‘Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker’ crosses $550 million globally

"Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" continues to reign over the box office, generating another $30.5 million on Thursday, putting the movie on pace for a five-day haul around $155 million.

To date, Disney and Lucasfilm's blockbuster has earned $289.7 million in North America and $282 million overseas for a global bounty of $573 million. Though the final chapter in the Skywalker saga has received mixed review from critics, the pic has endured in theaters over the holidays as it eyes the coveted $1 billion benchmark.

Watch the trailer of "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" here 

Holdovers Sony's "Jumanji: The Next Level" ($11 million) and Disney's "Frozen 2" ($5.5 million) pulled ahead on Thursday box office charts, but a number of new movies also enjoyed a strong holiday showing.

Greta Gerwig's "Little Women" landed at No. 3 with $6 million from 3,308 venues on Thursday. Sony and New Regency's adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's literary classic should debut to $25 million over the five-day holiday weekend. The film — starring Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Timothee Chalamet, Laura Dern and Meryl Streep — has enjoyed positive PostTrak exit polls from audience members. It carries a $40 million price tag.

Another new Christmas offering, Disney-Fox's "Spies in Disguise," landed at No. 5 on Thursday, bringing in $4.2 million for a five-day opening of $23 million. The animated action-adventure, featuring the voices of Will Smith and Tom Holland, follows an unlikely duo working together to stop an evil tech genius.

Falling not far behind, A24's "Uncut Gems" posted $3.38 million on Thursday, pushing its domestic tally to $10.4 million. The Adam Sandler-led suspense thriller is expected to earn $15 million through Sunday.

In box office milestones, "Frozen 2" crossed the $400 million mark in North America. With $404.8 million in ticket sales, the animated sequel has surpassed the domestic total of "Frozen" ($400.7 million). "Frozen 2" now ranks as the seventh-biggest animated movie in history, and is expected to soon beat "Toy Story 3" ($415 million) and 1994's "The Lion King" ($423 million) to crack the top five. Globally, the film has generated $1.16 billion, making it the third-highest grossing animated adventure of all time.

In a win for original content, Rian Johnson's "Knives Out" smashed the $100 million milestone at the domestic box office after four weeks in theaters. Lionsgate's acclaimed whodunit was a top choice for family audiences over the holiday, pulling in $3.2 million on Thursday. The film should cross $200 million worldwide this weekend.

Overall, box office receipts remain down over 4% from 2018. However, the Christmas to New Year's stretch is one of the busiest times for moviegoing and could help close the gap.

"A 'Star Wars' movie at the end of the year is always a box office holiday treat for the industry," said Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst with Comscore. "Along with some very notable Christmas Day titles and other solid holdovers, this final weekend of the year will be a strong one."