We’re not even halfway through the year yet and already, we’ve seen three movies enter the domestic top thirty for all-time opening weekends. Two of which, might we add, actually eclipsed the $200 million-plus milestone.
Unsurprisingly, the films in question all came from the superhero genre. Deadpool 2 ($125M) fell just short of setting the opening weekend record for an R-rated pic, which is held by its predecessor with $132 million. Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther ($202M), meanwhile, easily entered the top ten, earning the all-time biggest opening weekend haul for February. And while there’s no denying the impressiveness of T’Challa’s debut, it still pales in comparison to what Avengers: Infinity War did.
The Anthony and Joe Russo-directed blockbuster grossed an unprecedented $250 million-plus stateside, earning it the distinction of being the record holder for the largest opening weekend of all time domestically ($257M). It seems as if the box office momentum has just come to a grinding halt, however, as we’ve now witnessed one of the year’s most disappointing debuts: Solo: A Star Wars Story.
It’s unclear exactly what happened, but we’re learning today that the Anthology film made just $83.3 million. That’s worse than even Justice League, another highly anticipated release that severely underwhelmed at the box office ($93.8 million). As for the four-day forecast, it was initially projected to be about $130 million, with some even saying it could hit $150 million. Now, however, analysts are guessing it’ll be closer to $101 million.
Internationally, the spinoff’s earned $65 million to date. Combined, then, you’ve got a worldwide opening weekend gross of just $148.3 million. Obviously, we don’t need to tell you how disappointing that is. The last Star Wars spinoff, Rogue One, cleared $155 million domestically, and after adding in its international numbers, the global total sat at $290.5 million. That’s almost double what Ron Howard’s pic did.
As for why Solo: A Star Wars Story bombed so hard, well, it could be a number of things. For one, reviews weren’t particularly great, and there’s also been some hesitation about the project ever since it was first announced, with many people not interested in seeing anyone else play the titular character. Throw in all its production troubles and those damning reports from behind the scenes, and Lucasfilm is now staring down the barrel of their first true flop.