Amph The 2018 Box Office Blood Ocean

Am I the only fan here who wants Solo to be a good movie?

 

No, I want it to be one -- but we've seen nothing (not even really the main character in costume) five months out and it had a troubled production and is five months after a loud minority of fans made people think fans hate Star Wars... so we're getting a "Hollywood process story" like every week for the next five months except the week Black Panther comes out.

 

But I'm calling it now. Solo: A Star Wars Story will cap out at 700 or maybe 800 million worldwide.

Which, to be fair, is freakin' fantastic just not TFA / R1 / TLJ levels. But I don't see it cracking a billion. The May release date where it lands in Blockbuster ville will ensure probably a shorter run than TFA / R1 and TLJ did. And, y'know, no Harrison Ford as Han Solo I think is a really hard sell. But, on the flipside, I can't foresee a world in the next 3 years where a Star War doesn't make at least 700 mil. But not a billion dollar grosser, that's for darn sure.

I did see a poster for Solo: A Star Wars Story outside the opening night of Last Jedi, that was really cool. And then it disappeared it seemed a few days later. :/ That counts as promotion!

Oh, okay, I'm calling Superbowl trailer too. That'll be the opening salvo. Yes, I've called Superbowl trailers for TFA / R1 and TLJ but THIS TIME I means it!

 

Here's what LFL should do. They should go over to Harrison Ford's house on their hands and knees and ask him to record a voice-over for the Han Solo movie. Preferrably also shoot an introduction scene and an end scene. In the Mos Eisley Cantina for all I care.

 

What Lucas called "The Young Indiana Jones maneuver..."

 

Part of me is hoping that Solo flops, because it might convince LFL to stop focusing on established character/concepts and instead go with something we haven't seen before.

 

Well, don't you also hate Emilia Clarke's acting, and want her to go away too?

 

You must be confusing me with someone else.

 

Very possibly!

I mean, I'm not a huge fan of her acting either, but I think there was someone else this year in one of the threads who mentioned hating her...

 

What story is there to tell about Han Solo? Unless it is a space version of Maria Full of Grace where Han Solo is one of the exploitative, muderous drug dealers that force impoverished women into stints as mules, this is going to be both dumb and dishonest.

 

Jabba-wocky in 1974: "What story is there to tell about Vito Corleone?"

 

I really think people are severely underestimating Solo. RO had a cast of nobodies and was still the #1 movie of 2016. I'm sure the idea of a Star Wars movie featuring a young Han Solo will be enough to draw in a large audience. The only movies I see being able to beat it are Jurassic World 2, Deadpool 2 and Avengers: Infinity War, but I still see it in the top 5 at least.

 

Solo is a wildcard, IMHO. If it works, it could do great business. We just have nothing to go on at the moment to make that call.

 

I will say, I would be more confident if they just say "You know what, we thought we could get this done by May -- but because we want to be sure we're putting out the best quality film we can, we're moving back to the new normal December release date."

EDIT:

It also had like the top-grossing Asian star of all time (Donnie Yen), an Academy Award winning actress in the lead, and a multi-cultural "war / men on a mission" theme -- which people tend to respond to.

Solo: A Star Wars Story has... Donald Glover. (and Woody, but his drawing power is not that of Donnie Yen )...

 

You forgot Emilia Clarke but we don't know the size or importance of her role just yet.

 

I... did not.

 

Watching important or profound transformations has always been an interesting dramatic point for stories. Whether it was the rise of the Empire/Fall of the Jedi (Lucas), the rise of the Corleone crime family (Coppola), or the transformation of a German businessman into a humanitarian, people have always liked to see how things come to be, or how people of interest change. Watching a petty criminal be a petty criminal. . .isn't that.

 

...where it can be crushed by Peter Jackson’s Mortal Engines.

 

PJ's crushing days ended with Bilbo's Big Adventure.

 

You underestimate the power of the Tween/YA crowd. Even I fear their strength.

 

Why not just say that you think it'd be crushed by Aquaman?

 

Because nothing will be crushed by Aquaman but the families of a few film industry people who needed the story to be halfway decent if they hoped to have continued employment as costumers, set designers, and gaffers.

 

What a wonderful idea, Jabba! At the start of the film, Han Solo is an angel, an honourable, floor sleeping young man, who's compassion for others is only outstripped by his own humility. Pious? He practically invented the word. He leads a good and noble life.

One day he comes across a cruel man who has a wookiee-slave. Han decides to do the right thing and buys the wookiee, intending to give him his freedom. The man laughs as he accepts. The wookiee insists he owes Han a life debt. While Han could never accept such a thing, he understands the wookiee has his own honour system, and Han reluctantly allows it. Thus begins Han's decent. They are in a cantina in the outer rim. Han is approaching patrons collecting donations for a local orphanage. While he does so, the wookiee is playing a game of chance. Han notices a commotion at the game and quickly approaches. In a ridiculous act of petulance, the wookiee has ripped off his opponents arms (fortunately, they could replace the poor nuns arms with prosthetics). Shocked and dismayed, Han immediately requests medical aid and law enforcement, both provided by the rightful government, aka The Empire. The wookiee laughs, knocks Han unconscious and goes back to their ship.

Now a fugitive from the law, Han cannot continue his good work. Through a series of events caused by this terrible wookiee, who tricked Han into thinking he was honourable, we eventually end up with the wretched person we see in ANH.