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Much has been made aboutSolo : A Star Wars Story ’s easy chess opening , only months afterJustice Leaguesaw a similarly disappointing launch , but it ’s not fair to equate the two . One of the most aid - grab talking points is to compareSolowithJustice League , thereby compare Star Wars with thesame precarious positionin which the DCEU find itself afterthe fiscal woesseen byBatman v SupermanandJustice League .
At a glance , the comparability does n’t seem so far - fetched : both were grand enfranchisement films with out - of - control budget , both infamously replaced their conductor deep into production , and both experienced box office opening which were far below expectation . As usual , however , the accuracy is far more nuanced than that . At best , comparisons between the two picture show are well - intentioned but misinformed . At worst , they ’re sensationalist and downright irresponsible . Either way , ComparingSoloToJustice LeagueIsn’t Fair To Either Franchise .
Related:Solo Was Never Going To Be A Box Office Smash
The Director Situations Were Totally Different
BothJustice LeagueandSolohad final report budgets in the grasp of $ 300 million . The paths the pic took to get to that degree both involve replace their directors and engage in all-encompassing reshoots , but other than that , they could n’t be more different .
alas for Snyder , critics were not receptiveto the spirit ofBvS , and Warner Brothers balked at the panorama of become even further in that direction for the continuation . to boot , BvSwas deemed way too long for WB ’s appreciation , so Snyder was mandate tokeep the runtime downfor the follow - up .
Related:How Justice League Became a Box Office Disaster
Then , following a family unit tragedy , Snyder drop down out ofJustice Leaguealtogether , although some story indicateSnyder was actually fire . Snyder had completed 100 percent of principal photography and waswell underway with station - product , but Warner Bros still brought on Joss Whedon to conduct monumental reshoots , which have been report to encompass around 20 % of the flick .
Unfortunately , the finalJustice Leagueproduct is a dissonant mess being pulled in dissimilar directions by an auteuristic director , a nervous studio apartment , and a compress film producer lease to complete the unacceptable task of changing the film by from it ’s original story and tone in post . As a result of all this behind - the - view drama , the plastic film cost over $ 300 million to develop , and the final product wasconsidered a fiscal failure , thanks in no little part to its weak decisive reception .
ForSolo , the dismissal of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller was no less surprising , but also significantly less dramatic . They were hired on the passport of screenwriter ( and Star Wars veteran ) Lawrence Kasdan , who thought their comedic way would be a good equal for the script he and his son Jon had written . Unlike Snyder , they did n’t compose the script and did n’t cohere to a nonindulgent vision , ultimately , go too far with their temporary expedient , ballooning the budget and straying too far from Kasdan ’s playscript .
For the interest of the story and the wholeness of the character of Han Solo and the Star Wars brand , Kennedy fired Lord & Miller(though they were allow to bow out gracefully under the tried - and - straight pretending of " creative conflict " ) , and fleetly brought on Ron Howard to land up the photographic film .
Initially budgeted at a modest $ 125 - 150 million , Solowas train to be the least expensive Star Wars moving picture sinceRevenge of the Sith . If Disney and Lucasfilm wanted to , they could have had Howard finish the shoot ( which was said to only postulate a few more weeks of filming ) , conduct some band - assistance reshoots , and then delete together a final cut of potentially dubious character . Instead , Lucasfilm made the bold decision to allow Howard to reshoot what has been report as up to80 % of the entire film . Creatively , this was the right choice , andSolofeels like a Ron Howard joint from starting line to conclusion . Of of course , it also went from being the cheapestStar Warsfilm to the most expensive , with some reports placing the film ’s budget in personal credit line with Justice League at around $ 300 million .
Related:Lucasfilm Should Keep Making Star Wars Anthology Stories
In all fairness , it would have been impossible for Warner Brothers to do what Lucasfilm did . Solowas primitively a mid - budget blockbuster . $ 125 million is a lot of money , but it ’s a far shout fromThe Last Jedi , which was say to have a budget of $ 217 million . On the other hand , Justice Leaguewas never give-up the ghost to have a budget low-down than $ 200 million . If Joss Whedon had been allowed to reshoot 80 % of the movie to forfend releasing a tonally dissonant mess hall , the budget could have rocket to well over $ 400 million . Either way , despite all the behind - the - scene drama , Soloemerged as a vital success , whileJustice Leaguewent down as one of the worst films of 2017 .
