Solo The Digital/Blu-Ray Release of Solo: A Star Wars Story - Sept.14/Sept. 25

Yep! I was predicting this too. Vindication!

 

If they got the marketing right, and released Solo in December, I really think this film would've been just as much of a Box Office monster as Rogue One.

 

I would love to see Solo in December, I will be missing my Christmas SW experience in cinema BUT there is no way that Solo would be so big as R1. Just look at R1 trailer, There is NOTHING in Solo that they could show us in trailers that would be as exciting. It was good film for some hardcore fans, it was not a film that could interest general public.

 

Cant edit my previous post

And by the way numbers are not that great. Solid but thats it.
After 3 weeks Solo DVD and Blu-ray sales is US are at 24 Mln $. If you compare it to other main films after 3 weeks TLJ had 48 M, Jumanji 42M , Deadpool2 28M, Thor 37M, Avengers 52M.
https://www.the-numbers.com/home-market/packaged-media-sales-chart/2018/09/30

 

Just to think we could have been sitting here with Solo being released in theatre's in about a months time.....Ron Howard would have had plenty of time to do some tweaks & could have been looking at a box office of about $700 - $800 mill worldwide.....

 

There are innumerable people in my network who’ve lamented not having a SW film this holiday season. They all would have flocked to Solo and brought family and friends. I think this timing decision was the first big mistake Disney made with the franchise. And it’s all on Iger. Kennedy knew better.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't Solo's May release in theaters be a return to normal for Star Wars films?

Star Wars: May 25th, 1977
ESB: May 20th, 1980
ROTJ: May 23rd, 1983
TPM: May 19th, 1999
AOTC: May 15th, 2002
ROTS: May 17th, 2005

And if I recall, the only reason TFA came out in December was due to JJ needing more time to complete it wasn't it? That's why we now somewhat "expect" a December release for SW.

Otherwise Rouge One, and TLJ, would've been in May (according to scheduling from an original May release for TFA) which would've put Solo's May release right on track (with a year wait from TLJ).

 

That isn't really the point though.

What matters is that TFA, Rogue One and TLJ all came out in December, and all one year apart. That's the recent trend. Whether it was always meant to be that way, or whether it used to be that way decade(s) in the past, isn't all that relevant for that.

The December slot worked great for the movies, and as it turns out, waiting less than a year for the next one wasn't a good idea. I don't think that Solo would have come anywhere near Rogue One if it had been released in December (or in a relatively empty spot in August/September), there just didn't seem nearly as much interest in this one right from the get go, but it certainly seems like it would have been more successful if they had opted for a longer break and a less crowded environment.

And if you want to go with how things were supposed to happen: ANH was supposed to be a December release

 

Yes but by good fortune Disney released TFA, RO & TLJ in December and found to be very profitable & probably made more money on those films than a May release & as we found out Solo failed in May & most probably would have made far more money if it had been released this December so I personally prefer the December releases & now I believe Star Wars will stay in December from now on because it would be hard to put any spin offs back in May as now it seems to risky after the Solo debacle...........

 

Exactly. The current December trend, which was very popular and profitable for three years, was unwisely broken.

Not to mention that the original Star Wars films that were released in May didn’t have the massive summer competition you see now with the Marvel movies, etc.

 

Agree in part, I don't think another release date would somehow more than double SOLO's boxoffice.
Also agree that another, less crowded date might have helped. Say early august, there you had the Meg, MI:Fallout, Crazy Rick Asians etc.
SOLO might have done better there.
This december? If the goal was for a less crowded time then this december is not that.
Aquaman, Mary Poppins, Bumblebee, Into the Spiderverse and so on. Several of these have pretty good advance buzz but many analyst think that their opening weekend will be somewhat muted due to the competition.
If SOLO had been dropped here and assuming no other film had moved, then I think it is possible that it's opening would have been less than what it made in May. Might have had better legs though.

Bye.
Old Stoneface

 

Again, competition wasn’t the main issue. It was merely three months of marketing, and cutting against the December expectations, that hurt Solo. This was especially problematic because audiences needed to be sold on Alden’s Han Solo.

 

If SOLO would be released this December then competition would very much be an issue with all the other big films opening.

SOLO had DP2, that opened the week before and IW, which was on it's fifth.
The second week the new films did not open very big and yet Solo dropped quite hard.
It's second weekend drop was about as big as DP 2 but DP2 had to face a new SW movie that made about 85/103 M while SOLO faced three films that made less than 20 M combined.
Third weekend, the new films made less than 60 M and SOLO dropped a little less than 50%.

So yes, SOLO did not face that much competition and yet it's legs were not that good.
Which suggests that WOM was not that great.
It had a little over 100 M for the four day weekend so a lot of people saw the film.

Or take the previous year, the fifth Pirates film had a 4-day of about 78 M and it had quite bad reviews and a series that people were kind of tired of.
And yet it dropped about as much as SOLO did it's second weekend and it faced WW, which made over 100 M.

Marketing primarily affects opening day or opening weekend.
After that reviews and WOM tends to be more important.
If a film does HUGE opening weekend that can attract people and conversely, if a film "bombs" opening weekend, that can drive people away.
SOLO opened a bit below expectations but over 100 M for the 4-day is by no means terrible.

