5 minutes ago, Eoen said:

Despite the fact he’s in every movie in the franchise, I believe this is the first starwars film where you can see his face. So it is kind of a big deal; from a certain point of view.

I don't think 0.5 seconds, covered in filth, and a wig before going off camera is a "big deal" for someone of his pedigree with the franchise.

20 minutes ago, KungFuFerret said:

I don't think 0.5 seconds, covered in filth, and a wig before going off camera is a "big deal" for someone of his pedigree with the franchise.

Well we will likely never see that Rival Wookie again.

Equipment and actors aside, I think a way more interesting topic is, does this movie even break even? It's doing terrible financially. With 8s financial shortfall and then this one potentially losing money or just breaking even, I don't see Eiger getting away with not making changes at Lucasfilm.

Changes at Lucasfilm won’t change petulant fans who throw hissy fits when something isn’t exactly how they’d do it. And even if LFL were to try, they’d never make the movies exactly how those petulant fans would.

Its a problem that, unfortunately, I think is part and parcel of making the transition to active, ongoing franchise.

So I finally saw it and you know what, I liked it. It was fun, the first part was just okay but it got better towards the end. It has just enough fan service, the humor wasn't particularly forced, and it didn't break anything setting-wise (or at least not anything important). My biggest complaint was the lighting, it was often too dark and low contrast to see any detail which was annoying.

Totally agree on the lighting. One other minor complaint, I found some of the locations to be dull and missed opportunities. Planet mud was mud and fog which I found to be visually boring and a missed opportunity. Kessel, the exterior was fine, but the interior was boring, needed a rockin matte and an obligatory crazy deep shaft with no railings...

13 minutes ago, 2P51 said:

Totally agree on the lighting. One other minor complaint, I found some of the locations to be dull and missed opportunities. Planet mud was mud and fog which I found to be visually boring and a missed opportunity. Kessel, the exterior was fine, but the interior was boring, needed a rockin matte and an obligatory crazy deep shaft with no railings...

There were no OSHA standards in a galaxy far far away and long ago.

I thought Kessel was surprisingly like the Rebels version.

6 hours ago, 2P51 said:

With   8s financial shortfall and then this one potentially losing money  or just breaking even

Yeah, 1,27 billion and counting is quite the shortfall...

Also a 148 million opening week is only low for a Star Wars movie.

4 hours ago, DanteRotterdam said:

Yeah, 1,27 billion and counting is quite the shortfall...

Also a 148 million opening week is only low for a Star Wars movie.

I suspect that this is going to be one of those movies that hangs around at the box office for a while, and while it won't be breaking any box office records, it'll still be generating money through the course of the summer.

That, and I'm pretty certain Disney and LFL knew full well they weren't going to see the sort of numbers they got with Episodes 7 and 8, given this summer has Infinity War (aka the film the MCU has been building towards for several years) as well as Deadpool 2 opening the week preceding (with DP2 having a sharp drop in box office receipts in its second week).

Plus, I wouldn't be surprised if LFL was fully prepared for this to be a complete and utter flop on its opening weekend, and opted to use this film to test the waters to see if the summer movie season is viable for Star Wars movies.

No matter sort of gnashing of teeth the grognards might do, we're entering an era were the Star Wars franchise is going to develop it's own expanding cinematic universe, telling stories outside of the Skywalker family drama that have been Episodes 1 through 8 (and eventually 9, which presumably will conclude said drama). Rogue One was proof of concept, and shows that folks would go see a Star Wars movie that didn't feature Jedi or Skywalkers (though I do wonder if the reaction would have been the same without those last few minutes of the film where Vader goes full-on Godzilla against those Rebel troops). Solo is to see if the summer season is viable, and LFL will make that decision after seeing the receipts once Solo leaves theaters.

Solo does have the issue that due to the production troubles and delays there in, the marketing didn't really kick off until just before the movie was due out, where the other big summer flicks have been building anticipation since last year.

I actually went into the film feeling initially as if I'd just sit through it. After the crash from Rogue One (which I would say was the entirely legitimate fourth member of the Original Trilogy, at least in quality and storytelling) to The Last Jedi (which missed a great deal of opportunities, stretched on for far too long, and ultimately did nothing to create an arc or present a story that really needed to be told) I sort of assumed Solo would be another flop. In the event, I thought it was fantastic - Alden Ehrenreich is a much better Han than the trailers let on, the action had pace, drive and a real set of hooks to it. For a film about an apparently minor event in the OT it did a great job to get me invested and keep my interest throughout. The acknowledgement of the existence of the Imperial Army was particularly nice, as was the fact I don't actually remember the Force being mentioned at all throughout. It could perhaps have used a bit more humour for the premise, and Disney really needs to get better at tying up its narratives than 'they all die', but overall I enjoyed it.

