“Solo” Debuts So Low

Despite good buzz leading into the weekend (or at least theorizing and hoping that its flop status was unwarranted), Solo was predicted to top $120 million for the four-day holiday weekend. But whatever it was: a combination of Star Wars fatigue, leftover disappointment from the small-but-vocal minority of The Last Jedi haters, or just a needed break from an onslaught of blockbusters, Solo: A Star Wars Story had a very soft opening. With an estimated $83.3 million for the weekend, that's lower than any live-action Star Wars movie released in the last 13 years, and only barely above what Attack of the Clones opened with way back in 2002. Things weren't any better overseas, where the film opened in major markets like China and the UK with less than $11 million in each country. Before anyone hits the panic button: it won't have any real competition next weekend, when it faces three films all opening in 2,000 theaters or less. But still, it's unlikely to hold well. Movies like this aren't built to last. It's entirely possible this gets mentioned in the same breath as Justice League, which limped to a $229 million finish last winter, which got eclipsed very quickly by Marvel movies just months later. The good news? For Ron Howard, this is his biggest debut ever.

And it's not like any other films were the beneficiary of audiences avoiding Solo. Deadpool 2 dropped a massive 66 percent to fall to No. 2. It's about $30 million behind where the previous installment was at this point in its run. It's doing good business overseas, but it's definitely going to finish much lower this time around. Avengers: Infinity War is eventually going to top the record-breaking first film, but the fact that it hasn't done so yet, even with that earth-shattering opening weekend is a little worrisome. $650 million is looking more and more out of reach.

Book Club and Life of the Party both held much better. The former dropped only 30 percent, with an estimated $31 million made so far. The latter didn't fall off nearly as hard as it did in its second weekend. It's almost made $40 million.

Outside the top 5:

• This Weekend's Indie Champ: Despite dropping nearly 68 percent, the 50th anniversary edition of 2001: A Space Odyssey still had the best average by far, with $16,500 on each screen.
• The sleeper story of the summer so far is RBG, the documentary on Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. It's made north of $1 million for each of the last three weekends, really exceptional for indie film on fewer than 500 screens.
• A Quiet Place is still making noise. In its eighth weekend in the top 10, it's made nearly $180 million to date.

Next weekend: 

Not much that will make a dent in the box office. Shailene Woodley and Sam Clafin are stranded at sea in Adrift, Logan Marshall-Green gets some ass-kicking skills in the futuristic thriller Upgrade, and Johnny Knoxville is up to his old tricks in Action Point. Solo: A Star Wars Story is definitely repeating at No. 1, with Deadpool 2 at No. 2 most likely. I'll say Action Point has the best odds at No.3 with $15 million.