Just how bad is the "Solo" box office?

“Solo: A Star Wars Story” is the 6^th highest grossing film of 2018. It has made more money than “Ocean’s 8”, “Ready Player One”, “A Wrinkle in Time”, “Pacific Rim Uprising”, “Tomb Raider”, and “Maze Runner: The Death Cure”. And yet the film has been viewed as a massive failure. Never mind the fact that the film was a critical success and that fans seem to enjoy it. The box office take of “Solo” has proved that not every Star Wars film can be a billion dollar entity. With Disney releasing Star Wars films ever year- it is inevitable that some Star Wars films might only make half-a-billion… or less.

“Solo” has currently taken in about 210 million dollars domestically. This actually compares with some of the more humble MCU entries such as Doctor Strange (232m), Thor Dark World (206m). Solo has actually made a lot more money than the original Thor (181m), the first
Ant-Man (180m) and the first Captain America (176m). So why the doom and gloom?

It is true that the film went over budget. The original directors were replaced and much of the movie had to be re-filmed. It is true that the film opened less than 6-months after “The Last Jedi”. It is even true that there is a toxic sect of Star Wars fandom who do not like the direction of the new films (or perhaps don’t like the fact that there are new films) and these individuals seem to want to ruin it for the rest of us. Yet, most the doom-and-gloom / end-times / Star-Wars-Is-Dead conversation is probably due to the fact that “Solo” will not be the top film of 2018. It is the first Star Wars film to not top the box office in the year of its release. But, with so many movies on Lucasfilm’s “pre-production” list, "Solo" will not be the last.

Let’s jump into the numbers...

Box Office Unadjusted

On this first chart, we see that "Solo" has made less money domestically than all the other live-action films upon their first release, except for “The Empire Strikes Back” (which it overtook earlier this week). Films that "Solo" has performed better than include the 1997 Special Edition versions of the original trilogy, the 2012 3D release of the "Phantom Menace", and the 2008 animated "Clone Wars" film.

*Releases not listed here include the 1982 reissues of “Star Wars” and “The Empire Strikes Back”, the 1985 reissue of “Return of the Jedi”, the IMAX Experience version of “Attack of the Clones” and the overseas box-office numbers for the two made-for-TV Ewok films.

This first chart might even make “Solo” look competitive compared to other Star Wars films, but let’s adjust for inflation to see the real story.

Box Office Adjusted

 

Things seem a little darker when we adjust for inflation. We can now see that “Solo” has made less the half of the “Attack of the Clones” box office take. We also see that the 1997 Special Edition version of Star Wars made more money than “Solo”. A fan who wanted to prove that “The Last Jedi” was a terrible film that caused audiences to lightspeed away from this franchise would use this chart as evidence. But we have to keep in mind that “Solo” had some steep competition when it opened this May. The top film of 2018, “Avengers Infinity War”, was crushing the early-summer box office and “Deadpool 2” had opened just a week before. In current times, most films make the bulk of their money during the first weekend and Solo’s first weekend just did not work out.

Opening Weekend

The opening weekend chart is interesting to look at because it tells a story about how movie-going experience has changed over the past 40-years. The original Star Wars film did not make much during its opening weekend, but grew to be the 2^nd most successful film of all time by the summer’s end. 19-years ago, “The Phantom Menace” made less than fifteen percent of its eventual take in its first weekend. “The Last Jedi” however made more than a third of its overall gross in its opening weekend.

This is how movie-going works in the 21^st century. Most people see the film in the opening weekend or the second weekend. After that the buzz dies down. People figure they can catch the film on a digital release in a few months’ time. In today’s world films that don’t do well on their opening weekend, don't do well at all.

Worldwide Gross against Budget

My final chart will show the real reason why “Solo” was a flop. This chart shows the worldwide take vs. the film’s budget. We know that “Solo” went over budget. The film was the most expensive Star Wars film ever made. Only five films in the history of cinema have ever cost more to make. Many of the most expensive films ever made turn into flops. And like “John Carter” and “Justice League”, “Solo” is one of those films- a box office bomb. When you factor in all costs, Disney lost money making “Solo”. So where does Star Was go from here?

Next Steps

It is obvious that Disney needs a new strategy for their non-episodic Star Wars films. Fortunately, there are a lot of things they can do differently, so that they don’t have another bomb. The most obvious choices are
1) Spend less money making Star Wars films
2) Make fewer Star Wars films
3) Release films during months with low competition

Whatever they choose to do, some fans won’t be happy about it. Some people like seeing a new Star Wars film each year, while others would be happy with one every three years. Some "Original Trilogy" fans might be happy if there were no new Star Wars films.

