Star Wars passes James Bond as third-most successful franchise ever

The return to Star Wars made this milestone a formality, but it is officially here. With the success of Rogue One, the Star Wars franchise just surpassed James Bond on the list of highest grossing movie franchises of all-time.

Counting nine Star Wars films, including the animated movie Clone Wars, its tally stands at $7.075 billion. The first Star Wars film was released in 1977 and has existed for nearly 40 years. The James Bond franchise, which has grossed $7.040 billion, has been around for 54 years and includes 24 total movies with the latest being 2015’s Spectre.

The Star Wars franchise will continue to improve on its already impressive numbers with Rogue One still performing well and Star Wars Episode VIII looking like another billion dollar hit next year.

Star Wars is a juggernaut, but it will never be number one

With Episode VIII, a standalone Han Solo movie and Episode IX in tow for the next three years, the Star Wars franchise will most likely pass Harry Potter as the second highest grossing movie franchise in the coming year, even with the Fantastic Beasts and its sequels scheduled. Harry Potter’s total stands at $8.5 billion, second only to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s $10.9 billion.

For all of Star Wars’ success, it can’t compete with MCU’s massive scope of movies. It currently has 14 movies, but next year alone, it will release Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Thor: Ragnarok. Star Wars has three movies scheduled over the next three years, whereas the MCU has nine on the docket. This might one of the few instances where Star Wars has to settle for second place.