Analysts have already declared Solo: A Star Wars Story a box office failure, the industry now assessing the monetary damage done to Disney and LucasFilm.
Considering the monumental success of The Force Awakens, Rogue One, and The Last Jedi, the thought that Solo could lose money was initially never even considered.
However, with a steep second-weekend decline at the box-office from an already disappointing opening weekend, one Wall Street analyst expects Solo to lose the studio an estimated $50 million.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, that figure looks to be on the light side. Sources tell the publication that number could be much closer to $80 million or higher, depending on how Disney deals with the movie’s home release.
Solo looks set to gross around $400 million worldwide off a budget of around $250 million, not including marketing costs. The spin-off’s price tag went up exponentially during production after directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller parted ways with the project, LucasFilm bringing Ron Howard on board.
“This marks a tough return to movie reality for a Disney that had in recent years enjoyed a can’t-miss mystique,” Wall Street analyst Barton Crockett wrote in a note to investors, picked up by THR.
Multiple reasons have led to Solo‘s disappointing box office numbers, including Star Wars fatigue, middling reviews, and an already over-saturated market – Avengers: Infinity War and Deadpool 2, both aimed at a similar demographic, were released in the month prior to Solo.
Disney investors likely won’t be too sad: the studio has already released two $1 billion-topping movies this year – Avengers: Infinity War and Black Panther – and have The Incredibles 2, Wreck-It-Ralph 2, Ant Man and The Wasp, and Mary Poppins Returns coming later this year.
