Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Disappointing takeoff for ‘Solo’ with $83.3M
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 America.
Disney estimated Sunday that “Solo” will gross $101 million over the four-day Memorial Day weekend, a figure below even the opening weekends of the muchderided “Star Wars” prequels. Last week, forecasts ran as high as $150 million for the four-day haul of “Solo.”
Overseas ticket sales were even worse. “Solo,” starring Alden Ehrenreich in the role made iconic by Harrison Ford, grossed $65 million internationally in its opening weekend.
“Solo” came in with a Millennium Falcon’s worth of baggage following the midproduction 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.
“Solo” notched the biggest Memorial Day weekend opening in several years, but it also came on the heels of a pair of a summer-sized blockbusters — “Deadpool 2” and Disney’s own “Avengers: Infinity War” — making for an unusually crowded May. “Infinity War” added $16.5 million in its fifth weekend to bring its domestic total to $621.7 million and its global sales to $1.9 billion — both among the highest of all-time.
Degree for Sting: Ivy League school Brown University bestowed an honorary degree on English musician Sting, above. The Rhode Island school presented him with the degree at its 250th commencement Sunday. Sting formed the pioneering British rock band The Police with Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers in 1977. He co-founded an environmental organization, the Rainforest Fund, to protect the world’s rainforests.
May 28 birthdays: Singer Gladys Knight is 74. Singer John Fogerty is 73. Singer Kylie Minogue is 50. Actor Justin Kirk is 49.