Would fans accept someone other than Harrison Ford as Han Solo? Based on advanced ticket sales for Solo: A Star Wars Story, audiences positively have enthusiasm for the upcoming spin-off/prequel. The sales for Solo can be best described as outright shocking. At present, Solo advance sales seem to be outpacing those of Black Panther.
Black Panther earned well over $1 billion worldwide. Fandango helps facilitate advanced sales, and confirms Solo long passed those of Black Panther. Forecasters now predict the film should earn about $170 million when it debuts on Memorial Day weekend. Disney proves it made the right decision in purchasing both Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm. Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War delivered more than $1 billion each. Solo should do the same.
One surprising aspect of the huge advance sales would be the fact Solo didn’t exactly receive a lot of great press. The original Super Bowl TV spot disappointed fans. News about replacing directors raised the specter about the production is out of control. Production problems commonly lead to a poor finished film. Fans don’t seem to be worrying about any of these things. They’re buying tickets in huge numbers.
Hollywood has been in a slump lately. Ticket sales outside of superhero movies, a reinvigorated horror genre, and a few popular franchises have been dismal. At least the Star Wars franchise continues to do well for Disney. The numbers for the Solo film must be highly encouraging.
Solo does need to please those fans who are turning out to purchase massive numbers of tickets. A poor-quality film could do DC Extended Universe-level damage to the Star Wars franchise. With Ron Howard handling directorial chores, the quality of the film will likely be exceptional.
