dan30oly

except that AntMan was a good, fun movie.

Troy Stiffler

If there is a problem, it’s that it’s not a very strong movie. It’s enjoyable for sure. But didn’t pack that visceral reaction you get watching Deadpool 2 or Infinity Wars.

Hype among us movie people was up in the air after the director switch.

Under these conditions, 115m is proof that the brand is strong. The name sells itself. The trailers weren’t strong. And we just had a Star Wars movie come out six months ago.

Anyways it’s a movie you shouldn’t miss. Lando was the strongest point. Donald Glover is killin it right now. A lot of it plays like a western.

Bandoman

Glover is the man. He IS Lando. Other than that, this movie is forgettable.

Josh-da-man

As seen in the Clone Wars and Rebels tv series, Darth Maul survived being bisected by Obi-Wan Kenobi in The Phantom Menace.

He has a robotic bottom half and is no longer a Sith Lord.

So Solo sits comfortably in the period between the prequel trilogy and original trilogy.

Artman

Yeah...but Ant Man went on to be a modest profitable hit...and the MCU was in a much stronger state. Unfortunately the ballooned budget (a recent article put it at 250m) puts this closer to Justice League. It's a big blow...and imo, puts almost everything in question that has been rumored or even announced.

Maybe that'll be a good thing in the long run...but SW isn't Teflon Don anymore, this proves it. Not only do they need to settle on an overall plan, but they need to hire the right people from the start and not have any more problematic productions. It all falls on Episode 9, that needs to deliver big league.

bunkaroo

I don’t think there’s any maybe about it. I think they fully intend to release 2-3 movies a year. Right now there are plans for Episode IX, Boba Fett, Rian Johnson trilogy and Benioff/Weiss trilogy. The Obi-Wan movie also seems likely as does at least one Solo sequel. I think that equals at least 5-6 Star Wars movies in the theaters from 2019-2021.

MCU ramped up from 1-2 movies a year to 3 every year it seems. SW will likely be the same.

BrewCrew

Solo certainly beat my expectations as it was an enjoyable movie. Didn't really think it was necessary to do a Solo movie but if they are going to do the movie might as well show how he met Chewbacca/Lando, got his blaster, won the falcon. Don't really consider it fan service, just was going to happen once a Solo movie was green lit. Don't like Maul in the movie. I am aware about his Clone Wars/Rebels stuff but keep that stuff there and not in the movies, he will obviously be back with a bigger role down the road.

Michael T Hudson

I kept thinking of True Lies when I heard the name of the crime syndicate. I enjoyed the movie thought it was a lot of fun.

Obi-Wanma

One other comment. If you have to give us several screens of text to read at the beginning of the movie to bring us up to speed, just do the f'n crawl.

Bluelitespecial

It was a fun movie and I actually liked it, the very first time I can say that about a Disney Star Wars Movie. I enjoyed it as it felt like it was the first time a Star Wars movie really got into the Criminal Underworld beyond Jabba the Hutt. All of the actors felt like they were the characters. Donald Glover felt like he was Lando, and Alden Errenrich felt fine as Han Solo. My complaints are actually pretty small. L3-37 was laughable as an SJW Droid, so was her Pansexual Lando comment. I felt like the plot was very thin just to explain the Kessel Run, explain Han's name, how he got his blaster and the Falcon. Not every little detail from the Original Trilogy needs explained through these spin-off movies. I was planning to be a part of the online boycott, but the box office seems like its going to be below expectations so I felt like I could go. I do hope the leadership at Disney decides Kathleen Kennedy and the leadership at Lucasfilm needs to go. If they are hoping Star Wars can be like the MCU, the Star Wars brand has been badly mismanaged, there is no set plan to these stories, and the fan base is divided. Also the BO returns have diminished with each movie. I would say Solo is 3/5 for me, I might actually buy the Bluray.

Mike86

Yeah, I really think Disney should reconsider their approach with Star Wars. I think part of the staying power of the brand in the past has been that it’s felt like an event when a new film happens. If they start to churn them out every six months or so I think it’s going to lose something. Even one film a year is a bit more than I think is really needed but I think that’s what their aim should be since obviously Disney wants to make as much money as they can. I think having it as a yearly holiday tradition is fine (this film shouldn’t have come out against so much strong competition).

I think the success of the MCU is a different beast all together. It’s been built up as a brand of interconnected films from the beginning and has people hooked to see what happens next. I don’t think people are necessarily clamoring for all these Star Wars films (the spinoffs from the main Episodes in particular).

dex14

Have you seen the film?

Mabuse

And that being said it’s worth noting that he has very little screen time and he does not participate in the final heist.

