OFFICIAL NEWS ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ Advance Ticket Sales Already Breaking Records, Besting ‘Black Panther’

Fortunately that is not what is happening here. What is happening here is:

1) I love this
2) I love this
3) I love this
4) Oh wow, new producers are coming in
5) New producers are taking franchise in a radically different direction
6) I hope new producers are fired and replaced so things can go back to where they were before

 

This is saying the exact same thing with different phrasing.

"4) Oh wow, new producers are coming in" --> Things might be changing that I will have no control over
"5) New producers are taking franchise in a radically different direction" --> I hate the new direction the series has gone in
"6) I hope new producers are fired and replaced so things can go back to where they were before" --> we must destroy the franchise as its direction now exists to attempt to get back to the old

 

And here is the core of the problem. When exactly is "before"? 1980? 1996? 2005? 2009? 2013? And how exactly things were during that magical time? Maybe they weren't so great? And even if they were, is it possible to really "go back"?

 

Well that's the thing...this magical time doesn't exist. Before Disney, the Star Wars world sucked! We got the prequels and all that garbage, and I'm sorry but most of the EU is terrible. And on top of that Lucasfilm was--still is--suppressing the original theatrical versions of the OT, so it's not like you can even just ignore the new crap and enjoy the old stuff you love in quality beyond 1990s technology. And if you went back to the 1980s, it was really the dark times when we were getting Ewok movies, and nothing much else! Marvel comics stopped making Star Wars comics, and the official fan club closed down, and we got made-for-TV movies based on the worst elements from the previous films. But before that, you are right, I am sure if we had social media there would be boycotts to get Lucas fired from ROTJ as well--"sell the series to Disney!" People were arguing for this leading into the sale, the main thing that made it surprising when it actually happened is that people thought Lucas would be way more protective of it than it turns out he was.

Personally, I was overjoyed when Lucas sold the company, because I felt he had done such a terrible, terrible job at it for the past few decades (decades!). The best thing we got out of that period was the Clone Wars series (both of them), which seem to have succeeded because they were steered by people outside of Lucas and he could just toss the occasional idea (and Jar Jar cameo) in.

So, it's not simple at all, and it's not clear to me what this magical time we are going back to. Circa 2011, right before the sale to Disney, Lucasfilm was releasing the OT on Blu-ray with Darth Vader going "NOOooOOOoo!" at the end of Return of the Jedi and ruining the climax of the Saga.

 

I think it is plainly quite simple, and surprising it was not done through Lucasart/Disney;

1) Plan a trilogy and character development through all three movies (don't abandon plot threads with a change of directors)
2) Keep to the internal logic in the universe, do not create something "new" that makes past battles irrelevant without a damn good explanation. (eg. Hyperspace superweapon)
3) Have respect for the original characters, while also building upon the new with a real arc (I think advice form Mark Hamill was simply brushed off)
4) Have respect for the villains. You wan't a scary, competent opposition to make a engaging story , not bumbling idiots who fall for prank calls. Give them a backstory and an arc as well. (Not just Kylo Ren and throw Phasma and Snoke in the dumpster)
5) Try to respect the fan base, do not discount their opinions based on a selective argumentation ("The afraid of women sharade", "not intelligent enough to understand the complexity etc").)
6) Don't lose the Universe building SW was famous for. Sure, you could add in books, comics etc, but the movies must give us a feeling that SW is huge and grand, not just a motley crew of rebels. (Where did the new Republic go? Was is just the nine planets?)

This is basically what wen't wrong between TFA and TLJ, and which in hindsight TFA bears some blame for. While there was controversy for the prequels, at least they had a story to tell that ultimately branched out and connected. I think it is fair to want these things in a franchise.

 

Movie going is significantly down this weekend and there has been other big movies out putting a strain on the general movie goer resources in the past few weeks. People are doing other things this weekend. Going to beaches and alike

Rogue One came out in a December with no competition. It came out before people start traveling for Christmas. It is the only big tent pole movie. Here are the other movies in the top five during the release of Rogue One

Collateral Beauty
Moana
Office Christmas Party
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

None of these movies would attract the same type of general viewers as Deadpool and Infinity War

If Solo comes out in December like its predecessors it would have done better than it is now. It still likely would underperform compared to the others but to to the extent it is now.

 

I remember seeing all 3 PT films for a 2nd time on Memorial Day weekend and those theaters were full. Give something people want, and they will come. It’s almost like everyone forgets Episode 1-6 were all released in May. This is SW!!!! And has always been a juggernaut and the excuse that it’s Memorial Day doesn’t hold for me when you lose 1/2 your audience from R1. If they lost 10-20% of the audience, then I would probably agree.

 

This is weak because there was never any control beforehand. So it isn't a matter of losing control that upsets people.

This is a fair rephrasing.

I guess we differ on the definition of "destroy." I don't see anyone trying to destroy Star Wars. I see a lot of people hoping it goes back to the way it was before Kathleen Kennedy took over, but I don't see anyone trying to "destroy" it.

