Part 2/10:
Rise of Skywalker was a commercial underperformance relative to expectations, especially given its high-profile status and immense hype. Despite barely crossing the billion-dollar mark globally, it failed to recoup its production and marketing costs fully, marking a stark contrast with the franchise's traditional blockbuster success. The trilogy itself was polarizing: some fans hated The Last Jedi, others hated Rise of Skywalker, and many loved parts of both, leading to a fractured fanbase.