That said, I would like to discuss the Zabrak in the room - where on Earth did he come from? I know The Clone Wars brought him back and then got rid of him, then I heard Rebels brought him back and killed him off, but never saw it. So how does he fit in here? And why does he fit in here, besides as a blatant sequel hook for Hello There: A Star Wars Story ?

8 minutes ago, ColonelCommissar said:

That said, I would like to discuss the Zabrak in the room - where on Earth did he come from? I know The Clone Wars brought him back and then got rid of him, then I heard Rebels brought him back and killed him off, but never saw it. So how does he fit in here? And why does he fit in here, besides as a blatant sequel hook for Hello There: A Star Wars Story ?

Solo is set, obviously, after Cloje Wars, but about 7-ish years before he resurfaced at the end of Rebels season 2. Whether for a sequel to Solo or stories in other media, it seems to be placing him - and Crimson Dawn - on the table for future stories. Given how his story ended, I think an appearance in any Obi-Wan movie is unlikely.

34 minutes ago, Donovan Morningfire said:

I suspect that this is going to be one of those movies that hangs around at the box office for a while, and while it won't be breaking any box office records, it'll still be generating money through the course of the summer.

That, and I'm pretty certain Disney and LFL knew full well they weren't going to see the sort of numbers they got with Episodes 7 and 8, given this summer has Infinity War (aka the film the MCU has been building towards for several years) as well as Deadpool 2 opening the week preceding (with DP2 having a sharp drop in box office receipts in its second week).

Plus, I wouldn't be surprised if LFL was fully prepared for this to be a complete and utter flop on its opening weekend, and opted to use this film to test the waters to see if the summer movie season is viable for Star Wars movies.

No matter sort of gnashing of teeth the grognards might do, we're entering an era were the Star Wars franchise is going to develop it's own expanding cinematic universe, telling stories outside of the Skywalker family drama that have been Episodes 1 through 8 (and eventually 9, which presumably will conclude said drama). Rogue One was proof of concept, and shows that folks would go see a Star Wars movie that didn't feature Jedi or Skywalkers (though I do wonder if the reaction would have been the same without those last few minutes of the film where Vader goes full-on Godzilla against those Rebel troops). Solo is to see if the summer season is viable, and LFL will make that decision after seeing the receipts once Solo leaves theaters.

Solo does have the issue that due to the production troubles and delays there in, the marketing didn't really kick off until just before the movie was due out, where the other big summer flicks have been building anticipation since last year.

I’d agree it might hang around for a while if we weren’t at a point that home video release dates weren’t already set before a movie hit theaters. Infinity War, for example, already has its home media release dates announced (and pre-orders for the digital already being taken).

Whats funny about the idea of “testing the viability” of Star Wars as summer fare is...they used to be. It wasn’t until TFA that new releases weren’t May. Solo debuted during the formerly-traditional Memorial Day weekend release for Star Wars movies. I’ll agree, though, that the December releases have allowed them a far less crowded spotlight. And, have made for a nice, new tradition, my son and I going to see them (again) with my dad when he comes to town for Christmas.

39 minutes ago, ColonelCommissar said:

That said, I would like to discuss the Zabrak in the room - where on Earth did he come from? I know The Clone Wars brought him back and then got rid of him, then I heard Rebels brought him back and killed him off, but never saw it. So how does he fit in here? And why does he fit in here, besides as a blatant sequel hook for Hello There: A Star Wars Story ?

One of Maul's roles in TCW was the shadow behind a crime syndicate. It would appear he continues that role after Palps punks him down.

3 hours ago, kaosoe said:

One of Maul's roles in TCW was the shadow behind a crime syndicate. It would appear he continues that role after Palps punks him down.

I would assume that in between time will be a focus perhaps in a Boba Fett or maybe even Kenobi movie.

3 hours ago, Nytwyng said:

Whats funny about the idea of “testing the viability” of Star Wars as summer fare is...they used to be. It wasn’t until TFA that new releases weren’t May. Solo debuted during the formerly-traditional Memorial Day weekend release for Star Wars movies. I’ll agree, though, that the December releases have allowed them a far less crowded spotlight. And, have made for a nice, new tradition, my son and I going to see them (again) with my dad when he comes to town for Christmas.

Here's the thing though, is that back in the Original and Prequel Trilogies aired, the superhero movie buzz didn't exist.

These days however, you've got the Marvel Cinematic Universe in full swing and is pretty much a box office juggernaut that can do no wrong; by all rights Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man should have tanked at the box office, but didn't, with GotG being one of the highest grossing films of its year.

Plus, both Marvel Studios and LFL are owned by Disney, who aren't going to want to directly harm two of their largest money-making franchises if they can avoid doing so.