But yes, marketing can matter, take Aquaman. Right after JL flopped, people did not have high hopes for that film.
The marketing started at Comic Con so about five months before opening.
And while the film is not out yet, people are a bit more optimistic and think it might do well.
And there is also a longer break between films, to put more time between this and JL.

So SOLO could certainly have benefited from longer marketing and better marketing, the first teaser was not that good in my opinion.
At best I see it possibly making 100 M more domestic and maybe as much more overseas.
A billion? Don't see it.
But having it this December I think might not have helped considering the kill-zone it is now.
Early August might have worked better, Suicide Squad and the first Guardians did quite well there.

Bye for now.
Blackboard Monitor

 

Solo was not a "must watch" story.

These kinds of movies tailored for the more hardcore audiences do not have a bright future if Solo is how alternative material not directly tied to an episode will be received by the GA.

 

It could’ve easily been marketed as a “must watch” film over 12 months, though. Just emphasize the epic bits, do a ton more TV show appearances, build anticipation through a few more trainers and TV spots, present it as a must for the holidays, and you’re there.

 

But it would be a total lie as its NOT "must watch"
Next year when I'll be watching marathon before Ep IX I will watch Ep I II III , few clone wars episodes, Rebels "Twilight of the Apprentice" episode, R1, Ep IV V Vi VII VIII and I'll be skipping Solo as something not important to overall story.

 

Agreed, the better place for Solo was on a TV mini series. Maybe a 3 part where we see more of Maul and Q'ira.

 

But SOLO is not really very Epic.
It is a heist film.
It has some action yes but not on a very epic scale.

And several of the characters in the film we know can't die so there is not that much tension.
It is a film that shows us how Han met Chewie and how he won the MF and so on.
Neat but not really a must see.

Bye for now.
Old Stoneface

 

I was talking about marketing. And there are plenty of epic elements to the film that could be exmphasized. It takes place across six planets, it includes an escape from a black hole and a giant space octopus, etc. This isn’t rocket science.

A lie? You clearly don’t know the difference between objectivity and subjectivity. To you, it’s not a must watch film. To me, it was. I’ve been waiting for something like it for a long time, and it’s best seen in the theater. And the job of the marketers is to convince as many people as possible that they really should see the movie in the cinemas. Something I agree with. There’s no lying. It’s simply persuasion from a subjective point of view.

 

Having several locations in of itself is not very epic.
The film is a heist film so emphasize that.
Make it look exciting and tense.

For marketing to try make a film look like something it really isn't can backfire.

There was a horror film some years ago that had a very misleading trailer and the film was very different from what the trailer made it seem and people were angry.

Or take the third Apes film. The title suggested big action, "WAR" and the trailers made it look very action packed and epic.
But the film isn't really that.
I felt that it was very good and it did get good reviews but the BO was down quite a bit from the previous film.

[/QUOTE]

The marketers did manage to convince about 100 M$ worth of people to see the film opening 4-day weekend. But the film drops subsequent weekends suggest that the WOM was not that great.
Marketing can give you a big opening day or opening weekend, after that it more down to reviews and WOM.

Bye for now.
Mr "Insert_Name_Here."

 

The marketers did manage to convince about 100 M$ worth of people to see the film opening 4-day weekend. But the film drops subsequent weekends suggest that the WOM was not that great.
Marketing can give you a big opening day or opening weekend, after that it more down to reviews and WOM.

Bye for now.
Mr "Insert_Name_Here."[/QUOTE]

OW was way, way, way too low for a Star Wars film. Awareness was the problem with Solo. There’s no evidence that poor WOM played a role.

 

Other than SOLO having the worst legs of the recent SW films and having a worse second weekend drop than Pirates 5, that faced a 100 M Wonder Woman while SOLO faced three new films that made less than 20 M combined.
And Pirates 5 managed to have slightly better legs than SOLO and it faced bad reviews and that series had long since worn out it's welcome.

R1 and TFA both managed over a 3X multiplier, TLJ did not but had a better mult than SOLO.

So yes, there is evidence that WOM was not great.
And to me, it was nowhere near great enough that the film would more than double it's BO if it just had some more months of marketing.

There was somewhat of a lack of interest before it opened and the opening was decent but less than the projections.
And those that did see it did not cause a huge surge of interest for others to see it. Instead it dropped fairly hard.
Compare MI:Fallout, it had a smaller opening and yet bigger domestic gross.

Bye.
Old Stoneface

 

My friends are all between casual and pretty big Star Wars fans, and a grand total of one (1) of them saw Solo while it was in theaters, despite all having expressed interest in it. They just didn't have time once it was released, a lot of them didn't realize it was coming out the weekend it did (I heard a fair amount of "I thought that was coming out in December?") and some of them had already dropped all the money they were willing to spend on movies that month on Avengers: Infinity War and Deadpool 2. The ones who have since had a chance to watch Solo have all liked it. I don't think the movie ever would have hit $1 billion, but I think releasing it in December would have helped it hit $750-$800 million easily.

 

That is part of a problem. People LIKE this movie but it is "light" like. There are no big emotions when you think about Solo. People don't LOVE it, don't hate it, There is little talk about this movie in podcasts or other media.
Its a curse of safe movie without epic story.