For me personally, I love the four Star Wars films that Kathleen Kennedy and Lucasfilm have released over the past four years. I want more Star Wars. I am greedy. So maybe Disney produces some films on a slightly lower budget. Maybe they release films only in the winter time. But please, *please* keep the Star Wars coming.

The Aliens of “Empire” & "WHAT THE HECK IS YODA?"

“The Empire Strikes Back” is the Star Wars film featuring the least number of sentient alien species. Except for Yoda we don't have a lot of aliens. There is that brief bounty hunter scene and some cloud city citizens. Although shots of aliens are sparse, the ones we do get a look at have become important to the larger Star Wars canonicity. And as far as Yoda goes there are still a great number of mysteries surrounding the species that he belongs to. Let’s dive in...

Trandoshan

Trandoshans, such as Bossk, are known as the greatest hunters in the Galaxy. More often than not, the prey they hunt is Wookiees. Trandoshans boasted the rare ability to grow their lost limbs back (like Deadpool). 

Few Star Wars fans realize that Trandoshans owe their existence to another reptilian species called the Saurin. Two Saurin appeared in the “New Hope” cantina scene. They look pretty much like Bossk, but shorter. This is because one of the Saurin costumes was altered and turned into the costume for Bossk. Both Bossk and the unaltered Saurin can be seen in Return of the Jedi in the background of Jabba’s Palace.

Wookiee

Wookiees are known to pull people’s arms out of their sockets, but they are also known to bake “Wookiee-ookiees”. Wookiee-Ookiees are, of course, an invention of the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special which saw Chewbacca’s father, wife, and son celebrating “Life Day” in their Kashyyyk home. The wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk would reappear in “Revenge of the Sith” which saw a team of Australian basketball players portray the warrior race in battle. After the fall of Kashyyyk most wookiees were made into imperial slaves including Chewbacca and Sagwa, who both appear in “Solo”. Many believe Wookiees to be a primitive species because they live in trees, but technology is a big part of Wookiee culture and many are talented pilots.

Gand

The Gand are an insectoid species who breath ammonia. The planet Gand itself is very foggy and hard to navigate, though individuals called “Findsmen” specialized in locating places, people, or objects. The bounty hunter, Zuckuss, was on of the few Gand who ventured off-world. The ones that did leave planet Gand, would wear respirators in order to breath in oxygen-rich environments.

Features of the Gand include large insectoid eyes and mandible mouthparts (although the mouthparts are usually hidden under the breathing mask). The LOM series of protocol droids (who served the Gand) were designed with similar eyes and facial features. Zuckuss, often worked with a LOM series droid named 4-LOM. Early Star Wars fans may have been confused over the identities of Zuckuss and 4-LOM because the Kenner action figure line accidentally swapped their names. This mistake was not corrected until the publication of the 1989 Galaxy Guide.

Snivvian

Snivvians are from the cold world of Cadomai Prime and the long winters would force Snivvians to live in subterranean caves for most of the year. While living in the caves Snivvians would produce great works of art including painting, sculpture, music, and writing.

The most famous Snivvian among fandom is Zutton who was called “Snaggletooth” when his action figure was released. For more about that action figure’s strange history check out my previous blog, “The Strange Story of Snaggletooth”. Snivvians appear in all three of the original Star Wars films, including on cloud city in “The Empire Strikes Back”, but fans will have to look closely to see them.

Lutrillian

Like many mammal-like species, Lutrillian evolved on a cold planet where having warm-blood was advantageous. Their thick skin and blubbery faces helped to protect them from the elements. Though Lutrillians appear in “A New Hope” and “The Empire Strikes Back” they are barely visible onscreen. The best chance to spot a Lutrillian onscreen is probably “The Star Wars Holiday Special” where Bea Arthur is seen interacting with a Lutrillian known as General Solomahal.

Ugnaught

Ugnaughts originally hailed from the swampy, volcano planet of Gentes. Due to the harsh nature of their homeworld Ugnaughts evolved to be strong and resilient. Some had tusks on their faces that could be used in blood duels. In “The Empire Strikes Back” Ugnaughts can be seen all over Cloud City, most notably in the Carbon Freezing Chamber. Another Ugnaught is visible in Jabba’s Palace in “Return of the Jedi”. It is notable that the Chief Ugnaught was played by Jack Purvis, who also played the Chief Jawa in ANH and Teebo the Ewok in ROTJ.

Human

Humans were the dominant species of the Star Wars Galaxy. Although humans were thought to have originated on Coruscant, they quickly spread out to other Core worlds such as Coreillia and Alderaan. Many humans also settled on Mid Rim planets such as Naboo and Outer Rim planets such as Mandalore. Because of the fact that humans were so common and widespread, other species in the galaxy were sometimes referred to as aliens, non-humans, or humanoids. The Galactic Empire were very prejudice against non-humans to the point where most non-humans were made into slaves or systematically destroyed. Some fans theorize that humans on Earth are descendants of the humans from the Star Wars Galaxy since it takes place “A long time ago in a galaxy far far away”.