1 hour ago, Donovan Morningfire said:

Here's the thing though, is that back in the Original and Prequel Trilogies aired, the superhero movie buzz didn't exist.

These days however, you've got the Marvel Cinematic Universe in full swing and is pretty much a box office juggernaut that can do no wrong; by all rights Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man should have tanked at the box office, but didn't, with GotG being one of the highest grossing films of its year.

Plus, both Marvel Studios and LFL are owned by Disney, who aren't going to want to directly harm two of their largest money-making franchises if they can avoid doing so.

I wonder if that might be why I said, “ the  December releases have allowed them a fa  r less crowded spotlight  .“ ?

https://www.starwars.com/news/black-spire-outpost-star-wars-galaxys-edge

So I don't think it matters much to Disney if Solo doesn't make as much money as other Star Wars films, they will make a profit on all the back end stuff, generated by the movie like new locations which are already being built out in their theme parks, toys, video games, comics etc. Not to mention most movies rent film equipment, and who do you think owns the leasing companies, Hollywoods aways been known for it's creative accounting, Disney needs it's right offs.

1 hour ago, Eoen said:

https://www.starwars.com/news/black-spire-outpost-star-wars-galaxys-edge

So I don't think it matters much to Disney if Solo doesn't make as much money as other Star Wars films, they will make a profit on all the back end stuff, generated by the movie like new locations which are already being built out in their theme parks, toys, video games, comics etc. Not to mention most movies rent film equipment, and who do you think owns the leasing companies, Hollywoods aways been known for it's creative accounting, Disney needs it's right offs.

Yah, it matters. Solo is on track to lose money. It's a 200+ million budget, add in marketing and distribution, account for global % take, and these huge budget films need to rake in north of $500 million to see black. Solo is likly to fall well short of that and a nine fgure hit isn't something any company just shrugs .

29 minutes ago, 2P51 said:

Yah, it matters. Solo is on track to lose money. It's a 200+ million budget, add in marketing and distribution, account for global % take, and these huge budget films need to rake in north of $500 million to see black. Solo is likly to fall well short of that and a nine fgure hit isn't something any company just shrugs .

Solo has already made something like 200 million and it’s only been a week, with foreign markets, and video sales, and all the other merchandise still to come.

The number I heard was 250 million for production and 150 more for marketing. That’s only 400 million to hit profitable sales.

Also the movie cost that much because of all the reshoots.

4 minutes ago, Eoen said:

Solo has already made something like 200 million and it’s only been a week, with foreign markets, and video sales, and all the other merchandise still to come.

197 million, including both domestic (115.6 million) and worldwide (82.3 million) currently. Which might be low when you look at the takes for Episodes 7 and 8 (which again had no serious competition at the time they were in theaters), but for a non-Star Wars movie that's a pretty **** good opening, and even the opening weekend of 148 million would be considered **** good for anything other than a Star Wars movie. Which to me is just more proof of the BS that the miserable grumps who can't seem to enjoy the fact we're getting new Star Wars movies pretty much every year now use to claim that Disney is somehow retroactively murdering their childhood faster than Anakin killing Tuskens (and the women... and the children!) in AotC.

Now of course, what's not helping the film's box office receipts is that it pretty much tanked in China (barely over 10 million), which is one of the largest revenue generators for films. But then, Star Wars in general has tanked in China, the franchise never really catching on the way other movie franchises (such as the MCU) have.

Plus, as you said Disney is making a literal killing off the merchandising (****, it was the merchandising off the first film that pretty much made Lucas wealthy in the first place), not only from this film but from Star Wars in general. So it might very well be that as far as the higher-ups in the corporate food chain are concerned, Solo as a film not recouping its full budget during it's initial theater run may well not be as big a deal for LFL/Disney as such a thing would be for a film that didn't have the sort of merchandising push that Solo does.

Of course, it'll be interesting to see how much of a dip Solo takes in terms of receipts, as there's not really any major "summer blockbusters" due to open this weekend. But the word of mouth for Solo from the casual fans is generally good, which may help the film out in the weeks to come as folks that were ambivalent about it may decide to go check it out based upon said word of mouth.

That won't stop the "I hate Disney!" crowd, but then probably nothing will other than the plug being pulled and there being zero new Star Wars material created ever. That way, the franchise can die and they get to carry on as the self-appointed gatekeepers of what is or isn't Star Wars, while the rest of the world simply moves on and comes to regard Star Wars as nothing more than novelty whose time had passed and collapsed under the weight of its own success.

3 hours ago, Eoen said:

Solo has already made something like 200 million and it’s only been a week, with foreign markets, and video sales, and all the other merchandise still to come.

