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Solo ’s box office failure is unprecedented for a Star Wars film , but there ’s one major cause for it : Lucasfilm forgot to try . The moving-picture show grossed just $ 83.3 million inthe domesticated box seat officein its opening weekend , and only $ 65 million atthe overseas box office . There are report thatthe second weekend has seen a drop of 77 % , steeper than the divisive principal serial entryThe Last Jedi . It looks as though the movie ’s total revenue will flush it to matchthe hatchway weekend ofThe Force Awakens . There ’s simply no way to spin these numbers as positive ; given extensive reshoots , Solowill probablyfail to break down even in the box office .
On newspaper , Soloshould have been a hit . It ’s the belated Star Wars film , after all , and it has the free weight of the " Han Solo " brand behind it as well . But somehow , the film has completely failed to perform . No doubt Lucasfilm and Disney execs are current conduct a post - mortem , judge to work on out just what went wrong . So far , the only prescribed comment has been fromDisney ’s statistical distribution chief , Dave Hollis , who ’s suggested thatSolosimply released in too competitive an environment . " There ’s a interrogation of absolute frequency , " he explain , and how many times people will go to the movies . Is this too much and too soon for a third meter in a five - calendar week period ? "
Related : Solo Could Never Be A Box Office strike
It ’s true thatSoloreleased in a crowded box office , competing against bothAvengers : Infinity WarandDeadpool 2 . But , while that no doubt played a part in the motion picture ’s dismal box office execution , the most important reason is a nonstarter of marketing ; Lucasfilm simply did n’t test .
Even A Star Wars Movie Can Fail
There ’s a crucial scene inReturn of the Jediwhere Luke Skywalker stands before the Emperor . Everything has happened as Palpatine foresaw , and the young Jedi has been brought before him . But Luke stands resolute . " Your overconfidence is your weakness , " Luke severalize the Emperor . There ’s a sense in which that statement was straight of Lucasfilm withSolo . Supremely confident of the Star Wars make , Lucasfilm barely tried to market the picture . They take looker would be interested in anything carrying the Star Wars make , and that the movie would essentially commercialise itself . Clearly , they were incorrect .
Solo ’s lacklustre merchandising was really a result of Lucasfilm ’s programming . Other studio apartment , such as Marvel , are glad to market multiple plastic film at once . Lucasfilm chose a different approach , instead holding back the first lagger forSolountil they ’d finished promotingThe Last Jedi . Marketing for most blockbuster kicks off seven or even eight months before theatrical release ; in the case ofSolo , the first drone did n’t even free until February , just three months before the film attain the box office . Lucasfilm did n’t believe a Star Wars movie could in reality fail , and so did n’t recognize that failing to marketSolowould have an effect .
The Marketing Didn’t Sell The Film
Even when the marketing did at long last give up into gear , the attack was still flawed . Overconfident in the forcefulness of the Star Wars brand , Lucasfilm assumed that there was already an appetite for the motion picture . As a result , the lagger and video bit really did n’t seem to deal it . There were periodic flashes of brilliance - Donald Glover’svideo term of enlistment of the Falcon , and the360 degree experienceset around the Sabacc table . But they were few and far between , and fail to make a scratch on wary viewers .
relate : Star Wars story : Comparing Solo to Rogue One
A good drone is essentially a sale pitch for the film , telling viewers why they should handle about the moving picture . Solo ’s trailers fail to do so . The main sales rake should have been Alden Ehrenreich ’s young Han Solo , but the trailers were almost reluctant to show him . It was as though Lucasfilm believed there was already an appetence to see him , and that by hold in the " reveal " back for the film they ’d stimulate viewers . In reality , far from being curious , the majority of potential viewer were unconvinced .
Solois a far good picture show than its box office staff takings betoken . In realness , it was n’t the behind - the - scenes drama over the director that ledSoloto become a boxful office flop ; it was a failure of marketing . Lucasfilm ’s cocksureness really was their weakness .
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