What is the budget of Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker?

"Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker," an adventure released in 2019, was directed by J.J. Abrams and stars Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill. The production budget was $489,900,000, placing it in the blockbuster range for adventure productions of its era.

Key Budget Allocation Categories

While specific budget breakdowns are not publicly available, typical cost drivers for an adventure production like this include:

Stunts, Action Sequences & Visual Effects: Action films allocate a substantial portion of their budget to choreographing and executing practical stunts, pyrotechnics, and CGI-heavy sequences.
Above-the-Line Talent (Cast & Director): A-list talent commands significant upfront fees plus backend participation.
Production Design, Sets & Locations: Action films frequently require multiple international shooting locations, large-scale set construction, vehicle acquisitions and modifications, and specialized equipment , all of which drive production costs well above those of dialogue-driven genres.
Casting: Carrie Fisher, who played General Leia Organa, died on December 27, 2016.

What were the major cost factors in Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker?

Several factors contributed to the overall production costs of "Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker."

Stunts: Stunts, Action Sequences & Visual Effects is one of the primary cost drivers in adventure productions of this scale.
Above-the-Line Talent (Cast: Above-the-Line Talent (Cast & Director) is one of the primary cost drivers in adventure productions of this scale.
Production Design: Production Design, Sets & Locations is one of the primary cost drivers in adventure productions of this scale.

How Does Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker's Budget Compare to Similar Films?

At $489,900,000, Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker sits in the blockbuster range. Here is how it compares to productions with a similar budget:

Jurassic World Dominion (2022): Budget $465,000,000, Worldwide Gross $1,004,004,592
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (2025): Budget $400,000,000 , Gross $598,767,057
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011): Budget $379,000,000 , Gross $1,046,721,266
Avengers: Endgame (2019): Budget $356,000,000 , Gross $2,799,439,100
Avatar: The Way of Water (2022): Budget $350,000,000 , Gross $2,353,096,253

The median budget for wide-release adventure films in the 2010s ranges from $30 to 80M for mid-budget to $150M+ for tentpoles.

Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker Box Office Performance

"Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker" earned $515,202,542 domestically and $1,074,144,248 worldwide at the box office. Against a production budget of $489,900,000, the film showed modest profitability in theatrical release.

A film typically needs to earn approximately twice its production budget to cover marketing and distribution costs. For "Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker," that break-even threshold was roughly $979,800,000. With worldwide earnings of $1,074,144,248, the film cleared that threshold comfortably.

Production Budget: $489,900,000
Worldwide Gross: $1,074,144,248
Net Return: $584,244,248
ROI: approximately 119.3%

At 119.3%, "Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker" earned roughly $2.19 for every $1 invested in production.

Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker Production History

Carrie Fisher, who played General Leia Organa, died on December 27, 2016. Variety and Reuters reported that she had been planned for a key role in Episode IX. In January 2017, Lucasfilm stated that there were no plans to digitally generate Fisher's performance as they had for Rogue One (2016).

Principal photography began on August 1, 2018, at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, England. Filming also took place in Wadi Rum, Jordan. Oscar Isaac stated that Abrams was allowing more improvised acting than in the previous two films.

In January 2018, it was confirmed that John Williams would return to compose and conduct The Rise of Skywalker. The next month, Williams announced that it would be the last Star Wars film for which he would compose the score Scoring began in July 2019 with Williams and William Ross conducting and orchestrating the sessions over the course of six months. The official soundtrack album was released by Walt Disney Records on December 20, 2019.

Awards and Recognition

Nominated for 3 Oscars. 21 wins & 55 nominations total

Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film (46th Saturn Awards)

Critical Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of with an average score of , based on reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Rise of Skywalker suffers from a frustrating lack of imagination, but concludes this beloved saga with fan-focused devotion." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 53 out of 100 based on 61 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".