While Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is coming up in December, director Ron Howard is calling out trolls as a reason for Solo‘s poor box office returns.
Solo: A Star Wars Story director Ron Howard hit success in his personal career with Solo, but it was a disappointment for the Star Wars franchise and he’s well aware. While many fans loved it, Solo only made $392 million at the worldwide box office.
Earlier this week, Ron Howard was a guest on the Happy Sad Confused Podcast and discussed Solo‘s disappointing box office returns. He brought up the notion of core Star Wars fans vs. “tagalong” or casual fans, who wait for the movie to become popular before seeing it. These fans want to see the buzz and word-of-mouth popularity before seeing the movie. Howard told host Josh Horowitz the following:
“I feel very good about the way it turned out. I love the way it played to audiences, which I witnessed and was a part of. So all of that I’m able to feel good about. Sure, I wish it would’ve done [better] and lived up to the box office and so forth, so that’s disappointing. Why? Maybe it’s the release. Maybe it’s the idea that it’s sort of too nostalgic, going back and revisiting an origin story for a beloved character may not be what the fans were looking for. It kind of seemed to me, looking at it, the opening — which was big, not as big as the others, it was probably my biggest opening, personally, it was still disappointing to them — I think those are the hardcore fans. It sort of tells you how many people are tagalongs who need to wait to see what people think and whether it’s essential, if it’s a zeitgeist movie or not, and whether it’s just ‘I love Star Wars and I want to see what’s next.”
Before Solo even debuted, it had mixed reviews, which could’ve led the casual fans to dodge the movie. Ron Howard had more to say on the subject and also talked about “trolls” being a reason for the poor returns:
So whatever millions [Solo] made worldwide, those were the core fans, but it didn’t hit that zeitgeist point, for whatever reason. Timing, young Han Solo, pushback from the previous movie, which I kept hearing was maybe something. And some trolling, definitely some trolling. Some actual aggressive… It was pretty interesting. Not so much, a little bit the Twitter feed, yes, but it was especially noticeable prior to the release of the movie.
This was before Rotten Tomatoes implemented a change to its score rules, which now require proof of purchase before ratings count.
Do you think Solo: A Star Wars Story would’ve had a better chance without trolling? Do you think trolling is the reason for the film’s poor box office results? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Here is the synopsis for Solo: A Star Wars Story:
Board the Millennium Falcon and journey to a galaxy far, far away in Solo: A Star Wars Story, an all-new adventure with the most beloved scoundrel in the galaxy. Through a series of daring escapades deep within a dark and dangerous criminal underworld, Han Solo meets his mighty future copilot Chewbacca and encounters the notorious gambler Lando Calrissian, in a journey that will set the course of one of the Star Wars saga’s most unlikely heroes.
Directed by Ron Howard from a script written by Lawrence Kasdan and son Jon Kasdan, the film stars Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Joonas Suotamo, Paul Bettany and Ian Kenny.
Solo: A Star Wars Story is now available on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-Ray, DVD, and Digital HD.
Source: Happy Sad Confused Podcast (via CinemaBlend)
