Lucasfilm has taken note of the lessons learned from 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story. Serving as a prequel series to the original Star Wars films, Solo introduced Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo, the character famously portrayed by Harrison Ford in prior movies. Other familiar characters with other actors were seen in the film as well, such as Donald Glover taking over the role of Billy Dee Williams’ Lando Calrissian.
Solo did fairly well with critics but its biggest problem was that it did not draw the crowds that would be expected for a Star Wars movie. It’s the lowest-grossing live-action film in the franchise, and because it had cost hundreds of millions of dollars to develop, it’s considered to be a bomb at the box office with its worldwide haul of $393 million. Ehrenreich had originally signed on for more movies as there were tentative plans for a sequel, but Solo underperforming in theaters dashed those plans pretty quickly.
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Looking back at the Solo experiment, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy says that fans shouldn’t expect to see more of these kinds of Star Wars prequels happening anytime soon. Per Vanity Fair, Kennedy sees the film flopping as a teachable moment, and from there, it was easy for Lucasfilm to make the vow not to develop a sequel to Solo or any other live-action Star Wars films with all-new actors playing established major characters.
Solo: A Star Wars Story 2 May Not Be Meant to Be
Walt Disney Studios
Perhaps not enough fans went to see Solo in 2018, but there are still many who have been hoping for a sequel to happen. Whenever its anniversary comes around, many fans take to social media to campaign for Lucasfilm to finally order Solo 2. The movement is no closer now to getting the sequel made than it was when Solo flopped in 2018, however, as Lucasfilm puts its focus on other Star Wars projects on the big and small screens.
“[Solo] didn’t do as well as other Star Wars movies, but it still did well for a movie,” Solo star Alden Ehrenreich said after the film’s release, suggesting it was the negative press that tanked box office profits. “And so it was kind of this medium thing. But that’s not newsworthy. Even at high-level journalism, there’s an intense pressure, sometimes, it feels like, to [either] catastrophize or celebrate.”
He added, “And I think that’s really f—ing dangerous, especially when it pertains to the stuff that really matters, like the state of the world. An article headline that says “things are complicated, and there are good sides and bad sides” isn’t getting the emotional response. And I just think we really have to take a step back, and give a lot more thought to the way our emotions are being run by the stories we’re getting inundated with.”
