Solo: A Star Wars Story director Ron Howard has spoken out about the possible debilitating effect Rian Johnson's Star Wars: The Last Jedi may have had on the young Han Solo standalone.
"I'm proud of #SoloAStarWarsStory and the cast & crew worked hard to give fans a fun new addition," Howard wrote on Twitter Sunday. "As a director I feel badly when people who I believe (& exit polls show) will very likely enjoy a movie... don't see it on a big screen [with] great sound."
Howard's tweet came in response to a tweet opining about the weak box office performance of Solo, laying blame on last December's divisive The Last Jedi.
"I've been reading so many theories as to why 'Solo' hasn't been doing so well at the box office," @kfairbanks2 tweeted. "Sad to say, some [Star Wars] fans are snubbing Solo [because] they're still upset over Last Jedi. If so, they're missing out & punishing a good film for something not its fault."
Howard also retweeted — without comment — a tweet from @CalvinGregory70 that read:
"I know a lot of people are still upset about the Last Jedi. But this movie is separate with a great group of people. I judged [Solo] solely on what THIS movie had to offer. I was greatly impressed and had a lot of fun. Everyone should ignore the negativity & see it [for] yourself."
Howard famously relieved Phil Lord and Chris Miller of directing duties on Solo when the duo were fired by Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy last summer.
Shortly after Solo debuted to less than expected numbers over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, a subset of Star Wars fans said Solo was suffering for The Last Jedi's sins, laying blame on the controversial eighth installment of the episodic saga for negatively affecting the box office performance of the prequel centered around an early adventure of a younger Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich).
Solo has an A- CinemaScore, compared to The Last Jedi's A CinemaScore. On Rotten Tomatoes, Solo has a 65% "liked it" audience score with a 3.5/5 average rating after 32,957 votes.
The Last Jedi has just a 46% "liked it" audience score with an average rating of 2.9/5 after 195,804 votes — giving The Last Jedi the lowest audience score of any live-action Star Wars movie.