It’s not often – i.e. ever – that you see the words “Star Wars” and “box office bomb” in the same sentence, but…
Having gone into its opening weekend tracking a worldwide bow in excess of $300 million, Disney and Lucasfilm’s Solo: A Star Wars Story has come up short, failing to reach half of that figure across its global three-day launch.
Domestically, the Ron Howard-directed Anthology movie has earned $83 million across the Friday to Sunday period, and added just $65 million from international markets for a worldwide total of $148 million.
Solo, which is said to be the most expensive Star Wars movie to date with a budget of $250 million, was expected to earn up to $150 million from North America alone over the four-day holiday weekend, but is now expected to just crack $100 million.
SEE ALSO: Solo: A Star Wars Story Is a Triumph and These Are Its 3 Best Moments
Forbes is estimating that Solo could struggle to reach the $600 million mark worldwide during its theatrical run, and given its hefty budget and marketing costs, there seems a very strong possibility that Disney may fail to break even on the movie.
A sub-$150 million opening, and the prospect of a box office total only slightly above that of 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back and 1983’s Return of the Jedi (without taking inflation into consideration) is certainly going to sting.
“We came into the beginning of the year with this one of the most anticipated films,” said Disney’s head of worldwide distribution Dave Hollis. “We gotta spend some time looking at the exits and get a better handle on all the questions.”
So, what does this mean for Star Wars going forward? Could we see a Lucasfilm shake-up behind-the-scenes, a la DC Films after Justice League? Will Solo’s underperformance have any impact on future Anthology movies? It will certainly be interesting to see how this plays out and what, if any, ramifications there may be…
SEE ALSO: Solo: A Star Wars Story co-writer discusses the surprise cameo, and possible future appearances
A 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 L3-37, Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) as Qi’Ra, Thandie Newton (Westworld) as Val, Ian Kenny (Sing Street) as Rebolt, Harley Durst (Wonder Woman) as Moloch, Jon Favreau (Spider-Man: Homecoming) as Rio Durant, Paul Bettany (Avengers: Infinity War) as Dryden Vos and Warwick Davis (Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi) as Weazel.
