Staff Writer
The standalone Star Wars film, Solo: A Star Wars Story, was released on May 25, 2018 and unfortunately compared to other films in the franchise, did not do so well in the box office. Solo cost nearly $250 million to make, yet “only” pulled in an international total of $65 million its opening weekend which means it’s going to take a while to recover costs. And though it is entirely false to say $65 million isn’t a lot of money, for comparison, Rogue One (a Star Wars standalone film released in Dec. 2016) pulled in $155 in its first weekend and earned $1 billion overall. So why did Solo do so badly in the box office?
It’s possible that the movie didn’t perform well since Deadpool 2 was released just a week prior and Avengers: Infinity War a month earlier. These major releases may have dampened the hype surrounding Solo, but it also may have to do with the fact that The Last Jedi hit theaters only five months ago making fans less inclined to sit through another two hour film of loud “pew pews” and space action. The movies have been jam packed the past couple of years with Marvel and Star Wars films so it’s possible that people are just getting sick of it.
But the issue may not rest with any of these and may just be with the actual movie. Solo revolved around the backstory of smuggler and pilot Han Solo who is a beloved character in the Star Wars universe. Seeing anyone other than Harrison Ford play this iconic character could have easily off put fans from seeing the movie, but Alden Ehrenreich actually did a fantastic job of creating a young Han Solo that fans haven't ever seen before.
Though it was odd to see a new person as Han Solo, Ehrenreich performed fantastically in creating Han as a naive kid who wanted to be a pilot so badly, that he would do anything. This version of Han is very reminiscent of a young Luke Skywalker. Both are naive, don’t listen to authority, and will do whatever it takes for justice. Watching Han evolve throughout the movie into the coy trickster fans know him as was fun and answered a lot of questions about why Han Solo is the way he is in the later films.
Although not the best Star Wars movie, Solo was an action packed epic film full of fun references to previous films, a peak at the beginnings of some major characters, and overall just a really cool movie. It may be unlike other films Star Wars fans are used to, but it’s worth the watch so be sure to check it out and keep an open mind before going!
