This weekend saw the wide release of just one major film in the form of Lucasfilm's latest, Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Let's talk about the big film for the weekend, Solo: A Star Wars Story. This three-day weekend (not including today, Memorial Day), Solo took in a disappointing $83.3M domestically. I say disappointing, but I think that's a bit of an understatement for a Star Wars film. Going into the weekend, expectations were set at around $105 to $112M domestically, with the four-day weekend taking in $130-$136M. As of right now, the film may barely be on pace to break $100M in its four-day weekend.
Normally, I'd say that this is to be expected from a spinoff film (and the second one, at that), but this movie is reportedly the most expensive Star Wars film today thanks to the reshoots. With that in mind, they need to make a LOT of money in order to break even, and as it stands, it's not even pulling Justice League numbers. So what are the reasons? There are many. First off, we can't ignore the backlash that The Last Jedi brought to the table. Many fans swore off the franchise at that point, though it's still not clear just how widespread that sentiment is outside of the hardcore fanbase (that being said, as much as I agree with those sharing that opinion, it's a factor that can't be ignored).
Second, we have the fact that it's only been five months since that film hit, and audiences may not have had time to even anticipate a new film. Many mainstream audiences may very well not be ready for another Star Wars movie just yet. Third, we have Deadpool 2 -- a solid blockbuster in its own right. Sure, their audience may be a bit older, but there is some crossover, for sure. Fourth, we've already had countless blockbusters hit this year, and the average moviegoer can only see so many movies a year. If there is one silver lining here it's that Solo seems to have been received fairly okay. Not great, but okay. Given the drama behind-the-scenes (which could very well be the fifth reason), it's impressive this film is as good as it is.
But is this a flop? I think, given the money that went into this one, it could very well be classified as such, as it doesn't seem anywhere near on course to make up its budget. However, the other side of this is that Lucasfilm did not destroy an icon with this film, and I think making sure the movie was actually decent was their No. 1 priority, and could go a long way to ensuring the overall quality of the franchise as a whole.
The top 10 domestic weekend box office estimates, listed in descending order, per data collected as of Sunday, May 27, are below.
Solo: A Star Wars Story - Disney - $83.3M
Deadpool 2 - 20th Century Fox - $42.7M
Avengers: Infinity War - Disney - $16.5M
Book Club - Paramount - $9.5M
Life of the Party - Warner Bros. - $5.1M
Breaking In - Universal - $4.1M
Show Dogs - Open Road - $3.1M
Overboard - Lionsgate - $3.0M
Quiet Place, A - Paramount - $2.2M
RBG - Magnolia Pictures - $1.2M
The top 10 worldwide weekend box office estimates, listed in descending order, per data collected as of Sunday, May 27, are below.
Solo: A Star Wars Story - Disney - $148.3M
Deadpool 2 - 20th Century Fox - $99.7M
Avengers: Infinity War - Disney - $49.0M
How Long Will I Love U - Multiple - $24.5M
Believer - KIDARI - $10.4M
Book Club - Paramount - $9.5M
Quiet Place, A - Paramount - $6.9M
Overboard - Multiple - $5.3M
Life of the Party - Warner Bros. - $5.1M
Breaking In - Universal - $4.3M
