Why Solo: A Star Wars Story disappointed at the box office
It's been more or less a year since Solo: A Star Wars Story was released to decent reviews but a disappointing box office, and now the film's director Ron Howard has revealed why he thinks the film was received in the way it was.
Solo's opening box office weekend was the lowest for the Star Wars franchise since Revenge of the Sith, and while Howard stressed that he feels "very good" about the way the film turned out, he admits that there were probably a number of factors at play that had a detrimental effect on the figures.
"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," he said on the latest episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast.
"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."
Related: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – Everything you need to know
Howard continued: "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'."
The director also addressed the issue of social media trolls who were lashing out at the franchise in the wake of the divisive The Last Jedi film, and suggested that they and fan fatigue had a role to play too.
"Whatever millions [Solo] made worldwide, those were the core fans, but it didn't hit that zeitgeist point, for whatever reason," he continued.
"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.
"It was especially noticeable prior to the release of the movie."
But the director stressed that he didn't take the response personally – although he did feel bad for the backlash lead star Alden Ehrenreich received.
We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article.
"I didn't take it personally at all, but I felt badly," he continued. "And I thought Alden didn't a really great job, an incredibly talented guy, and dedicated guy, and I had a blast with everybody.
"And look, a year later, it's kind of interesting, you wouldn't think you'd participate in a Star Wars project and have it be a cult movie, but I can already tell those who have affection for it are pretty adamant in their feelings, and that's nice."
The next movie in the franchise, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, will be released on Thursday, December 19 in the UK and Friday, December 20 in the US.
Want up-to-the-minute entertainment news and features? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @digitalspy Instagram and Twitter account.
('You Might Also Like',)
