The Chinese market has never quite embraced Star Wars the way the rest of the world has, and that was entirely evident earlier this month when Star Wars: The Last Jedi grossed just $41 million in the Middle Kingdom, before being unceremoniously yanked from theaters.
Well, it seems that Disney and Lucasfilm have decided to try avoid a repeat when it comes to May’s Solo: A Star Wars Story, with local Chinese media reporting that the Ron Howard-directed Anthology movie has dropped ‘Star Wars‘ from its title, and is now going by Ranger Solo.
It will be interesting to see if the Chinese marketing also plays down the Star Wars iconography, such as… you know… the Millennium Falcon, Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian, Han Solo…
SEE ALSO: Could Low Expectations for Solo: A Star Wars Story Be the Catalyst for Thundering Success?
Board the Millennium Falcon and journey to a galaxy far, far away in Solo: A Star Wars Story, an all-new adventure with the most beloved scoundrel in the galaxy. Through a series of daring escapades deep within a dark and dangerous criminal underworld, Han Solo meets his mighty future copilot Chewbacca and encounters the notorious gambler Lando Calrissian, in a journey that will set the course of one of the Star Wars saga’s most unlikely heroes.
Solo: A Star Wars Story features Alden Ehrenreich (Hail, Caesar!) as the famous smuggler, Donald Glover (Atlanta) as Lando Calrissian, Woody Harrelson (War for the Planet of the Apes) as Tobias Beckett, Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca, Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag) as DD-BD, Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) as Qi’Ra, Thandie Newton (Westworld) as Quay Tolsite, Ian Kenny (Sing Street) as Rebolt, Harley Durst (Wonder Woman) as Moloch, Tien Hoang (Now You See Me 2) as Moloch’s henchman and Paul Bettany (Avengers: Infinity War) and Warwick Davis (Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi) in as-yet-unrevealed roles. It is set for release on May 25th 2018.
