‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ Doubled ‘Black Panther’ Ticket Presales
For awhile, Star Wars fans were worried whetherSolo: A Star Wars Storywas going to turn out all right. When directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller were removed from the production and replaced byRon Howard, there was a lot of concern whether the movie was going to live up to the legacy ofStar Warsand one of the most beloved characters in the galaxy. But it sounds like fans aren’t nearly as worried as they used to be, because ticket presales have soared past almost all of the biggest-selling movies of the year.
Solo: A Star Wars Storytickets went on sale just in time for Star Wars Day on May 4th, and within the first 24 hours, the smuggler’s origin story doubled the ticket presales ofBlack Panther. TheStar Warsspin-off sold enough tickets to have the second-best first day of presales in 2018.Varietyhas the report of Fandango’s ticket sales, but it wasn’t enough to surpass the numbersAvengers: Infinity Warput up. Still, this should give Disney and Lucasfilm some confidence in the movie that felt rather unnecessary in the grand scheme of things. While many fans have been vocal about wanting to see theStar Warsuniverse expand beyond the characters we’re already familiar with, it appears just as many love Han Solo enough to see how his origin story turns out.
It’s not just Fandango putting up big numbers either.Deadlinesays the smaller Atom Tickets had their second-largest hour of ticket presales afterAvengers: Infinity WarwhenSolotickets went on sale. So it sounds like all thosestupid and sad boycotts from deranged “fans” out therearen’t making much of a dent.
The ticket presales forSolo: A Star Wars Storyshow why the box office tracking for the spin-off is projectinga record-setting Memorial Day weekendwith a possible haul of $170 million. That would put it significantly ahead of the previous record-setting Memorial Day openersPirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End($139.8M) andIndiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull($126.9M). I guess that’s the power ofStar Wars.
The question is how the movie will perform after that initial weekend. Director Ron Howard recently said that the possibility of any sequels followingSolo: A Star Wars Storydepends on how the fansturn out for the movie. The opening weekend box office is one thing, but if fans come away mostly disappointed, potential negative reviews turn general audiences off, or the weekends that follow don’t give the movie long legs, then it might not be enough for Lucasfilm to greenlight any possible sequels. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens later this month.
