3.The Overcrowded Market
So reviews and buzz were certainly a factor, but that’s also coupled with the market and competition. When Fox announced they were pushing “Deadpool 2” a week ahead of ‘Solo’ most assumed Lucasfilm would push their ‘Star Wars Story’ to December—the release frame where all recent “Star Wars” films have been docked. Shockingly, Lucasfilm held fast, but with “Avengers: Infinity War” in theaters still doing good business (only dropping -40.8% in week five) and a well-received “Deadpool 2″ only in its second week of release, both pictures combined for $60 million domestically that could have conceivably gone to ‘Solo’ instead (internationally, where ‘Solo’ performed extremely poorly, the two movies grossed nearly $90 million together this weekend).
Which leads to…
4. The Release Date
It’s possible “Star Wars” movies are just better suited to rule over Christmas with no competition to face from most films until February (though as films like “Aquaman” and “Jumanji” start to invade the fourth quarter, Christmas time at the movies is going to be fiercely competitive). “Star Wars” movies have been traditionally Memorial Day releases and all the George Lucas-led movies of that era came out on this holiday weekend. Even “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” was reportedly eyeing a Memorial Day weekend release until J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan scrapped the original script by Pixar‘s Michael Arndt and had to fast track their work (they originally wanted to push the film by a year and Disney wouldn’t let them). So, it’s very possible that Lucasfilm just wants that date back for tradition’s sake, and perhaps they should just stay happy with the December date that has yielded nothing, but out-of-the-park hits.
5. The Actor Or The Brand
Was Alden Ehrenreich a big enough name? Well, in our new age of entertainment, audiences come out to see brands now, not actors. Tom Holland isn’t going to lead a movie to nearly $900 million worldwide, but the character of “Spider-Man” can. Does that mean the Han Solo himself isn’t a big enough draw? Is the character too immortalized by Harrison Ford in the minds of many? Perhaps Lucasfilm has to realize that it’s the overarching “Star Wars” brand that’s the draw and not any one single character, which should be extremely worrisome when considering the future…
Post-Mortem & Future “Star Wars” Movies
What does this mean for “Star Wars” origin/prequel films that are in the works like “Boba Fett” and the “Obi-Wan Kenobi” standalone movie? It’s likely too early to tell, but surely Lucasfilm post-mortems may raise question and concerns that could alter plans. Difficult to foresee, the future is.
But there will be questions asked, can “Star Wars” sustain solo spin-off movies? If the film with arguably their most beloved character in the entire franchise fails to launch, what does this mean for supporting characters like Ben Kenobi or even a relatively minor character like Boba Fett? One could consider it like “Game Of Thrones,” the show is a collective behemoth, but would people turn out the same way for a Jon Snow spin-off show? It feels unlikely. The growing pain Lucasfilm may have to endure and come to terms with maybe that is that “Star Wars” is not Marvel. At the same time, they’ve created massive hits out of B-list characters like Iron Man, Doctor Strange and Black Panther (who were never huge stars in the comics) and Warner Bros. has made hugely underwhelming movies with gigantic brands like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the team of the “Justice League.” All of which further suggests that none of this may matter if a movie looks like a must-see prospect to audiences.
“Solo: A Star Wars Movie” is in theaters now and its make-or-break box office performance over the next few critical weeks is something to keep tabs on if you’re at all concerned or interested on how Lucasfilm may rethink their future if at all.
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