Mike86

I haven’t yet but plan to. It’s nothing I have against the film I’m just saying I think overdoing it with the brand in general may overall damage it.

mcnabb

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4402&p=.htm

They just downgraded earlier estimates again, as they don't think it will even reach 100 million (or just reach it) for the 4 day weekend. The 3 day weekend total is 83 million, compared to Rogue One 3 day weekend of 155 million.

This goes to my point that there is something else going on then just a May release for this movie to lose essentially half of its audience in 2 years from another standalone movie like Rogue One. Rogue One suffered many of the same problems as Solo, as they had to do major reshoots (not as extreme as Solo), and it wasn't a movie that fans had asked for as it dealt with another Death Star right after they had a movie about Starkiller Base.

I don't think there is one factor that we can pinpoint to this very underwhelming gross, but I will say that Disney's mishandling of the franchise finally fell like a house of cards with Solo. They went for short-term box office success in bringing back Luke, Leia and Han for possible long term success because it looks like they have no plan with anything.

I still say they should have nixed the idea of 7,8,9 and just focus on good/original standalone movies that tie together in one respect, but give them the freedom to explore new characters/stories in another respect. The Saga movies just hamstring everything because you end up dividing the fans when you bring back Luke, Leia and Han, and you are stuck trying to make it jive with the previous 6 movies. I firmly believe Solo should be doing better at the Box Office because overall most fans here are satisfied, but I think its collateral damage for how the franchise has been handled by Kathleen Kennedy, and fans just never got hyped like they did with previous SW movies for all different reasons.

Decker

I enjoyed it. Thought it was fun. Nothing special but a good time in the Star Wars universe. Always like Woody Harrelson and he was fine here. Really liked Donald Glover's performance of course and thought the lead actor was alright (too short, but besides that I was willing to roll with the performance).

Obi-Wanma

Rouge One also had the selling factor of Vader on film for the first time since ROTS (and really the first time since ROTJ with him in action) with James Earl Jones doing the voice. Don't discount that.

I'm not saying that backlash against TLJ couldn't be part of the reason, but I liked TLJ, and I couldn't have been less excited for Solo. I really think a lot of people aren't excited to see someone besides Harrison Ford play Han Solo.

outcastja

Rogue One's competition was Moana and Fantastic Beasts both released a month or so prior. Solo is facing off against Infinity War the most anticipated movie in the MCU and Deadpool 2 which was released last week. Solo had bigger problems than Rogue One, basically replacing the director near the end of filming, and reshooting everything. While I feel this is the weakest movie out of the Disney Star Wars films, it could have benefited waiting an extra six months to release it in December. The competition in December is Aquaman and Mary Poppins, not big office draws like Infinity War and Deadpool 2.

mcnabb

Guys, I am not disagreeing with you that there is more competition at this time, but you don't lose 1/2 your audience from R1 solely because of competition. It's still Star Wars, the juggernaut of the last 40 years as this is the first time there is a chink in the armor regarding box office! I can't believe that 1/2 the fans that went to see R1 or 2/3 of the fans who went to TLJ/TFA opening weekend said, "Nah, I want to goto the beach on Memorial Day then see a SW film!" There is more going on then that.

Obi-Wanma

And my post which you qouted didn't say one word about the competition. Again, TLJ backlash could certainly be part of it, but I think that would be felt most strongly in the box office for Episode IX. I really think there is a very strong "Nobody asked for this" opinion amongst the fanbase, and that reaction is stronger than the one for Rogue One, because Rogue One didn't recast one of the most iconic characters in the entire saga.

GuessWho

Technically, there is only one per calendar year 2015-2019.

GuessWho

This guy had the best cameo (more than once!)

mcnabb

I do agree that Episode 9 will underperform at the Box Office compared to TFA and TLJ (which will end the trend as ROTJ and ROTS did better then ESB and AOTC). Episode 9 has a real chance of pissing off the fans who liked TLJ if JJ gives in and makes Rey a Skywalker and Snoke comes back from the dead.

I think the best thing for Disney to do is develop a plan Post-Episode 9, and I think that may get many disillusioned fans back on board, or atleast interested. Right now they are just throwing around rumors (Obiwan Prequel, Boba Fett Prequel, Lando Prequel, Rian Johnson Trilogy, Game of Thrones Writers Trilogy) so it feels like they are throwing things against the wall and seeing what sticks.

I would sort of develop a more specific time frame for the Post Episode 9 movies and try to develop some cohesion in the context of their storytelling/narrative.

DJariya

So we probably aren't getting a Solo prequel trilogy then?

Alden Ehrenreich said he's signed for 3 movies.

Obi-Wanma

The cast of Rouge One also had sequel options in their contracts. I think they just put those in there up front before they even really know where they're going with it.