After a massive opening weekend and a highly-successful Christmas Day showing that brought Lucasfilm $258.9 million domestically, "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker," fell 50 percent over its second weekend in release. Despite that, the movie has maintained a strong lead over its competitors in the final week of 2019, earning the top spot for the second week in a row.

Entertainment Weekly reported that the final chapter of the Skywalker Saga brought in $72 million domestically, less than half of its $176 million opening weekend haul. "The Rise of Skywalker" is holding steady at the box office and is expected to reach $1 billion globally.

Box Office Mojo reports that the film has earned $341 million in North America and $363 globally, for a total of more than $700 million.

Episode IX holding steady at the box office

Just behind "The Rise of Skywalker," over the weekend are "Jumanji: The Next Level," "Little Women," "Frozen 2," and "Spies in Disguise." While "The Rise of Skywalker," has seen success, the box office has fallen 4 percent compared to last year. "The Last Jedi," tumbled 76% on its second Friday of release and "The Force Awakens," dropped 58% on its second Friday.

"The Rise of Skywalker," has somehow opened below "Last Jedi," but continues to do well. One advantage the final chapter had that neither "Rogue One," and "Last Jedi," had was going from opening weekend to holiday break schedule.

Also having "Wonder Woman 1984," and "No Time to Die," being pushed back to 2020, didn't hurt either.

'The Rise of Skywalker,' struggling in its second weekend

If all goes well, J.J. Abrams' project will become the third biggest opener not to drop over $100 million in its second weekend, coming behind "The Force Awakens," and "Black Panther." If it can earn 50/50 globally, it's gross $1.24 billion worldwide.

That's below "Last Jedi" $1.3 billion earnings.

It's not a massive downturn globally, but the question now is, will it be strong enough after the holiday break and to survive its second Monday-Thursday frame, compared to "Last Jedi" performance during its second Monday-Thursday frame? Tomorrow, Lucasfilm and Disney will learn whether it becomes a member of the $100 million losers club.

While it continues to struggle, it remains strong during the New Years' holiday. "Rise of Skywalker" managed to draw in nearly $13.1 million on New Year's Eve and is expected to cross the $400 million mark by the weekend. This may be the last weekend "Rise of Skywalker" stays strong, as moviegoers head back to school and work in the coming week. Disney will have to wait and see how long their movie can keep raking in the money at the box office.
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