Tag Archives: solo: a star wars story

Ocean’s 8 Snags the Top Spot While Hereditary Opens Big By Buzz

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Ocean’s 8 topped the weekend box office with the best opening for the franchise (not adjusting for inflation). With an estimated $41.5 million, the film outperformed estimates. It also earned $12.2 million at the foreign box office bringing its total to $53.7 million for the $70 million budgeted film. It will face tough competition as Incredibles 2 opens this coming week and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom the weekend after that.

The film earned a “B+” CinemaScore from the audience and was 69% female and 69% aged 25 years or older. The 11% that was 18 years or younger gave the film an “A” CinemaScore. We’ll see what the legs are but the film could be counter programming for the over the top summer films.

Dropping to second place was Solo: A Star Wars Story which earned an estimated $15.15 million bringing the domestic total to $176.1 million. The film also earned an stimated $11.3 million overseas to bring that total to $136.1 million for a global total of $312.2 million. The film has yet to open in Japan which happens on June 29. Expect this film to struggle to make it to $400 million worldwide.

Deadpool 2 slid to third place with an estimated $13.7 million to bring its domestic total to $278.7 million. Internationally the film added $18.5 million to bring that total to $376.6 million and a worldwide total of $655.3 million.

Fourth place say a new film, Hereditary which is the movie buzz right now. Driven by a strong word of mouth, the film earned an estimated $13 million beating projections. With a budget of just $10 million, everyong must be happy. Interestingly, the film received a “D+” CinemaScore from audiences. The audience was 58% male with 74% under 34 years of age.

Capping of the top five was Avengers: Infinity War which earned an estimated $6.8 million to bring its domestic total to $654.7 million. It added $10.9 million internationally to bring its worldwide total to $1.998 billion. It’ll be the fourth film ever to top $2 billion.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom opened in 48 overseas markets bringing in an estimated $151.1 million. It opens in North America on June 22 and rolls out in 21 overseas territories over the month. China is on June 15, Australia and Brazil June 21, Mexico is June 22, and Japan on July 13.

In other comic film news….

Black Panther dropped a few spots to come in at #22 with an estimated $137,000. The film has brought in $699.4 million domestically and $1.346 billion worldwide.

We’ll be back in an hour with an even deeper dive into 2018’s comic films.

Vynl.: Solo: A Star Wars Story – Han Solo and Lando Calrissian this August

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I’ve got a really good feeling about this!

The galaxy’s most famous smuggler and rebel pilot walk into an establishment for a friendly game of sabacc and arguably the most famous starship in any galaxy changes hands.

And now you can bring both owners of the Millennium Falcon, not to mention the galaxy’s coolest frenemies, home for intergalactic hijinks and maybe even a rebellion or two against the Galactic Empire.

Vynl.: Solo: A Star Wars Story – Han Solo and Lando Calrissian is out this August from Funko.

Watching Solo: A Star Wars Story: Together. Listen to the Show on Demand and on the Go.

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On demand: iTunes ¦ Sound Cloud ¦ Stitcher ¦ BlogTalkRadio ¦ Listed on podcastdirectory.com

What we really wanted was a Lando movie. Does a Han Solo prequel have much to offer Star Wars fans? How about with a revolutionary droid by his side!? What do two life long Star Wars fans and political organizers think of the latest installment in the Star Wars empire?

Elana is joined by Steven Attewell for this brand new episode of Graphic Policy Radio. Steven writes about the intersection of history, politics, and pop culture in “The People’s History of the Marvel Universe” for Graphic Policy. In his day job, He teaches public policy at CUNY’s Murphy Institute for Labor Studies. He is the founder of Race for the Iron Throne.

Solo Slumps But Takes First Domestically While Deadpool 2 Tops the International Box Office

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Solo: A Star Wars Story suffered a steep drop in its second weekend at the box office taking in an estimated $29.3 million. That’s a drop of 65.3% from its debut week and put its domestic gross at $148.9 million. The film also earned $30.3 million to bring its international total to $115.3 million and worldwide total to $264.2 million. Compared to the three other Disney Star Wars releases, Solo is far behind at the same point of their runs. After two weekends The Force Awakens had over $540 million, Rogue One was over $286 million, and The Last Jedi was over $368 million. The film isn’t even performing at the 1/3 drop we’ve seen between first and second films in the Star Wars franchise. The recent trilogy saw exactly that but Solo is about 51% of what Rogue One was at this point (and yes, we know they’re not sequels).