Page 2:Solo and Justice League Had Totally Different Objectives
Solo and Justice League Had Totally Different Objectives
Some movies succeed , and some flick fail . It happen . For mega - brands likeStar Wars , one underwhelming box office performer is n’t going to sink the whole franchise . That being said , studios and devotee place more importance on sure movies in a given series . In the face of Marvel Studios , it had been sound out that they were going to go through withThe Avengerseven ifThorandCaptainAmerica : The First Avengerfailedto break out at the box office . But ifThe Avengersitself had failed , then the MCU would surely not subsist today . At least not in its current United States Department of State .
For Warner Brothers , Justice Leaguewas theirAvengers , to the point where they brought on MCU manager Joss Whedon to save and direct the film ’s extensive reshoots . This was a $ 200 million ( later demote up to $ 300 million ) climax of everything lead up to it , fromMan of SteelandBatman v SupermantoWonder Woman(and , to a much lesser extent , Suicide Squad ) . All roads direct to this point , much in the same way all roads from the MCU led to 2012’sThe Avengers , and , more recently , Avengers : Infinity War .
In the case of the MCU , The Avengersbrought in an unbelievable $ 1.5 billion dollar worldwide back in 2012 . In 2017 , even after five years of inflation , Justice Leaguecould only scrape up $ 657 million in world-wide ticket sales . For a picture which had its sights set on nothing less than $ 1 billion , this answer was nothing less than a financial loser .
IfJustice Leaguewas a eminent - stakes endeavor with everything depend upon on it , thenSolostarted out as the exact opposite . With its comparatively low-down stakes ( there ’s nary a planet - killing superweapon to be seen here ) and familiar focus on the development of its core characters , Solo was never aspiring to be as big of an case as mainline saga films likeThe Force AwakensorThe Last Jedi , or even fellow " A Star Wars Story,“Rogue One . This is indicated by its original budget , which was well below the Mary Leontyne Price tag end of most big - sentence blockbusters .
Related:Solo: A Star Wars Story’s Biggest Problem Was Its Confused Marketing
Had Solo ’s budget not doubled in the span of a twelvemonth , then itsfour - solar day Memorial Day grossof $ 103 million would n’t have been see as a nonstarter ; it would have been a great start for the " street - level"Star Warsspin - off . As it is , Solofaced unrealistic expectations it could n’t possibly meet;Solowasn’tJustice League , was n’t the completion of any anterior whole kit and caboodle , or even a verbatim prequel toA New HopelikeRogue One ; it is a digest - alone anthology motion picture ready in one tiny corner of theStar Warsuniverse . AskingSoloto perform on equivalence withRogue Onewould be like askingSpider - Man : Homecomingto perform comparably toAvengers : Age of UltronorCaptain America : Civil War .
The Future of Star Wars and the DCEU
The crowing question moving forward for bothStar Warsand the DCEU is this : how will the execution ofJustice League / Soloaffect their franchises moving forward ?
In the case ofJustice League , the DCEU is in the embarrassing perspective of having to reinvent itself immediately after its first squad - up film , leavingAquamanin the ruffianly spot of invigorate the franchise . After that , the DCEU slate will see a kind of palate cleansing agent withShazam!,followed byWonder Woman 2,the sequel to the enfranchisement ’s only unequivocal commercial-grade and critical hit , in 2019 . Things are certainly looking up , but instead of race toward a highly anticipatedJustice League 2 , the franchise hit a reset button and is jump again from ground zero .
As forSolo , whether it does well or not does n’t really count much in the farsighted run . Even if Disney loses a cock-a-hoop heap of money on the swashbuckling adventure film , it ’s hard to see them attempting any type of " course correction . “Solowas a one - off narrative , not the end game for an entire franchise . At this point , the worst casing scenario is that Disney avoids programming more thanone Star Wars film per class , and that does n’t sound like a bad idea at all .
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There ’s no getting around the fact that bothSoloandJustice Leagueswitched directors mid - production , direct to magnanimous - than - expected budget which resulted in unsatisfying boxwood office results , but that ’s where the comparisons stop . Justice LeagueandSoloare not cut from the same textile . They are two completely dissimilar picture which control distinguishable positions within their respective franchises , and trying to correspond the two films is an exercise in futility and misinformation .
ComparingJustice LeaguetoSolo : A Star Wars Storyis like equate apples to oranges , or meet square pegs into round fix , or compare shooting womp rats to launching torpedoes at a thermal exhaust system port . It ’s not remotely the same , even if they ’re both about two meters wide !
More:Star Wars Trying To Move To Two Movies A Year Is A Mistake
