'Solo' bombs at the box office taking in only $83 million over the weekend and $101 million by Memorial Day (DIS)

Solo2 Disney

"Solo: A Star Wars Story" earned an estimated $83 million over three days, $101 million by Memorial Day.
That's $29 million under original industry low-end projections for the movie.
This marks the lowest opening for a "Star Wars" movie since 2002's "Attack of the Clones" (not counting inflation).
"Solo" is the latest victim of disappointing Memorial Day weekend releases.

It turns out "Star Wars" is not bulletproof.

The beloved franchise released its latest "A Star Wars Story" movie over Memorial Day weekend by telling the origin story of space scoundrel Han Solo, and it greatly underperformed.

"Solo: A Star Wars Story" earned an estimated $83 million domestically over the weekend and is projected to take in $101 million by Memorial Day, according to Exhibitor Relations. That's $29 million off what the industry had for the movie's low-end projection.

In the middle of last week, "Solo" was projected to earn between $130 million and $150 million on 4,381 screens. If that held, "Solo" would be set up to be the latest "Star Wars" movie having a record-breaking box office opening — taking the crown from current Memorial Day record holder, 2007's "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" with $139.8 million.

But by the end of day Friday, Disney hinted that the weekend wouldn't go according to plan as it drastically adjusted that projection to between $105 million and $115 million over the four-day weekend.

The $101 million performance by Memorial Day for "Solo" would be strong for any other movie at any other studio — especially over a holiday weekend where audiences would rather be outside than in a theater — but for a "Star Wars" movie, this just doesn't cut it.

"Solo" went into the weekend on a strong note. The movie took in $14.1 million at Thursday night previews, a record for Memorial Day (beating "At World's End," which took in $13.2 million). But there were signs that the movie would not be a huge money maker like other "Star Wars" movies that have been released since Disney bought the franchise.

Even if "Solo" hit the high-end of its original industry projections, it wasn't likely to even have the opening weekend of 2016's "Rogue One," which took in $155 million, the lowest opening weekend for a "Star Wars" movie since "The Force Awakens."

Solo Disney final The opening three-day performance by "Solo" is the lowest for a "Star Wars" movie since 2002's "Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones," which took in $80 million. But back in 2002 that was quite a feat — counting inflation, that would be a $126.1 million opening in 2018.

"Solo" may have had in-production drama — the movie's original directors, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, were fired over creative differences and replaced by Ron Howard — but you can't equate that with its poor box office.

"Rogue One" had its own drama, as director Gareth Edwards had to take a backseat to the more experienced helmer Tony Gilroy during the reshoots of the movie, and that went on to earn over $1 billion at the global box office.

The weak performance by "Solo" is due more to three big obstacles — opening over Memorial Day weekend, "Star Wars" fatigue, and the movie's lackluster reviews.

Opening over the Memorial Day weekend, "Star Wars" was thrown headfirst into the cutthroat summer movie season (hits "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Deadpool 2" being the main combatants). It's a much more competitive time at multiplexes than December, which has been the home for "Star Wars" movies since "The Force Awakens."

Also, over the last decade moviegoers have been less interested to go to the theater over Memorial Day weekend, which for most areas of the country is the first time to enjoy the nice weather outside.

Pirates of the CaribbeanDeadMenTellNoTalesDisneyfinal Last year, "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales" opened over Memorial Day's four-day weekend and took in $78.4 million. That was just under its $80 million to $85 million projections, and the lowest opening for a "Pirates" movie since the first one, 2003's "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" ($46.6 million).

Other movies that opened over Memorial Day weekend and were DOA include "Tomorrowland" ($33 million opening weekend), "Alice Through the Looking Glass" ($26.8 million), and "X-Men: Apocalypse" ($65.7 million).

In this field, the "Solo" opening doesn't look so bad. But the rules change when you talk about "Star Wars."

Yes, "Star Wars" fatigue is a thing. With "Solo" opening five months after "The Last Jedi," audiences just weren't motivated for another story from the saga that quickly, even one about one of its most legendary characters. You could make the argument that Marvel released "Avengers: Infinity Wars" two months after "Black Panther" and there certainly wasn't any MCU fatigue.

But in that instance, it went from releasing an origin story followed by an established Avengers movie. It also didn't hurt that "Infinity War" practically starred every character from the MCU. Audiences weren't exhausted; they were pumped up for it. Also, things are a lot easier when both movies close to one another are great.

If "Solo" was a better movie, this would all be moot. But with its 71% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the lowest since "Attack of the Clones," it did not possess the have to see it first weekend hype that the other "Star Wars" movies had.

With all these factors combined, clearly for most, going to the beach or a barbecue was the better option this holiday weekend.

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