65-70% second weekend drop.

It is now a major b.o. disappointment, not just in Star Wars dep.

Everybody I know keeps asking me if I've seen it because they figured I'd go see Glover in it, but I haven't gotten around to it and basically everyone I'm friends with hasn't seen it either. Sequel/Lando-spin off chances might be going down the toilet

Vader182 wrote: ↑

June 2nd, 2018, 4:13 pm

Merchandising may be tanking too.

Deadline reported TLJ only hit 450m of its 600m merchandising goal and Solo is going to most likely fall considerably short on whatever its goal.

Disney isn't 'in trouble' by any stretch but this is a bad trend.

-Vader

The merchandising for the post-Lucas flicks would be dwarfed by the merchandising around the prequels.

For each prequel you had supporting books and novelisation out maybe a month and a half in advance, so yeah I can understand holding fire on the novelisation but not the DK books. You could also get the soundtracks well in advance, there was usually at least one if not two tie-in video games, an absolute raft of figures and shit... what they're doing now is extremely minor by comparison. They might want to look at the old model of buttering audiences up for this and creating ubiquity for a new film. I get keeping the powder dry on spoilers for the saga films, but for the spin-offs it's just daft.

I mean what could honestly be spoiled from either Star Wars Story that would be earth-shattering and keep audiences away?

Here’s another hot take. Just one of the factors on the pile.

This movie, and Star Wars movies in general, are traditional forms of fun, in direct oposition to what ‘the cool, Fortnite’ kids want these days: Infinity War and Deadpool 2. Marvel is their Star Wars, Deadpool is their god. Ask any kid at school about this, chances are they just won’t care or even know about it.

What about us grownups then? We’ve grown to be cynical and careful about everything and Solo released mere five months after The Last Jedi. There’s definitely some market oversaturation as well.

Long term, this might be good for the franchise, they need to bring back that ‘long time no see, old friend’ feel when you enter the cinema and hear the familiar music. Also, they need to carefully reconsider these spinoffs ideas: What has wide appeal? What is completely unnecessary? Etc.

ArmandFancypants wrote: ↑

June 2nd, 2018, 8:21 pm

Vader182 wrote: ↑

June 2nd, 2018, 4:13 pm

Merchandising may be tanking too.

Deadline reported TLJ only hit 450m of its 600m merchandising goal and Solo is going to most likely fall considerably short on whatever its goal.

Disney isn't 'in trouble' by any stretch but this is a bad trend.

-Vader

The merchandising for the post-Lucas flicks would be dwarfed by the merchandising around the prequels.

For each prequel you had supporting books and novelisation out maybe a month and a half in advance, so yeah I can understand holding fire on the novelisation but not the DK books. You could also get the soundtracks well in advance, there was usually at least one if not two tie-in video games, an absolute raft of figures and shit... what they're doing now is extremely minor by comparison. They might want to look at the old model of buttering audiences up for this and creating ubiquity for a new film. I get keeping the powder dry on spoilers for the saga films, but for the spin-offs it's just daft.

I mean what could honestly be spoiled from either Star Wars Story that would be earth-shattering and keep audiences away?

This is all very true, but one step further, keeping merchandise so limited is a huge missed opportunity. I think a big big big part of it is that most of the new ships, locations, etc, aren't really that cool or interesting and most of it is old hat.

I vividly remember the Republic Gunship lego set coming out before Episode II and I got it as an Easter present and tons of my buddies did too and we all fantasized over how it would get used in the movie. Loads of this merchandising created hype and anticipation around every element, but these movies and by extension their aesthetic choices don't lend themselves to amazing merchandising opportunities.

That said, toy sales are on a downward trend in general, so maybe the money isn't there anyway.

Also m4, I really think after 4 movies we could use less of the subtext-less bathing of nostalgia that is Solo and Rogue One. And I really like Solo and love elements of R1.


-Vader

From what I heard (because I have not seen the movie yet) this seems OK as a film, if a bit unremarkable.

Vader182 wrote: ↑

June 3rd, 2018, 1:59 am

This is all very true, but one step further, keeping merchandise so limited is a huge missed opportunity. I think a big big big part of it is that most of the new ships, locations, etc, aren't really that cool or interesting and most of it is old hat.

Absolutely. I remember seeing a LEGO ad in '98 for the sets of next year and having the imagination fuelled just by the image of the Naboo Starfighter. That is completely missing and why I hope post-IX forges new aesthetic territory. The closest thing we've had to anything really fresh I feel is the Rich Heinrichs set design.

yes but sadly for every Snoke's Throne Room you got 3 Battlestar Galactica drab as dead ship interiors.


-Vader

@Vader, just wanted to add that yeah. Remember the time when we thought spinoffs were going to be all about new stuff, or even Old Republic? Turns out the future is all about Fett and Kenobi (supposedly).

So I guess live action series, B&W series and Rian’s new saga will start scratching the truly new stuff.

I mean, one hopes J.J. will be able to surprise us on the level of VIII.

I mean, yeah, so far Disney's Star wars has been soaked in nostalgia for what they think worked and made the most money. But they don't seem to have considered the fact that Star wars has moved on from the original trilogy in the last 30+ years with the Extended Universe, much of which has nothing to do with the conflict or characters from the original trilogy.

As long as they're making a profit from referencing the original trilogy (even when they're obviously subverting OT tropes in TLJ that in itself still links it to what you recognize from those old films), it is safe to say that they don't see a reason to venture away from giving you stuff you are already familiar with because so far that alone was enough to get the fans to spend their money on tickets.

It's also fair to say that they looked at what Lucas did with the Prequels and decided that, even though it was decidedly different from the original trilogy, they would not go for something like that because it was met with derision and disdain from many people and rightfully so because most of the stuff in the Prequels is terribly executed and badly directed. I don't think people objected to the aesthetic and (most) of the worldbuilding (midichlorians are still dumb) of the Prequels so much as they did not care for the terrible writing, acting, pacing and the bland characters so in principle doing something new would not have been a bad thing at all if it was well-executed.

Unless the audience shows that they wish to see something happen in Star Wars besides some rebels fighting an empire (because that's what worked) and show that they no longer care about exploring familiar characters, this (namely an Obi-Wan movie and a Boba Fett movie) is what Disney executives think the audience wants and hence that's what they're going to give to them.