Solo Star Wars Story: Disney exec RESPONDS to disappointing box office opening

The spin-off movie hit $103 million at the US over the weekend, and tanked internationally with just $65 million.

By Star Wars standards – and considering the film’s almighty budget – that’s a very soft debut indeed; and way down on Rogue One’s $155 million US launch at the end of 2016.

Disney’s distribution chief Dave Hollis has implied that the company may rethink its release strategy for future Star Wars capers, with Solo coming out just one week after Deadpool 2 and a month after Avengers: Infinity War – both of which are still doing exceptionally well.

“There’s a question of frequency, and how many times people will go to the movies. Is this too much and too soon for a third time in a five-week period?” he told The Hollywood Reporter.

It’s not out of the question for Solo to fare well over the next couple of weekends, with the next big blockbuster – Jurassic World: The Fallen Kingdom – not due until June 22.

The Incredibles 2 will also prove a big draw when it lands on June 15.

“Let’s measure how we feel about this until more time passes,” Hollis said – but he was much clearer about his disappointment with regards to Solo’s international performance.

“We have a lot of work to do in trying to understand this,” he admitted.

“We are all over it and will spend a lot of time digging into why things happened the way they did in various markets. We have a year and a half before Episode IX comes out.”

Solo had a troubled route to the big screen: last year the directorship changed hands from Phil Lord and Chris Miller to Ron Howard, while the trailers earlier this year also failed to entice fans.

Plus, the film has come out just five months after the last main saga movie, Episode 8: The Last Jedi – indicating fans may not be excited enough yet for another film.

Solo fared well with those who saw it, though: its CinemaScore grade is A-.

Alden Ehrenreich plays Han Solo in the prequel, with Emilia Clarke, Woody Harrelson, Donald Glover and Phoebe Waller-Bridge also starring.

Solo: A Star Wars Story is out now.