‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’: The Film’s Biggest Problem Wasn’t Its Release Date
The Star Wars franchise is one of the most popular franchises in the world, but that said, not all Star Wars films are successful. On one hand, movies like The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi can easily make over $1 billion, but on the other hand, movies like Solo: A Star Wars Story can flop pretty badly.
Star Wars fans generally liked the movie, but that didn’t stop it from flopping in theaters and becoming the first Star Wars movie to flop.
A lot of people are wondering why it flopped so badly, and there are quite a few explanations with it. Here’s a look at some of the many reasons why Solo: A Star Wars Story failed.
‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ had a bad release date
As some fans talked about on Reddit, one possible explanation for the movie’s failure had to do with its release date. When George Lucas was still in charge of the franchise, all of his live-action Star Wars movies were released in May.
Those movies generally did really well, but when Disney bought the franchise, Disney mixed things up a bit.
Disney released The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, Rogue One, and The Rise of Skywalker in December. This allowed audiences to watch the movie during the winter holidays and it also allowed all four of these Disney Star Wars movies to break $1 billion at the box office.
However, Disney, for some reason, decided to release Solo in May, and it didn’t do very well compared to every other Star Wars movie.
Star Wars fans argue that if Solo was released in December, then it would’ve done better at the box office. That said, the movie probably had more problems than that.
Recasting Han Solo was a bad move
Harrison Ford’s Han Solo was simply iconic for Star Wars fans, and as a result, many fans didn’t think that it was a good idea to recast the character. That said, since the movie was a prequel, it was necessary to recast the character since Han Solo needed to look young, and Ford, well … isn’t.
As a result, many fans on Reddit thought that by recasting Han Solo, Disney caused some fans to become disinterested in the movie.
That said, Star Wars fans also argue that many people didn’t even know that there was going to be a solo movie featuring a young Han Solo. Like fans on Reddit said, the first trailer for Solo came out a few months before its release, while the other Star Wars movies had teaser trailers drop over a year before they premiered.
Audiences may have had Star Wars fatigue
However, another possible explanation, according to fans, has to do with how many Star Wars movies were released in quick succession.
The George Lucas Star Wars movies typically came out about three years after the last one, but the Disney Star Wars movies were coming out every year. Many Star Wars fans enjoy having a new Star Wars movie to watch every year, but that wasn’t the case after The Last Jedi came out.
The Last Jedi was a controversial film among Star Wars fans, and while some loved it, others hated it. The Last Jedi came out in December 2017, and Solo was set to premiere a few months later in May 2018.
Star Wars fans argue that since so many people didn’t like The Last Jedi, and since The Last Jedi was still a fresh memory for fans, The Last Jedi caused fans to get Star Wars fatigue. This fatigue, in turn, caused those fans to not watch Solo.