Deadpool 2 held steady in second place with an estimated $23.3 million. Domestically the film has earned $254.7 million after three weeks. The film took the top spot at the international box office bringing in an estimated $41.5 million which brought that total to a little over $344 million. Part of that jump at the international box office was the film’s debut in Japan where it earned $5.5 million.

In third place was the debut of Adrift which earned an estimated $11.5 million. The film also earned $350,000 at the foreign box office. The drama has a budget of $35 million and will likely match that when its run is done.

Avengers: Infinity War dropped one spot from last weekend to come in fourth. The film earned an estimated $10.4 million to bring its domestic total to $642.9 million. The film also added an estimated $24.3 million at the international box office to bring that total to $1.322 billion. Together, the film has earned $1.965 billion and is just $35 million short of topping $2 billion which would make it the fourth film to have done so. Expect that to happen in the next two weeks.

Rounding out the top five was Book Club which earned $6.8 million. The film has earned $47.3 million in total domestically so far in its run.

in other comic movie news…

Black Panther came in at #18 with $247,000 to bring its domestic total to $699.1 million. With its $646.2 million at the foreign box office the film has earned $1.345 billion so far in its run.

The Death of Stalin improved to come in at #37, up from last week’s #38. The film added $29,102 to its total to bring that to $7,943,777.

My Friend Dahmer which was released domestically in 2017 opened up in Australia where it earned $8,801 from two theaters.

We’ll be back in an hour for a deeper dive in to 2018’s comic releases.

Solo Stumbles Leading the Memorial Day Weekend

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Solo: A Star Wars Story topped the Memorial Day weekend box office but fell short of expectations and projections. The film earned an estimated $83.3 million over the three days and should be about $100 million once the four day weekend is over. Disney had projected the film would earned between $130-150 million for the four day weekend. With a $300 million budget before advertising, that’s a massive stumble for the Star Wars franchise. Internationally the film brought in about $65 million with only Japan as a major market yet to see its release as well as Croatia and Trinidad next weekend.

The weekend was generally up from the previous year where the three day weekend almost equaled the total from the four day weekend. So, we can eliminate individuals not going to the movies as to the issue.

The film’s issue absolutely had something to do with a crowded market that saw Deadpool 2 open the previous weekend and Avengers: Infinity War two weeks earlier. That latter film had its opening date moved up a week due to the crowded market. The one thing that may be in Solo‘s favor is that things are pretty clear until June 22nd when Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom opens. Still, the film will be lucky to cross the $200 million mark and will likely be one of the lowest grossing Star Wars films ever. The film also received a positive review from audiences with an “A-” CinemaScore but it was the first Disney Star Wars film to not get an “A.” The audience was 58% male and 64% over the age of 25.

In second place was Deadpool 2 which saw a 66% drop to earn $42.7 million and bring its domestic total to $207.4 million. The film almost beat Solo internationally with an estimated $57 million there. The film opens in Japan on June 1. Worldwide the film has brought in $487.1 million.

Avengers: Infinity War came in third place with an estimated $16.5 million. Domestically the film has earned $621.7 million and worldwide $1.905 billion. It remains as the fourth largest global release of all-time.

In fourth place was Book Club with an estimated $9.4 million which brought its total to $31.8 million.

Rounding out the top five was Life of the Party with an estimated $5.1 million to bring its total to $39.1 million domestically.

In other comic movie news….

Black Panther slipped just one spot to earn an estimated $453,000 after 15 weeks. The film’s domestic total is $689.6 million and $1.345 billion worldwide.

The Death of Stalin improved to come in at #32 with an estimated $38,742 to bring its domestic total to $7.9 million.

We’ll be back in an hour to do a deeper dive into this year’s comic adaptations.

About that [Spoiler] at the end of Solo: A Star Wars Story

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NOTE: This article contains spoilers. Don’t read unless you have already seen the movie! 

I really liked Solo: A Star Wars Story. I pretty much word-for-word agree with my colleague Brett in his review here, which you should also go read.

But several of my friends asked me the same question. . .  “What the heck? Darth Maul?”

His inclusion is brilliant. A theme of Solo is that everyone has a boss, everyone answers to someone. And so Han’s motivation almost the entire film is just to get a ship and fly away from it all — to be free. It’s a very interesting parallel to Maul, who continually flees from his would-be Sith masters/oppressors and trying to be his own man. However, Han Solo truly just wants freedom. Maul wants revenge.

