The encyclopedia · Product & Design · Product decision · 2015–2018
Solo: the first Star Wars box-office bomb — a $76.9M loss
Lucasfilm's Han Solo origin story cost $299.8M net, grossed $393M worldwide, and became the first Star Wars film to lose money — $76.9M per Deadline.
Lucasfilm · 2018-05-25
What happened
Solo: A Star Wars Story — the origin film for Han Solo, directed by Ron Howard after the original directors were fired mid-production — was the most expensive Star Wars production ever: $365.7 million gross, $299.8 million net, per 2018 tax filings.
Released May 25, 2018, it grossed $393 million worldwide ($213.8 million domestically) — the first Star Wars film ever to be labeled a box-office bomb. Deadline's annual cost analysis calculated the net loss at $76.9 million.
The failure had two causes the studio could have seen: the production chaos (two directors fired, a reported $300M+ budget) and the release timing — Solo opened five months after The Last Jedi, and Star Wars fatigue plus a skeptical audience for an origin story nobody had asked for priced the film before it opened.
Why it happened
- The production's director change doubled the cost: firing Lord and Miller mid-shoot and bringing in Ron Howard meant reshoots on almost the entire film, and the budget ballooned past $300M.
- The release schedule was the second mistake: Solo opened just five months after The Last Jedi, and a franchise that had shipped three films in three years had exhausted the audience's appetite.
- The film was an origin story nobody requested: Han Solo's appeal was always the mystery of his past, and explaining it removed the character's charm.
The lesson
A franchise's brand is not a guarantee: Solo was the first Star Wars film to lose money — the brand's record priced the bet, and the audience priced the film.
Sources
- Deadline — The Biggest Box Office Bombs Of 2018: Deadline's Most Valuable Blockbuster Tournament
- Wikipedia — Solo: A Star Wars Story
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