Strong first night for "Star Wars" falls short of previous 2

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Plenty of force was with 'œStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" on its first night in theaters, but it fell short of the two previous films in the trilogy.

'œThe Rise of Skywalker'ť brought in an estimated $40 million in North America in its Thursday night previews, the fifth biggest Thursday opening ever.

The first film, 'œStar Wars: The Force Awakens,'ť earned $57 million its Thursday night previews in 2015, at the time the biggest of all time. It was topped by the $60 million take of 'œAvengers: Endgame'ť earlier this year.

The second film in the trilogy, 'œStar Wars: The Last Jedi," had a $45 million tally on its opening Thursday night in 2017.

'œThe Rise of Skywalker,'ť with 'œThe Force Awakens'ť director J.J. Abrams back at the helm after Rian Johnson directed 'œThe Last Jedi,'ť didn't appear to be affected by bad critic reviews. The film scored just 58% with critics on Rotten Tomatoes compared to 98% for 'œThe Last Jedi,'ť but its fan score is 85%.

The third film stars Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver and Carrie Fisher and is expected to bring in $200 million by the end of the weekend.