If there was a positive to be pulled from the wreckage of Solo: A Star Wars Story, having just hit the tenth day of its release, there’s now nothing left to salvage.
Upon opening to an abysmal $84.7 million stateside, a total worse than practically every Star Wars film released since the turn of the century, and just $143 million worldwide, the Ron Howard-directed space western didn’t exactly light it up in its second weekend, somehow managing to fall below a conservative expectation of roughly $40 million by earning a measly $29.2 million domestically.
For a blockbuster that saw Deadpool 2 purposely shuffle itself between Avengers: Infinity War and Solo, specifically to avoid a box office clash with the latter, and its predecessor Rogue One hit nearly $300 million globally upon opening, turning a profit on a budget of $250 million shouldn’t have been an issue.
Nonetheless, while we learned late last week that it’d barely be able to graze the $500 million mark, unfortunately for Solo, Lucasfilm and Disney can now consider that figure a pipe dream at best. Or at least, that’s according to THR, as the outlet’s reporting that the studios are bracing for a loss of roughly $50 million on the Anthology pic, with some estimates projecting that number could rise as high as $80 million.
Combine the divisive reviews and production troubles with the fact that many people weren’t interested in seeing anyone else other than Harrison Ford portray the titular character in the first place, and it isn’t exactly surprising that the movie bombed at the box office. That said, no one could’ve expected it to post this big of a loss for Disney and its newest subsidiary.
Of course, we’ll have to be patient for now, as the final figure won’t be available until the home release and other “ancillary revenues” are calculated, but things certainly aren’t looking good for Solo: A Star Wars Story at the moment.
