Disney CEO Doesn’t Expect Rogue One to Do as Well as The Force Awakens

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is one of the most highly-anticipated films of the year, but Disney doesn’t expect it to match the same level of box office success that last year’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens had. The Force Awakens is the third highest-grossing film in history with over $2 billion in global sales.

At the Goldman Sachs conference this week, Disney chief Bob Iger told investors,“We never felt it would do the level that Force Awakens did,” Maybe he’s right, but they should never underestimate Star Wars. Iger also noted that the response to Rogue One marketing materials has been incredibly positive, “The level of interest [in Rogue One] is as high as it was for Force Awakens.”

Only time will tell how well it does. Either way, Disney won’t be hurting for money. Iger said that he has seen a rough cut of Rogue One, and says “it’s really interesting in terms of Star Wars storytelling”. Should we be worried that Iger doesn’t sound blown away?