It’s a masterful inclusion that not only works as perfect nerd candy, but also goes directly to the heart of the theme of the film.

A word on spoilers (looking sideways at you, Variety, and other mainstream outlets whose headlines scream DARTH MAUL!!!! without a thought of spoiling the movie. Of course, none of my friends are terrible enough to spoil the movie in the open– we’re asking in private messages, spoiler-devoted Facebook groups, and so on. Please be like them. Let people enjoy this, because, for me, it was one of the most beautiful reveals in the film. (The others were cameos by both Warwick Davis and Clint Howard and a mention of Teräs Käsi, a reference to the second worst Star Wars video game of all time.)

But back to Darth Maul. Most fans — even big fans — will go into this and say, “Wait. . .  isn’t he dead?”

I will admit, this was my first thought as well, since Maul met his final end on Tatooine in a beautiful duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi in Season 3 of Star Wars Rebels.

But then you remember, Rebels is taking place only a few years before the events of Star Wars: A New Hope (or, in uber-nerdy in-canon parlance, Before the Battle of Yavin [BBY] or After the Battle of Yavin [ABY]). Maul died approximately 2-3 years BBY, and the events of Solo take place anywhere from 10-13 years BBY.

But, wait, how is Maul still alive after getting chopped in half by Obi-Wan Kenobi at the end of The Phantom Menace? 

To that, we need to go to to the Star Wars comics and The Clone Wars cartoon, which have a bunch of great Maul-centric episodes and arcs. Let me lay some of them out, and then you can use these handy links to watch them on Netflix. (Really, you should just watch all of Clone Wars. The first season is a bit uneven, but it gets REALLY good.)

Backstory:

Season 3, Episodes 12-14: Count Dooku has a secret apprentice, Asaaj Ventress (again, you should really watch the whole show!), and he is ordered to eliminate her and goes to replace her. His replacement is Savage Oppress, who bears a striking resemblance to Darth Maul (except he’s yellow instead of red).

Darth Maul Returns:

Season 4, Episodes 21-22: Brothers / Revenge: Savage Oppress goes on a quest to find his long-lost brother, who he feels is alive. He finds him — insane — on the junk planet of Lotho Minor, where he has built himself crazy spider legs out of junk and has somehow managed to stay alive. The one thing Maul clings to is revenge against Obi-Wan Kenobi, and he and Oppress leave on a mission to take it. They end up fighting Kenobi and Ventress, who only barely escape. This leads to. . .

Season 5, Episode 1: Revival:  Maul and Oppress rampage across the Outer Rim, beginning to put together an underworld gang of pirates. This is the first time Maul refers to himself as a “Crime Lord.” When the face off against notorious pirate Hondo Onaka teamed up with Obi-Wan, they escape again, only barely alive.

Season 5, Episodes 14-16: Maul and Oppress put together a crime syndicate backed by Black Sun, the Hutts, the Pykes (who are also namechecked in Solo as a rival gang to Crimson Dawn), and rogue Mandalore clan Death Watch. (Of note: Pre Vizsla, the leader of Death Watch, is voiced by none other than Jon Favreau, who also voices Rio Durant in Solo)

Together, under the name of  The Shadow Collective, they take over Mandalore, drawing in the Jedi and exacting a personal price on Kenobi. I maintain that the episode “The Lawless” is better than a lot of the prequel trilogy in its stakes, emotions, and cinematic achievement. Worth a watch, for this scene only:

At the end of “The Lawless,” we see Maul and Oppress defeated and in retreat and then facing off against a very angry Darth Sidious / Emperor Palpatine. At the end, he says, “Don’t worry. I’m not going to kill you. I have other uses for you.”

And then The Clone Wars was cancelled.

Luckily, some of the unproduced scripts outlined what Palpatine’s plans were for Maul, which were then published in the comic series Son of Dathomir. During this, we see Maul go to war against General Grevious and Dooku, and his Shadow Collective in ruins.

Apparently, from this, Maul has been working in the intervening years to form Crimson Dawn, the criminal group that Qi’ra and Dryden Vos work for.

Wait, but is all this canon, you might ask?

Yes. 100% it is.