The number I heard was 250 million for production and 150 more for marketing. That’s only 400 million to hit profitable sales.

Also the movie cost that much because of all the reshoots.

Wrong. The studio doesn't get 100%, not even close. The 65% in the following is US domestic, that % is less lucrative in many foreign markets, particularly China. So it needs to make a **** ton more than $400 million to break even. In addition that 65% isn't static and it's typically only in the first few weeks. As a movie stays in theaters longer that % goes down, and the number of screens theaters are expected to show it on is at its highest. So it's why they're all so hyper focused on the opening weekend, it's when you're going to have the most screens, to sell the most tickets, and keep the biggest % of ticket receipts.

That % was something Disney jacked up just for TLJ past. It gets real hard for Disney to justify that and have TLJ sell $750 million less than TFA, and now Solo probably lose money.

It's not a conversation that is typically had about movies that cost $250 million to make. Even when you take unforeseen huge hits like 8 compared to TFA, 8 still made big money and studios just pine for the huge piles of cash they didn't make, as opposed to counting up an actual loss like they're going to in Solo.

Quote

On their face, Walt Disney’s demands on theaters concerning next month’s domestic exhibition of Star Wars: The Last Jedi are not that unusual. As reported by The Wall Street Journal , cinemas accepting the Rian Johnson sequel when it opens on Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. will have to give Disney about 65% of the overall ticket sales and promise to keep the film in its biggest theater(s) for at least four week

All of which isn't the point. A Star Wars movie shouldn't be talking about losing money and how it will make it up on the back end in merchandising. This IP should be a molten gold volcano.

Maybe but the negative fans are killing it.

21 minutes ago, Eoen said:

Maybe but the negative fans are killing it.

Disney is suffering self inflicted wounds. Whether people liked or disliked 8 is irrelevant, it split the fan base. It made $750 million less than TFA. It fell $200 million short of Disney's low ball self prediction of $1.5 billion. Everyone painted on a happy face because it still made them a lot of money at $1.3 billion, but it was a 7 alarm fire wake up call, or it should have been. Now Solo pretty likely taking a 9 figure shot in the marble bag.

The back 1/3 of R1 rewritten and shot by a different director per the people above KK. Josh Trank fired from Boba Fett cuz he was nuts. That led to Solo and the eventual firing of Lord and Miller after better than half the movie was already shot, and finally Trevorrow fired from 9 after a year in pre-production.

What's killing Star Wars is an IP being run like crap, not customers unhappy with what they're being sold.

4 hours ago, Donovan Morningfire said:

197 million, including both domestic (115.6 million) and worldwide (82.3 million) currently. Which might be low when you look at the takes for Episodes 7 and 8 (which again had no serious competition at the time they were in theaters), but for a non-Star Wars movie that's a pretty **** good opening, and even the opening weekend of 148 million would be considered **** good for anything other than a Star Wars movie. Which to me is just more proof of the BS that the miserable grumps who can't seem to enjoy the fact we're getting new Star Wars movies pretty much every year now use to claim that Disney is somehow retroactively murdering their childhood faster than Anakin killing Tuskens (and the women... and the children!) in AotC.

Now of course, what's not helping the film's box office receipts is that it pretty much tanked in China (barely over 10 million), which is one of the largest revenue generators for films. But then, Star Wars in general has tanked in China, the franchise never really catching on the way other movie franchises (such as the MCU) have.

Plus, as you said Disney is making a literal killing off the merchandising (****, it was the merchandising off the first film that pretty much made Lucas wealthy in the first place), not only from this film but from Star Wars in general. So it might very well be that as far as the higher-ups in the corporate food chain are concerned, Solo as a film not recouping its full budget during it's initial theater run may well not be as big a deal for LFL/Disney as such a thing would be for a film that didn't have the sort of merchandising push that Solo does.

Of course, it'll be interesting to see how much of a dip Solo takes in terms of receipts, as there's not really any major "summer blockbusters" due to open this weekend. But the word of mouth for Solo from the casual fans is generally good, which may help the film out in the weeks to come as folks that were ambivalent about it may decide to go check it out based upon said word of mouth.

That won't stop the "I hate Disney!" crowd, but then probably nothing will other than the plug being pulled and there being zero new Star Wars material created ever. That way, the franchise can die and they get to carry on as the self-appointed gatekeepers of what is or isn't Star Wars, while the rest of the world simply moves on and comes to regard Star Wars as nothing more than novelty whose time had passed and collapsed under the weight of its own success.

I just saw a documentary on Netflix's about Kenner getting the rights to the Star Wars toys. The original agreement was Kenner got 95% and Lucas/Fox split the rest. I always thought that the merchandising made Lucas rich but not so much in the early days.