In the largest disturbance yet in Disney's otherwise lucrative reign over Star Wars, the Han Solo spinoff Solo: A Star Wars Story opened well below expectations with a franchise-low $83.3 million (Dh305.9m) in ticket sales over the three-day weekend in North American theatres.
Disney estimated on Sunday that Solo will gross $101 million over the four-day Memorial Day weekend, a figure below even the opening weekends of the much-derided Star Wars prequels. Last week, forecasts ran as high as $150 million for the four-day haul of Solo.
Overseas ticket sales were even worse. Solo, starring Alden Ehrenreich in the role made iconic by Harrison Ford, grossed $65 million internationally in its opening weekend, including a paltry $10.1 million in China.
"Of course we would have hoped for this to be a bit bigger," said Dave Hollis, Disney's distribution chief. "We're encouraged by the response that people have had to the film. It got a good CinemaScore (A-minus). The exits are very encouraging."
Solo came in with a Millennium Falcon's worth of baggage following the mid-production firing of directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who were replaced by Ron Howard. With the rejiggered production, the budget soared well past $250 million.
But the cause of the spinoff's disappointing performance may have had as much to do with Star Wars fatigue (The Last Jedi exited theatres just last month) and the stiffer competition of a summer holiday weekend. While no major releases dared to open against Solo, Fox's Deadpool 2 moved its release date up a week ahead of Solo.
The gambit may have hurt both releases. After debuting with $125 million last weekend, the R-rated Ryan Reynolds sequel dropped 66 per cent to second place with $42.7 million and an estimated $53.5 million four-day haul.
Solo notched the biggest Memorial Day weekend opening in several years, but it also came on the heels of a pair of a summer-sized blockbusters - Deadpool 2 and Disney's own Avengers Infinity War - making for an unusually crowded May. Infinity War added $16.5 million in its fifth weekend to bring its domestic total to $621.7 million and its global sales to $1.9 billion - both among the highest of all-time.
"It is a business that is built on momentum but also one where people probably are only able to get to theatres a certain number of weeks in a row," said Hollis.
But there were also questions beyond the effect the calendar had on Solo. While reviews were generally positive (71 per cent "fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes), there was little about Solo that made the movie a must-see event.
Fans were skeptical of Ehrenreich and uncertain about the dismissal of Lord and Miller (the popular filmmaking duo behind 21 Jump Street and The Lego Movie). Unlike any Star Wars' release before, Solo was deemed - gasp - skippable.
As it arrived intheatress, Disney might have been wishing it had instead made a Lando Calrissian spinoff with the red-hot Donald Glover, the star of TV's Atlanta. In the days ahead of release, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy said a Lando movie is a possibility.
While the original Star Wars films helped define the summer moviegoing experience, Disney released their previous three Star Wars films in December. What most hurt Solo was the "fatigue factor" of a May Star Wars film following a December one, said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for comScore.
"It's the compressed timeframe between the two Star Wars films and the highly competitive nature of this marketplace. It is summer, after all," said Dergarabedian. "The good news is that the next film isn't until December 2019. That's plenty of breathing space. I think part of the allure of the Star Wars brand in the past has been the long wait."
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Read more:
Donald Glover: 'All I ever wanted was to be part of the conversation'
The cast and crew on what a Han Solo origin film means for the Star Wars franchise
Review: Solo: A Star Wars Story is good, but should have been great
There are plenty of great movies coming to UAE cinemas over Ramadan
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Gulf Under 19s final
Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B
Usain Bolt's World Championships record
2007 Osaka
200m Silver
4x100m relay Silver
2009 Berlin
100m Gold
200m Gold
4x100m relay Gold
2011 Daegu
100m Disqualified in final for false start
200m Gold
4x100m relay Gold
2013 Moscow
100m Gold
200m Gold
4x100m relay Gold
2015 Beijing
100m Gold
200m Gold
4x100m relay Gold
THE BIO
Favourite author - Paulo Coelho
Favourite holiday destination - Cuba
New York Times or Jordan Times? NYT is a school and JT was my practice field
Role model - My Grandfather
Dream interviewee - Che Guevara
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
Generation Start-up: Awok company profile
Started: 2013
Founder: Ulugbek Yuldashev
Sector: e-commerce
Size: 600 plus
Stage: still in talks with VCs
Principal Investors: self-financed by founder
What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
AndhaDhun
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan
Rating: 3.5/5
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
The biog
From: Ras Al Khaimah
Age: 50
Profession: Electronic engineer, worked with Etisalat for the past 20 years
Hobbies: 'Anything that involves exploration, hunting, fishing, mountaineering, the sea, hiking, scuba diving, and adventure sports'
Favourite quote: 'Life is so simple, enjoy it'
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Basquiat in Abu Dhabi
One of Basquiat’s paintings, the vibrant Cabra (1981–82), now hangs in Louvre Abu Dhabi temporarily, on loan from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
The latter museum is not open physically, but has assembled a collection and puts together a series of events called Talking Art, such as this discussion, moderated by writer Chaedria LaBouvier.
It's something of a Basquiat season in Abu Dhabi at the moment. Last week, The Radiant Child, a documentary on Basquiat was shown at Manarat Al Saadiyat, and tonight (April 18) the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is throwing the re-creation of a party tonight, of the legendary Canal Zone party thrown in 1979, which epitomised the collaborative scene of the time. It was at Canal Zone that Basquiat met prominent members of the art world and moved from unknown graffiti artist into someone in the spotlight.
“We’ve invited local resident arists, we’ll have spray cans at the ready,” says curator Maisa Al Qassemi of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi's Canal Zone Remix is at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Thursday April 18, from 8pm. Free entry to all. Basquiat's Cabra is on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi until October
