Star Wars Han Solo movie: Global box office DISASTER on second weekend – WHY?

The even worse performance this weekend is disastrous on two fronts.

First, it is a huge disappointment for Disney and Lucasfilm and implies there is a major problem growing with an alienated fan base and unimpressed public.

Second, the movie is reported to be the most expensive Star Wars movie of all time but will take the least money by far of all ten releases so far.

Some optimistic observers had hopes that the weak opening weekend in the US could be blamed on it being Memorial Weekend, when many people make trips or plans. Early hopes that the film would find its legs in its second weekend have just been dashed in devastating fashion.

Most predictions estimate a take of $25-35million in the US, a huge drop over seven days and far behind Rogue One’s $68million in its second weekedn.

Solo is also tanking in international markets. It has only taken $10million in China and just over $1million in the huge South Korean market, compared to $334million and $92million for Infinity War.  

Even the usually reliable UK, which always posts enormous figures for any Star Wars movie, has only responded with $8million so far.

So, what went wrong?

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Many commentators are suggesting the movie is too safe and conventional. This seems slightly harsh, since much of the enormous backlash over The Last Jedi centred on how many liberties it took with the traditional tone and legacty of Star Wars.

There is considerable belief that cinemagoers are facing Star Wars fatigue, with barely five months beteween Episode 8 and Solo. Yet, Marvel has released Thor Ragnarok, Black Panther and Infinity War across seven months with enormous box office results.

Many fans sites are convinced that it is a fan backlash against The Last Jedi which has led to a cinema boycott.

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Either way, it seems unavoidable that the Star Wars shine has been badly tarnished over the last six months.

Disney and Lucasfilm have 18 months until the release of Episode 9 to analyse what happened and decide whether they will adjust their release schedule plans or pay any attention to fan unhappiness.

So much has changed since the triumphant return of The Force Awakens in 2015, what will Star Wars do next?

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