Yoda’s Species

In the script for “The Empire Strikes Back”, Yoda is an old wizened stranger. He is almost a millennia old, and there has always been a shroud of mystery surrounding the character. The most mysterious aspect of him may be his species. In the Expanded Universe, Yoda has no home planet, he has no species name. We do know, however, that Yoda is not alone. In “The Phantom Menace” Yaddle, a female member of Yoda’s species, sits on the council. The EU has, at times, presented us with other examples of Yoda’s species, but exclusively as Jedi, which causes me to wonder if Yoda’s species actually founded the Jedi Order.

Before Yaddle’s appearance in “The Phantom Menace”, Lucas did not even want to admit that Yoda was a member of a species. When a 1993 trading card depicting other members of Yoda’s species was to be released, Lucas ordered all copies of it to be destroyed. Although some cards escaped the pulping and a few have been sold on Ebay for $400 or more. The biggest controversy around Yoda’s species (and perhaps the biggest mystery) is the number of toes on Yoda’s feet. In the Original Trilogy, Yoda has three front-facing toes and one back-facing toe. In “The Phantom Menace”, however, puppets of Yoda and Yaddle are missing the back-facing toe. Various toys and sources depict Yoda as having three, four, or five toes, though three fingers and three toes seem to be the most common depiction. Some fans even refer to Yoda's species as "Tridactyl" in reference to this fact.

Star Wars Aliens

The Aliens of the Cantina

http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-aliens-of-cantina_1.html

The Aliens of “The Empire Strikes Back"

http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-aliens-of-empire-strikes-back-what.html

The Aliens of Jabba’s Palace

http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/07/aliens-of-jabbas-palace.html

The Aliens of Max Rebo’s Band

http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-aliens-of-max-rebos-band.html

The Aliens of the Battle of Endor

http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-aliens-of-battle-of-endor.html

Flipping Heads

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/09/flipping-heads.html

The Aliens of the Phantom Menace
https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/10/aliens-of-phantom-menace.html

The Aliens of Attack of the Clones

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/12/aliens-of-attack-of-clones.html

The Aliens of Revenge of the Sith

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/12/aliens-of-revenge-of-sith.html

Expanded Universe Aliens
https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/12/10-species-from-old-expanded-universe.html

Aliens of Podracing

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/01/boonta-eve-classic-20th-anniversary.html

Aliens of Ralph McQuarrie

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/01/one-1970s-ralph-mcquarrie-painting.html

Aliens of  The Force Awakens
https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/02/aliens-of-force-awakens.html

Aliens of  Rogue One

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/02/aliens-of-rogue-one.html

Aliens of  The Last Jedi

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/03/aliens-of-last-jedi.html

Aliens of  Solo

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/03/aliens-of-solo.html

Aliens of  Endor

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/08/aliens-of-endor.html

The Most Obscure Aliens of the Original Trilogy

http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-most-obscure-aliens-of-original.html

Aliens of the Mandalorian

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/12/aliens-of-mandalorian.html

Bonus Aliens

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/04/bonus-aliens.html

The Five Subspecies of Nikto

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-five-subspecies-of-nikto.html

151 Aliens
https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/05/151-aliens-how-many-do-you-know.html

Aliens of Star Trek

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/04/aliens-of-star-trek.html

The Strange Story of Snaggletooth

Snaggletooth is an obscure background alien from “A New Hope”, but he is one that toy collectors know well. Snaggletooth is one of the four Cantina aliens that Kenner released as action figures back in the late 70s. He is probably best known for the fact that Kenner initially messed up his design.

In the film “A New Hope”, Snaggletooth is a short being with a red robe, but because Kenner only had a black-and-white photo for reference, they designed him as a tall creature in a blue robe. Though they eventually fixed the mistake, rare “Blue Snaggletooth” have always been prized among collectors and they are available on Ebay for $300 - $400.

Snaggletooth was a popular figure back in the late 70s. In the film “ET” there is a scene where Elliot shows ET his collection of Star Wars figures. These figures include “Greedo”, “Hammerhead”, “Walrus Man”, and “Snaggletooth”. Amazingly, these four iconic cantina aliens are still being packaged together 40-some years later in plush varieties and Funko Pop.

 Eventually Snaggletooth would be given a real name (Zutton) and even a species name (Snivvian). Eagle-eyed fans will spot a Snivvian on Cloud City in “The Empire Strikes Back” and a Snivvian in Jabba’s Palace in “Return of the Jedi”.

 I’ll be back later this week with some more info about Snivvians and other aliens seen in the film “The Empire Strikes Back”. Until then, stay funky, Star Wars fans!