First Star Wars: Han Solo Cast Photo Revealed. Movie Confirmed for a May 2018 Release!

Well, of course. Perhaps not mentioning this makes it seem that I was unaware, but I thought it was pretty much a foregone conclusion, as many have pointed out: my point being that these films could have very easily done their best to at least attempt to take it on head on at the BO, but instead, within a week of VIII being delayed they announced this too, and if I've learned anything from film news over the last few years, it's that they don't just change these on a whim. LFL/Disney more than likely gave them the heads up ahead of time to allow them to move out of the way.

--- Double Post Merged, Feb 21, 2017, Original Post Date: Feb 21, 2017 ---

Except it's important - very important - for any massive blockbuster such as Star Wars, and longevity at the Box Office - performing in the top 5 for 6 weeks or even more - is undoubtedly the key to record-breaking success. It is no small coincidence that all three films to cross the $2 billion mark (albeit, Titanic only crossed this marked due to a rerelease) were released in December, and its for a number of reasons:

• there is little to no major competition from the start of December up until mid-February, and typically this was even longer before the MCU and cinematic universes got off the ground.
• there is inarguably the largest holiday of the year in the West at this time of year - Christmas - and this means that families can go out in droves to see the films together.
• there is also little to no major competition in terms of marketing, also.

Now, there are plenty of other reasons as to why these films are successful at this time of year, but it is no small coincidence that LFL/Disney stood up and moved VIII from May to December. For example, Han Solo is currently still slated for next May, meaning it follows Infinity War, is followed by Incredibles 2, and a few weeks later takes on films such as Ant Man and The Wasp, Mission Impossible 6, Transformers, Ocean's 8, etc. Now, some of these aren't massive films, sure, but they chip away at the BO, capping any potential return on the film.

 

Well LFL was impressively accommodating when Paramount wanted them to stifle marketing for 'Rogue One' while 'Rogue Nation' was out. So professional courtesy certainly isn't unprecedented with this studio.

 

When you typed "GOT to change".......was this a Game of Thrones pun????

 

Hahaha, I was thinking the same thing.

 

Just a 5 month wait between The Last Jedi and Han Solo. I can see all the subsequent films going to moving to May after this. I'm sure merchandising and Christmas DVD/Digital releases will have something to do with this. From what I recall May was the original plan for the SW releases anyway.