Movies: Solo: A Star Wars Story, 25 May 2018 Release (Early reviews are in)

[KingBran]

I do think this is probably the riskiest film they've tried so far. They have to nail a younger version of one of the most beloved Star Wars characters of all time. I actually kind of feel sorry for Ehrenreich. As if playing Han Solo wasn't a big enough task, now with the problems they've had in production, it's even more important that he pulls it off.

Yeah its going to suck no matter what because its not Harrison Ford. Its like when they introduced Jango Fett in AotC - to me it ruined the mystery and cool factor in Boba Fett. Sometimes characters are best left with the audience having their own feeling of them and where they came from and what they were like before. This movie will just ruin any mystique about Han Solo. I will watch it with an open mind though.

 

[discostu]

Yeah its going to suck no matter what because its not Harrison Ford. Its like when they introduced Jango Fett in AotC - to me it ruined the mystery and cool factor in Boba Fett. Sometimes characters are best left with the audience having their own feeling of them and where they came from and what they were like before. This movie will just ruin any mystique about Han Solo. I will watch it with an open mind though.

Since the cast was announced, with Donald Glover in the Lando role, it makes me wish the film was based around him as the lead. Test out someone as Han in a cameo or supporting role, but don't ask them to carry a film as a beloved character that launched one of the biggest movie stars of all time.

 

[KingBran]

Since the cast was announced, with Donald Glover in the Lando role, it makes me wish the film was based around him as the lead. Test out someone as Han in a cameo or supporting role, but don't ask them to carry a film as a beloved character that launched one of the biggest movie stars of all time.

Absolutely! Lando is someone I think would be a great character to make a movie about. he isn't a main character and he is interesting. Han... we know enough and we understand his personality and he has had a huge role and served his part. No need to exploit that.

 

[johnjm22]

Star Wars Han Solo movie trailer 'will be released on MONDAY'

 

[Tawnos]

Star Wars Han Solo movie trailer 'will be released on MONDAY'

I was wondering about that considering we're only 4.5 months away.

 

[johnjm22]

I was wondering about that considering we're only 4.5 months away.

It makes you wonder just how troubled the production is. Lots of rumors swirling.

 

[XX]

Have a feeling it's going to be hot garbage and that Disney might be better off taking the writedown rather than damaging a character.

 

[johnjm22]

"Disney is bracing themselves for the Han Solo movie to bomb," the source told ScreenGeek. "They were worried about it before all The Last Jedi controversy, but now they’re essentially writing Solo off. The lead actor, Alden Ehrenreich, can’t act, and they had a dialogue coach on hand for all of his scenes. On top of that, the script is unworkable. It’s going to be a car crash."

Star Wars: Source Claims Disney Preparing For 'Solo' to "Bomb"

I have a hard time believing that Disney expects this to bomb. Pretty much anything with the name Star Wars on it is good for a billion.

 

[Osprey]

I'm sure that it's relative. $500M would be a bomb for a Star Wars film nowadays, even though that would be a successful film for nearly any other franchise or subject matter. Expectations are so much higher and, even though it'll still be profitable, it'll damage the mystique of the franchise (making some people second guess paying to see further Star Wars films), be a wasted opportunity (basically, $500M less revenue than they could've gotten), and jeopardize the plan to have two more Solo sequels (which would be at least another $1B down the drain).

I can't believe that they're releasing it in May, only 5 months after the last film. People love Star Wars, but releasing them so closely apart is really taking that for granted. Even fans can get a little tired. Even one film per year is pushing it. You would think, especially since they're afraid of a "bomb," that they would play it safe and just move it to December, where at least people wanting to keep up their Star Wars at Christmas ritual would help bolster the box office numbers.

 

[discostu]

The fact that the lead actor is a concern is puzzling given how extensive the casting process was. The audition process stretched out months.

I also find the release date puzzling. It's sandwiched between Avengers, Deadpool and Jurassic films. Even if everything was going right for the film, that's a lot of competition from some of the strongest franchises out there.

 

[Jumptheshark]

The fact that the lead actor is a concern is puzzling given how extensive the casting process was. The audition process stretched out months.

I also find the release date puzzling. It's sandwiched between Avengers, Deadpool and Jurassic films. Even if everything was going right for the film, that's a lot of competition from some of the strongest franchises out there.

for the record This movie had its date announced prior to deadpool and Jurassic--both of whom dates were moved around--dead pool got moved again

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

I don't think Ron Howard would have taken job and came in to finish film or for Disney to have done that if they didn't think they could salvage film

 

[Drytoast]

Not interested in the slightest.

