Given the response to most of the recent Star Wars releases, Disney and Lucasfilm could be forgiven for expecting big things for Solo. But a combination of production wobbles, mixed (though usually weighted towards positive) reviews and seeming fatigue for the franchise as a whole meant that the latest anthology offering kicked off its (Kessel) run at the box office with what the studio will view as a disappointing $103 million across the four-day Memorial Day weekend.
Of course, opening above $100 million is hardly a flop, but the movie's pricey production cost and the sheer level of expectation mean this represents an underperformance. It didn't help that the movie also couldn't quite take off at the international box office either, with a worldwide total currently standing at an estimated $168 million. Compare that to, say, Deadpool 2's $300 million plus start last week. Solo may yet show some staying power, but it's a crowded summer.
And that was another factor playing into the results – the film had to compete with the likes of the aforementioned Deadpool 2 (which added $55 million for a $219.7 million US total to date), while Avengers: Infinity War continued to do good business despite five weeks in the charts, taking in $21.2 million for a running domestic haul of $626.4 million.
With no other wide releases looking to challenge the Disney behemoth, the rest of the chart was mostly films shuffling around and down. Book Club dropped one place to fourth, and made $12.5 million, while Life Of The Party was fifth, earning $6.9 million.
Thriller Breaking In took $5.7 million, while lambasted kid pic Show Dogs fell another spot to seventh on $4.5 million. Overboard was eighth, taking home $4 million, ahead of A Quiet Place, still snatching tickets after eight weeks in the charts. It made $3 million and has taken in more than $180 million in the States alone. And finally, documentary RBG jumped back into the top 10 with $1.5 million.
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