, IMDB and YouTube