Star wars brand has been watered down into a blatant 2 hour kid commercial

 

[tacogeoff]

well. I might as well be optimistic since these threads are full of negativity. I think it will probably be a fun and enjoyable popcorn flick. just like all of the rest of them.

 

[discostu]

for the record This movie had its date announced prior to deadpool and Jurassic--both of whom dates were moved around--dead pool got moved again

Fair enough. At the same time, Disney was doing really well with the mid December slot, and summer is such a tough time to stand out among the weekly blockbusters.

One interesting element of this films success was that when it was announced, it was being used as a bit of a trial balloon for the Indiana Jones franchise. If audiences would accept a young actor as Hans Solo, they may accept a new Indy. Given the rumoured issues, this will put a potential pause in those plans.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

I don't think Ron Howard would have taken job and came in to finish film or for Disney to have done that if they didn't think they could salvage film

Or they delivered a dump truck of money to his house.

 

[Bjorn Le]

I suspect the interest in this movie is significantly less than Rogue One, and unquantifiably less than TFA and TLJ. Solo is one of the most memorable characters from the OT but in Star Wars, it's really hard to associate characters apart from their actors. Combined with production issues, a literal unknown playing young Solo, and his apparent acting issues, I could see a gross of "only" 500-600 mil. Which would be a bust for Disney.

Honestly, they should have done a Boba Fett movie, and not that horrible, "Boba Fett is a title not a man" idea, with Temura Morrison playing him and having it set after ROJ. It wouldn't have to be connected at all to the sequel trilogy. It would have been great. A Obi-Wan spinoff is a close second (and it sounds like that's going to be the third anthology movie). This Solo project (no pun intended) was a mistake from the start.

Or they delivered a dump truck of money to his house.

I don't think he's the type to do that. He's really the only reason I'm in the slightest optimistic about this.

 

[Osprey]

Or they delivered a dump truck of money to his house.

I suspect that the amount was nothing special for him--probably along the lines of some of his other films--but the opportunity to be paid like he was directing a whole film when he needed to do only half of the work was hard to pass up. I think that it's cool, though, that he re-shot more of the film than he was initially paid to, which suggests that he cares about his work and it's not just about money to him.

This Solo project (no pun intended) was a mistake from the start.

It really was. The idea that "Guardians of the Galaxy ripped off Han Solo, so let's rip off GotG and cash in on the demand" was an awful idea and it's amazing that so many supposedly smart people had to sign off on that to get to this point.

 

[discostu]

$500-600M would be a success for this film. I think it lands between $300-400M. Enough to break even, but, not much more.

 

[tacogeoff]

$500-600M would be a success for this film. I think it lands between $300-400M. Enough to break even, but, not much more.

domestically or worldwide?

I would probably peg it to hit worldwide around 600-800m at the least.

 

[discostu]

domestically or worldwide?

I would probably peg it to hit worldwide around 600-800m at the least.

Domestic. I should have clarified.

 

[johnjm22]

I suspect the interest in this movie is significantly less than Rogue One, and unquantifiably less than TFA and TLJ. Solo is one of the most memorable characters from the OT but in Star Wars, it's really hard to associate characters apart from their actors. Combined with production issues, a literal unknown playing young Solo, and his apparent acting issues, I could see a gross of "only" 500-600 mil. Which would be a bust for Disney.

If the previews look good, and it gets good reviews from "critics" (it probably will), then I think it will do as good as Rogue One if not better.

 

[Bjorn Le]

Domestic. I should have clarified.

Yeah, it's 500-600 mil worldwide that would be a massive disappointment.

If the previews look good, and it gets good reviews from "critics" (it probably will), then I think it will do as good as Rogue One if not better.

And we can't expect either of those things.

 

[Osprey]

Reports are that Howard re-shot up to 80% of the film and it's speculated that that nearly doubled the budget. These films have had ~$200M budgets, so we may be talking about a cost of production of ~$350M (most expensive film ever made) when all is said and done. That would require at least $700M in global box office sales (with at least 2/3rds of that domestic) just to break even. For the record, Rogue One took in $1B, so there's some room to under-perform compared to Rogue One and still eek out a profit, but not much. It's easy to see why it's rumored that Disney is bracing themselves.

 

[Bjorn Le]

I would believe that Howard would reshoot most of the film, but I can’t believe that the budget would double as a result. Don’t see how Disney could agree to that.