Back when Lucasfilm hit the reset button on their Extended Universe and turned all of that content into “Legends,” they kept all six of the produced films as canon, along with The Clone Wars, and then all comics and books from thereafter would be officially canonized.

So, that’s how Darth Maul makes sense being included in Solo. One of the best things I can say about Solo is it makes me want a sequel. I’d love to see what happens next as the stories of Han Solo, the Hutts, Lando, Qi’ra, and Darth Maul all are destined to intertwine some more.

For more of my thoughts on Solo in podcast form, check out the Bored as Hell Podcast. 

Movie Review: Solo: A Star Wars Story

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We’ve all heard the rumors and know the reality that Solo: A Star Wars Story, the latest entry into the yearly Star Wars movie release schedule, was a full on production disaster. Directors were replaced. Rumors of actors unable to do the basics and in need of coaches. A script that was a mess. With all of that you’d expect what has wound up on screen to be an utter disaster. But, that’s the farthest thing from reality. Solo: A Star Wars Story is actually pretty fun.

Is it high art? No. Is it as good as the original trilogy? No. But, it’s a solid popcorn film that has enough new and enough winks and nods to make Star Wars fans and non-fans happy.

If you go into the film expecting what has come before, you’l be disappointed. Solo: A Star Wars Story is a departure from what has been released in many ways. While it is the second stand-alone film, Rogue One being the first, it’s also the first real stand alone film. Rogue One was a prequel to the original trilogy tying directly into it with its final scene and delivering a pretty key story to the adventure. Solo is something different. While the film obviously ties into everything that has happened, it also isn’t a vital tie-in. It’s a film set in the Star Wars universe as opposed to a film that’s a must watch fleshing out the story of the original trilogy.

Solo: A Star Wars Story is interesting in so many ways because of all of this. The film is the right direction for the franchise and while it stumbles at times, it’s entertaining. The story follows Solo as he joins the criminal underworld and we see key moments of his career. There’s his meeting of Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian but there’s also a lot that’s new. There’s also some interesting fleshing out of the Star Wars universe with hints and direct tie-ins that should make long time fans happy.

Solo is a gangster/crime/heist film set in the Star Wars universe. At its heart there’s little that’s new. A job is screwed up and the crew must make up for it with a bigger heist. That plot has been seen before. But, it hasn’t been seen in a Star Wars film. The heist plot has been seen in the animated spin-offs though and this film feels like it has more in common with Star Wars: Rebels, the latest animated television series, than anything else.

The film hits the right notes and at times things feel like a checklist when it comes to that. We get Chewie, Lando, and the Kessel run. None of it is surprising and it’s all fan service. But, it’s a fun ride with some great visuals and a presentation that feels unique.

The cast is all over in their ability. Alden Ehrenreich steps into the role Harrison Ford made as Han Solo and at times he channels Ford and at other times he’s about as far away in delivery as one can get. It’s not bad but it’s also not a star-making turn. Joonas Suotamo repeats as Chewbacca and the character feels appropriately younger and more physical. Woody Harrelson as Becket is the gang leader and he brings his curled smile that he delivers in so many roles. Emilia Clarke is the love interest who is good but something is missing that we get at the end of the film. Where her character goes is what we should have seen more of. Donald Glover steals the show as Lando Calrissian. He channels Billy Dee Williams at times sounding exactly like Williams. Glover’s performance emphasizes how off Ehrenreich’s Solo is at times. Glover is so good it makes every else look far behind (other than Suotamo). Thandie Newton‘s Val is underused and Paul Bettany‘s creepy Dryden Vos is a sleezy mob boss and great on screen. The film’s break out star is Phoebe Waller-Bridge‘s L3-37, the film’s robot compadre. L3-37’s belief in robot rights and being convinced of Lando’s crush is the thing of entertainment and delivers something special to a film which would be so much less without.

As I mentioned, the film visually is great and the characters and sets look fantastic. This is a grittier film in many ways showing the coldness of space and the Empire’s machine. This is a Star Wars universe I want to see more of. We can have stories set in the world that isn’t just an extension of the original trilogy’s story. We need spin-offs that can stand on their own.

The film isn’t perfect, far from it, but it is fun and entertaining. There’s some great sequences and it’s possible my lowered expectations due to the on-set drama may have had me expecting very little. While it may nit be as good as the original trilogy it’s definitely better than the prequels and well worth the price of admission. And, the film has me wanting to see what’s next.

Overall Rating: 7.0

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