We’ve got a bad feeling about this.
As Solo: A Star Wars Story heads into its opening week, industry analysts have slashed estimates for the new Star Wars film’s Memorial Day weekend earnings in the face of lower than expected ticket sales on Thursday and Friday.
Solo is now on track to earn around $114 million during the four-day Memorial Day weekend window, placing it as the lowest opening weekend for any Star Wars film since LucasFilm’s acquisition by Disney. Industry forecasts based on audience polls and advance ticket sales had initially placed the Star Wars spinoff earning $170 million its opening weekend, which would’ve given it the all-time record for largest Memorial Day weekend box office earnings.
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The new box office forecasts come after Solo earned $35.6 million through Friday, with $14.1 million on Thursday night. While these earnings set a new record for Thursday box office leading into Memorial Day weekend, they still came in lower than anticipated. Coupled with a mixed critical reception and slow box office performance overseas, the adjusted opening weekend estimates mean 2007’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End maintains its record as the largest Memorial Day weekend opening while Solo is now on track to take the fifth place slot.
Before Solo‘s opening, 2016’s Rogue One had posted the lowest opening weekend for a Disney/LucasFilm Star Wars film. The first Star Wars spinoff earned $155 million during its holiday weekend opening.
In theaters now, director Ron Howard’s Solo: A Star Wars Story stars Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo, Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian, Emilia Clarke as Qi’ra, and Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca. They’re joined by Thandie Newton as Val, Phoebe Waller-Bridge L3-37, Paul Bettany as Dryden Vos, and Woody Harrelson as Tobias Beckett.
(via Variety)