3.The Overcrowded Market
So reviews and buzz were certainly a factor, but that’s also coupled with the market and competition. When Fox announced they were pushing “Deadpool 2” a week ahead of ‘Solo’ most assumed Lucasfilm would push their ‘Star Wars Story’ to December—the release frame where all recent “Star Wars” films have been docked. Shockingly, Lucasfilm held fast, but with “Avengers: Infinity War” in theaters still doing good business (only dropping -40.8% in week five) and a well-received “Deadpool 2″ only in its second week of release, both pictures combined for $60 million domestically that could have conceivably gone to ‘Solo’ instead (internationally, where ‘Solo’ performed extremely poorly, the two movies grossed nearly $90 million together this weekend).
Which leads to…
4. The Release Date
It’s possible “Star Wars” movies are just better suited to rule over Christmas with no competition to face from most films until February (though as films like “Aquaman” and “Jumanji” start to invade the fourth quarter, Christmas time at the movies is going to be fiercely competitive). “Star Wars” movies have been traditionally Memorial Day releases and all the George Lucas-led movies of that era came out on this holiday weekend. Even “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” was reportedly eyeing a Memorial Day weekend release until J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan scrapped the original script by Pixar‘s Michael Arndt and had to fast track their work (they originally wanted to push the film by a year and Disney wouldn’t let them). So, it’s very possible that Lucasfilm just wants that date back for tradition’s sake, and perhaps they should just stay happy with the December date that has yielded nothing, but out-of-the-park hits.
5. The Actor Or The Brand
Was Alden Ehrenreich a big enough name? Well, in our new age of entertainment, audiences come out to see brands now, not actors. Tom Holland isn’t going to lead a movie to nearly $900 million worldwide, but the character of “Spider-Man” can. Does that mean the Han Solo himself isn’t a big enough draw? Is the character too immortalized by Harrison Ford in the minds of many? Perhaps Lucasfilm has to realize that it’s the overarching “Star Wars” brand that’s the draw and not any one single character, which should be extremely worrisome when considering the future…
Post-Mortem & Future “Star Wars” Movies
What does this mean for “Star Wars” origin/prequel films that are in the works like “Boba Fett” and the “Obi-Wan Kenobi” standalone movie? It’s likely too early to tell, but surely Lucasfilm post-mortems may raise question and concerns that could alter plans. Difficult to foresee, the future is.
But there will be questions asked, can “Star Wars” sustain solo spin-off movies? If the film with arguably their most beloved character in the entire franchise fails to launch, what does this mean for supporting characters like Ben Kenobi or even a relatively minor character like Boba Fett? One could consider it like “Game Of Thrones,” the show is a collective behemoth, but would people turn out the same way for a Jon Snow spin-off show? It feels unlikely. The growing pain Lucasfilm may have to endure and come to terms with maybe that is that “Star Wars” is not Marvel. At the same time, they’ve created massive hits out of B-list characters like Iron Man, Doctor Strange and Black Panther (who were never huge stars in the comics) and Warner Bros. has made hugely underwhelming movies with gigantic brands like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the team of the “Justice League.” All of which further suggests that none of this may matter if a movie looks like a must-see prospect to audiences.
“Solo: A Star Wars Movie” is in theaters now and its make-or-break box office performance over the next few critical weeks is something to keep tabs on if you’re at all concerned or interested on how Lucasfilm may rethink their future if at all.
I think the biggest factor in the lower BO is the release date. Correct me if I’m wrong but Rogue One was supposed to come out in May originally as well (just 5 months after Force Awakens) and it’s reshoots forced it back into the Christmas slot. So when I heard they were shooting for May again with Solo, I questioned why? Then once the news of its directors being replaced came out, I was for sure they would push it back to Christmas, but then they didn’t. I mean, Christmas is working for them, like it did for LOTRs and Hobbits, so I really didn’t know why they were so eager on the summer. Now I wasn’t aware of all the others coming out on Memorial Day, but if that was their only reasoning, that just poor decision making.
Really, Playlist? 0% change that the hordes of angry SW fans that loathed TLJ and swore to boycott anything SW disney didn’t factor at all? I guess you’re delusional or paid by disney. I certainly believe in the power of consumers turning their backs on a brand. More power to them.
Disney chose this release date, Avengers was anticipated to cannibalize Solo’s BO from the get go. Also don’t rule out its troubled production or the obvious absence of Harrison Ford in the role he helped create. Also are moviegoers straight up consumers? Finally, this movie is going to make its money back and then some, hardly a financial failure for the studio as the SW property has just about paid for itself at the box office already. Plenty of fans dug TLJ
Paid by Disney, obv.
I think you’re mischaracterizing a few things. Just because there wasn’t a single large movement that convalesced on social media, doesn’t mean there was no meaningful public refrain occurring here. And those who consciously decided to stay away from Solo didn’t all do so because “Last Jedi ruined their childhood”
It’s like the DCEU in some ways. I think the quality of Disney’s output, from the extremely unoriginal Force Awakens to the sort of directionless Last Jedi, is diminishing good will. I stayed away from Solo on principle, just because I felt the films were ringing hollow and conviction-less. And I’m a very casual Star Wars fan.
Justice League and Solo aren’t the worst of their franchise, but I think they suffered due to the quality of the films that preceded them. I theorize that had Solo come out on Rogue One’s release date, it would have scored the $150m range. And if Rogue One had come out by this point it would have prob made around $80m
Just wow. You even acknowledge the backlash from TLJ yet you write it off as just a ‘vocal minority’ that had no effect on Solo tanking. Have fun in that echo chamber guys, you lost another reader today.