 

The highest grossing sequel of all time was released in december...and it was called force awakens

The highest grossing spinoff before black panther was released in december...and it ran circles around attack of the clones adjusted for inflation and it was called rogue one.

The worst box office star wars multiplier ever made still legged it to 620 million(TLJ)...it was released in December.

Lucas was given a option to push revenge of the sith back to December...where he could have given himself 6 months of polishing up the story...that never happened

Summer and may in particular has done nothing but drown star wars one way or another while December gave star wars massive legs...which is behind the incredible success of Disney star wars

 

Movie-going is down this weekend because there aren't any movies out there this weekend that people want to see.

It isn't like if, for example, Infinity War debuted this weekend that people would still be saying "hey let's go to the beach."

Can't say I buy what you're selling. Memorial Day weekend is arguable the single best weekend of the year to release a movie. There is no reason to believe it would have had a better opening weekend in the middle of December than it had on Memorial Day weekend.

 

Fair enough, @Wolfpack , but I am genuinely wondering where it concerns your opinion here: what is the "before" that you are referring to? I don't mean this facetiously, I'm curious where people stand on this, because as I mentioned for me the "before" period is a very wide net that I personally was not always that fond of. Do you mean the post-prequel period circa 2008-2012? The prequel era 1999-2005? The 1990s period of 1991-1997? Just trying to get an idea of where you are coming from here.

EDIT

Also, you are spot on with the Memorial Day grosses. Memorial Day never stopped Star Wars from opening huge in previous years. The week is lower than last week because the number one movie that carries the weekend box office was big last week (Deadpool) and not so big this week.

 

December is better for legs

 

To me, the movies are the primary importance. I follow the EU and I enjoy the EU but the EU is secondary to the movies. I enjoy discussing the EU, but you'll never see me get worked up over the EU like I do over the movies themselves.

When I say "before" what I mean is that I wish the Disney era movies were more consistent with the first 6 episodes in terms of tone, theme and character. I am not a fan of agenda-driven storytelling and while I am trying to give Disney as much benefit of the doubt as possible, it is becoming more and more difficult not to see blatant examples of this in their movies.

I also think @Shadowblade wrote a post above which perfectly and eloquently states how I feel. It is worth noting that I feel Solo did a great job at these things. This is a movie that understands and respects the universe within which it exists. I'm very happy with Solo and I hope Ron Howard gets another SW movie. My fear is he gets blamed for the horrible box office we are seeing.

 

According to jouralists and critics on a film industry pay lists its now called a : " Star Wars fatigue".

Thats a good story, for the First victory of the rebellion against the KK empire.

All masks have fallen. Disney is jet not aware of the scope of defeat they faced, and of all the consequences.



Its barely 101 million.

Spoiler

They are fabricating even now, its not even 101 million , but it looks better than two digit 99 million.

 

See I don't really get this. The PT is completely inconsistent with the OT in terms of tone and style. And the one thing they have in common is themes--but Star Wars has always had "agenda-drive", as you put it (that's just another way of saying the films have a message). Star Wars was created out of protesting the Vietnam war, the Emperor was based on the President still in office at the time Lucas was writing it, the idea of militarized rebels destroying fasicsts is an endorsement of antifa, and Leia was the first feminist icon in family-friendly media and totally rode the line of Second Wave Feminism; hell she was even still on posters in the Womens March of 2017. All of this was part of the 1960s New Left that Lucas was a part of, being a college student in the 1960s--hell, he even grew a beard just in time for his artsy-fartsy THX 1138 which was partly a thinly-veiled criticism of the American government at the time by way of Brave New World. And of course the prequels wore politics on its sleeve, it's the core of the movie. Lucas put in characters to lampoon Conservative media icons, like Nute Gunray (Newt Gingrich and Ronald Reagan), and ROTS was praised by critics as commenting on the Bush administration at the time of it's release, with him even having Anakin paraphrasing Bush ("if you're not with me, then you're my enemy") and putting undeniable 9/11 imagery. Not to mention the continuing tradition of strong female leads with Padme.

You've been a fan how long? Have you never noticed this stuff before? It's been up front and center in the films since 1977. I just don't understand this mentality. All Disney is doing is continuing the traditions that Lucas very deliberately made part of the fabric of the films from day one. The PT isn't all that consistent with OT in many ways, but the one area it is is the themes and messages, or what would be called an "agenda," like a film with a message is something manipulative and vapid (quite the opposite, as a film that says nothing doesn't really have much to it). Liberal politics have always been a deliberate, open and explicit driving force in the Star Wars storytelling traditon, at least where the films are concerned, and it's mainly because of the "agenda" of George Lucas.

 

Here's a bit on Nute Gunray from Wookieepedia:

And another one on Lott Dod:

You can call these references many things, but they're definitely not subtle.

 

Those pages are also taking advantage of YouTube algorithm which helps brings the in views. It's a snow ball effect.