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The Empire Strikes Back Topped the Weekend Box Office—40 Years After Its Original Release
The Empire Strikes Back is clearly a classic for a reason. A full 40 years after its initial release in 1980, the second film in the original Star Wars sequel is once again dominating the weekend box office. As Deadline reports, the 1980 hit took in an estimated $175,000 at 483 drive-in theater locations nationwide this past weekend—with the gross sales only projected to skyrocket from there. The site reports that the beloved space opera would likely end the weekend with ticket sales landing between $400,000 and $500,000.
Due to safety concerns surrounding COVID-19, movie theaters across the country remain closed, which is giving new life to drive-in theaters. The decision to re-release The Empire Strikes Back was a pretty major one, too; this weekend marked the first time the film was back in theaters since its February 1997 re-release.
According to Box Office Mojo, The Empire Strikes Back held the number one spot at the domestic box office for eight weeks following its May 21, 1980 release. The film then raked in another $67.6 million when the 1997 edition arrived.
But The Empire Strikes Back wasn't Disney's only success this weekend. The company held the top three box office spots with Marvel’s Black Panther and Pixar’s Inside Out coming in at number two and three, respectively.
[h/t Deadline]