Solo falls short of expectations in opening weekend

Solo: A Star Wars Story brought in far less revenue than expected in its opening weekend, with $83.3 million in ticket sales in North America from Friday through Sunday, the Associated Press reported. Disney estimated on Sunday that the total sales of the four-day-long Memorial Day weekend would bring in a total of about $101 million — even less than the "much-derided" Star Wars prequel movies, AP explained. As recently as last week, experts predicted that Solo would bring in closer to $150 million.
Although the film's box office haul marked a record low for the Star Wars franchise, it still had the biggest Memorial Day opening weekend in recent years. "We would have hoped for this to be a bit bigger," said Disney distribution chief Dave Hollis, but Disney is still "encouraged by the response that people have had to the film," which earned an A minus on CinemaScore and a 71 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Solo may have underperformed due to the sheer volume of Star Wars movies that have come out in recent years — but experts say it might also have something to do with the other movies on offer this weekend. Deadpool 2 is in its second week and Avengers: Infinity War is in its fifth, which may have split up audiences for Solo's opening.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Read more at AP.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Shivani is the editorial assistant at TheWeek.com and has previously written for StreetEasy and Mic.com. A graduate of the physics and journalism departments at NYU, Shivani currently lives in Brooklyn and spends free time cooking, watching TV, and taking too many selfies.
-
5 inexcusably hilarious cartoons about Ghislaine Maxwell angling for a pardon
Cartoons Artists take on the circle of life, Ghislaine's Island, and more
-
Ozzy Osbourne obituary: heavy metal wildman and lovable reality TV dad
In the Spotlight For Osbourne, metal was 'not the music of hell but rather the music of Earth, not a fantasy but a survival guide'
-
Codeword: August 2, 2025
The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliable
speed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages
-
Crypto firm Coinbase hacked, faces SEC scrutiny
Speed Read The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers in past disclosures
-
Starbucks baristas strike over dress code
speed read The new uniform 'puts the burden on baristas' to buy new clothes, said a Starbucks Workers United union delegate
-
Warren Buffet announces surprise retirement
speed read At the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, the billionaire investor named Vice Chairman Greg Abel his replacement