‘Solo’ Continuing to Dip at the Box Office; May Not Break 200 Million in Total Domestic Run
Solo: A Star Wars Story does not deserve to be making the numbers that it is receiving. Personally, I did not think that I would ever see the day that the most expensive Star Wars film ever made (because of reshoots) thus far would be considered a flop. Last week the film opened up to $147.4 million globally. Already this is quite disappointing considering that Star Wars: The Last Jedi opened up to over 200 million just domestically. However, Solo is not a film in the core saga so it would be fairer to compare its opening to that of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Well, Rogue One opened to over 150 million domestically. In terms of Star Wars films, Solo is sadly a flop and things are not looking well heading into its second week. According to Variety, the film is estimated to take a 66% dip and just make $29 million across 4,381 domestic locations.
Via Lucasfilm
The site is reporting that the second only Star Wars spin-off will still come in first place at the box office this weekend, but not by much in front of Deadpool 2. If these numbers continue to plunge then the film will more than likely not pass $200 million domestically. This is a first in the new Lucasfilm era. The Last Jedi and Rogue One both made way over 60 million in their second weeks. Solo is barely going to make half of that.
So how did we get here? First of all, yeah maybe general audiences were still full from their fill of The Last Jedi from a mere 5 months ago. It is safe to say that Lucasfilm will never release two films so close to each other again in the future. Maybe these poor Solo numbers will also convince them that two Star Wars films a year may not be such a profitable idea after all? Secondly, the months before the release were already packed with other big tentpole films. There was simply not enough hype to go around for everyone. Lastly, the film only received about four months of marketing. Other Star Wars films have had their marketing begin up to a year in advance.
If there is one thing to take away from these poor numbers- it is that Star Wars can no longer make a great profit from just its name. Lucasfilm can no longer rely on the popularity of their brand to break records. They have to really sell and deliver the goods if they want to get the goods in return. Solo had enough of the goods to satisfy, but the studio could have done a better job at selling them. What did you think of the film and will you be seeing it again anytime soon? Let us know on social media and stay tuned for more updates on the Star Wars franchise!
Source: Variety
