‘Solo’ origin story sputters on takeoff
NEW YORK >> In the largest disturbance yet in Disney’s otherwise lucrative reign over “Star Wars,” the Han Solo spinoff “Solo: A Star Wars Story” opened well below expectations with a franchise-low $83.3 million in ticket sales over the three-day weekend in North American theaters.
Disney estimated Sunday that “Solo” will gross $101 million over the fourday Memorial Day weekend, a figure below even the opening weekends of the much-derided “Star Wars” prequels. Last week, forecasts ran as high as $150 million for the fourday haul of “Solo.”
“Of course we would have hoped for this to be a bit bigger,” said Dave Hollis, Disney’s distribution chief.
“We’re encouraged by the response that people have had to the film. It got a good CinemaScore (Aminus). The exits are very encouraging.”
“Solo” came in with a Millennium Falcon’s worth of baggage following the firing of directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who were replaced by Ron Howard. With the rejiggered production, the budget soared well past $250 million.
But the cause of the spinoff’s disappointing performance may have had as much to do with “Star Wars” fatigue and the competition of a summer holiday weekend.
While no major releases opened against “Solo,” Fox’s “Deadpool 2” moved its release date up a week ahead of “Solo.”
The R-rated sequel dropped to second place with $42.7 million.