While the specific reason can’t be pinpointed, a number of factors resulted in Solo: A Star Wars Story becoming a box office disappointment. Paul Bettany, who played Dryden Vos, loved the movie but is as perplexed as anyone as to why it is considered a “disappointment,” especially given how passionate some fans became about the adventure.
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“I loved the movie. I went to see the movie and I loved it,” Bettany shared with MTV. “I knew some real dyed-in-the-wool nerd fans, Ryan Adams, for instance, who was like, ‘It’s so fantastic, I love it!’ and then he went to see it again. I took him to the premiere and then he went to see it again. It was confusing to me. I thought the story was so great, I thought the execution was so great, so it was surprising, to me.”
Solo has currently grossed $212 million domestically after nearly two months of release, putting it more than $100 million shy of The Phantom Menace‘s domestic run, making it the lowest-grossing live-action entry in the Star Wars saga. The film’s earnings still make it one of the more successful films of the year, with Bettany noting how bizarre it is for a movie earning almost $400 million worldwide to be considered a disappointment.
“It’s also peculiar being in a movie that makes hundreds of millions of dollars and people say, ‘It’s just not enough,’” Bettany confessed. “The thing with Star Wars is eventually everybody on the planet’s gonna see that movie and I really am proud of it and I loved playing Dryden Vos. I loved him. He’s delicious.”
One of the prevailing theories about Solo‘s disappointing numbers is that, with a Star Wars film hitting theaters six months prior, fans weren’t viewing this new chapter as an event film that needed to be witnessed so much as an adventure that, as Bettany notes, fans would watch eventually. This isn’t to say that the timing of the release is the only factor worth mentioning, as the inherent nature of a Han Solo origin story also felt like there was less of a reason to see the film if you weren’t a passionate fan, possibly turning off more casual viewers. Rogue One, for example, may have been more of a success due to it being the first Star Wars film that wasn’t directly related to the Skywalker saga, inspiring audiences to check out the ambitious experience.
You can pick up Solo: A Star Wars Story September 14th on digital, and on Blu-ray September 25th.
What did you think about Solo? Will people appreciate it over time? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!
[H/T YouTube, MTV]
