Solo: A Star Wars Story – “Poor Marketing” Shot First
After an unexpectedly low second weekend box office, fingers have begun to point as to where the blame for Solo: A Star Wars Story‘s missing audiences should be placed.
While the majority of Star Wars movies have surpassed expectations and ticket sales at the worldwide box office, Solo: A Star Wars Story has unfortunately not followed suit. According to veteran media analyst Doug Creutz, the buck stops, quite literally, with “poor marketing”. Using Rogue One, the first movie under the A Star Wars Story banner that steered away from the Skywalker saga, Creutz argues that Disney’s marketing campaign never successfully sold Alden Ehrenreich as the hero we needed him to be. In contrast, Creutz points to the teaser trailer for Rogue One in comparison with the one for Solo:
“The first 35 seconds of the trailer almost exclusively focuses on Felicity Jones as the protagonist Jyn Erso, selling her as a new franchise hero… the first teaser for Solo came out just 108 days out from release. The teaser, by our count, only had about 10 seconds of screen time where Ehrenreich’s face was clearly in the picture – not, in our opinion, nearly enough”
“Poor marketing” also encompasses the scope of a production from inception to release and it’s no secret that three of the four most current Star Wars entries have been plagued by their own sets of issues. While Creutz doesn’t believe that this played a major factor, he does echo a suggestion floated on social media recently about elevating the role of Dave Filoni in the company. Filoni is the creative mastermind behind Rebels, The Clone Wars series, and fall’s upcoming Resistance.
Not to blame? The Last Jedi. While fans have been divisive and hostile about their frustration with Episode VIII, Creutz easily shrugs off the notion that the film had anything to do with Solo‘s box office.
“If the franchise was able to survive Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, we have a hard time believing Last Jedi could have done that much damage.”
While sad to see a new entry in the Star Wars universe get reduced to how much dollars it makes over the quality of content it delivers, expect to see a potentially different marketing shift from Disney when the next spin-off film prepares to hit theaters.
For more on Deadline’s analysis of the box office, check out the article here.
Under the twin suns of Los Angeles, Chris continues to mourn the loss of Admiral Ackbar while championing the rights of Ewoks everywhere. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @Chri5Manning for all your pun needs.
