The underwhelming launch of ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ could lead Lucasfilm to reevaluate its release schedule.
The movie studio had originally intended to release one film per year if it means there is anything shorter than a 12-month gap, but after ‘Solo’ recently proved to be a box office disappointment, the firm is now reconsidering its approach.
The Ron Howard-directed sci-fi film raked in $103 million in the US and $65 million overseas, despite a concerted promotional campaign.
By contrast, ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ earned as much as $155 million in the US and $1.056 billion internationally.
An insider has told The Hollywood Reporter that the studio doesn’t intend to abandon its one-film-per-year ambition, but it doesn’t intend to release two ‘Star Wars’ films so close together, either.
News of the film’s underwhelming performance at the box office comes shortly after Ron revealed he saw ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ as a "creative experiment".
The acclaimed filmmaker – who took over as director of the spin-off when Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were let go of – relished the experience of making the new movie.
He shared: "I was very grateful for a lot of the ideas that had been established, so there was something that I wasn’t a party to or witness, which is this classic case of creative differences.
"But that doesn’t mean that there wasn’t a lot of good ideas. There were also new ideas that I was able to bring to the table. In some instances we’d change stuff a lot, and other instances we’d use elements of what was in place, and something we’d use a scene entirely – and they’re brilliant guys.
"For me, it was a kind of creative experiment to build on some cool creative thoughts and some fun ideas that had been launched ahead of me – and under pressure, because I did come in and there was a release date that the studio had in mind."
Solo: A Star Wars Story flop ‘could prompt Lucasfilm rethink’
