Thanks to the popularity of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - the first two films of Lucasfilm's Disney era - licensed merchandise sales for pop culture franchises rose 4.4 percent in 2016 to raise a staggering $262.9 billion in revenue. Back in 2012, the Mouse House acquired Lucasfilm for a whopping $4 billion, and in the years since it's becoming clear that was quite the steal for the company. Episode VII, riding the waves of positive buzz and an omnipresent nostalgia-driven marketing campaign, earned $2 billion just at the worldwide box office. The very next year, Rogue One proved there was an audience for spinoff movies in a galaxy far, far away by bringing in $1 billion in tickets. These figures, of course, do not include all the money that's made from tie-in materials and products.

Ever since the original film premiered in 1977, Star Wars has been much more than just movies. Toys, comics, video games, books, attire, and several other items have been a hot commodity for four decades. Nowadays, the unveiling of new Star Wars has transformed into an unofficial holiday, with Lucasfilm planning "Force Friday" events at retailers to help promote their film. It goes without saying they've been quite successful, and now fans can see just how much they've contributed to Mickey Mouse's vault in just the last year.

According to Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice largely contributed to the totals.

Last Jedi Poster

These figures are just what Disney wants to see, as they have no plans of slowing down Star Wars any time soon. This December sees the release of the hotly-anticipated vehicles, which will make them must-haves for the die hard fans.

In a couple years time, there's no telling how high these numbers will go. 2019 will see the grand opening of Star Wars Land, a theme park at Disneyland and Disney World that's sure to be a year-round moneymaking machine. It's funny to think about $4 billion - an amount few of us will ever see in our lifetimes - being chump change in the long run, but that's apparently what it is. Arguably, George Lucas undersold and it didn't take Disney too long to recoup their investment.

Source: Variety

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