North Texas Daily

“Solo: A Star Wars Story” dropped a few days ago to a very unimpressive debut, grossing only $103 million in its opening weekend. You might look at 103 million and think it is quite a remarkable amount, especially for one weekend. While it might be a good chunk of money, the amount leaves much to be desired when compared to the previous opening weekend grosses of “Star Wars” films released in the past couple of years. 

“Star Wars The Force Awakens” grossed a massive $247 million on its first weekend in 2015, and 2016’s “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” grossed $155 million opening weekend. “Solo’s” opening weekend gross is nothing short of a large disappointment. 

Is this the sign of “Star Wars” franchise fatigue? Or is it simply a sign of a lack of audience interest due to the filmmakers’ motives — hastily capitalizing on the resurgence of the “Star Wars” franchise?

The latter seems more likely.

Han Solo is a purposefully mysterious character in “Star Wars” lore, so having an entire movie dedicated to how he got his name, where he came from and how he got to be who he is in the original trilogy just seems wholly superfluous. Not only is it unnecessary, but it seems like it almost betrays the character by giving the fans information about the character not known previously. We were perfectly fine not knowing it for all this time.

As of right now, there are a number of these “Star Wars Stories” in the works, including an Obi Wan story and a Boba Fett story. As a rabid fan of all “Star Wars” content, I certainly can appreciate the further development of plots and storylines in this massive world. But again — as such an avid fan — the last thing I want is apparent lack of effort in the creation of these movies, and the transparency that they were made for a quick buck without all the great things fans expect from a “Star Wars” movie. 

There is certainly a magical feeling that accompanies the release of a new “Star Wars” movie, but as I was waiting for the release of “Solo,” I never once felt that usual, enchanting feeling I’m sure other “Star Wars” fans are extremely familiar with. A movie about one of my favorite characters of all time should have boosted my usual excitement meter up at least 10 notches, but I never really got worked up about it.

After seeing the movie, my suspicions and doubts were confirmed true. 

I enjoyed “Solo” in parts as an exciting, action movie, but as a Star Wars movie, it falls incredibly short. This is all due in part to how unnecessary I feel these extra “Star Wars Stories” really are. 

With one of the stories planned for every other year, I am at an utter loss. While they may be competently made movies just like “Solo” was, their existence seems inherently avoidable with the already expansive Star Wars mythos.

“Solo” did not do enough to validate its existence, and the promise of one of these “Star Wars Stories” every other year is overloading for the dedicated fanbase.

Featured Image by Austin Banzon