(Image courtesy of Walt Disney Studios)

Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

The Force seems to have been with the producers of "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" last night — Forbes reports it brought in an estimated $45 million to 50 million on its opening night.

So, what makes a successful sequel?

We put that question to Subimal Chaterjee, a professor of marketing at the State University of New York at Binghamton. He studies this kind of thing and has written about the secret behind the success of the new Star Wars films.