In a world where $83m is considered tanking, no less.

In all seriousness, who is this movie for exactly?  Die hard SW fans already know everything they need to about how he came to be.  Even passing fans have a general idea by watching eps 6, 7 & 8.

We all knew the end point of Rogue One – someone gets the Death Star plans.  What we didn’t know was who, and how.  That story was fairly decent.  It was certainly the best “prequel” to the older story line.

In Solo, you know all the main characters ahead of time.  You know the major plot points – Chewie as a slave, Han winning the ship in a card game, a bro-mance with Lando. There’s no big story tie-in, not set up for something else.

It gets compounded by the divisiveness of The Last Jedi, as much as the fact that movie is only 6 months old.  It sure does smell like cash grab more than anything else.

Interesting take away is what’s next for Disney on this front.  They bet a lot of money on some good stinkers along the way.  John Carter and The Lone Ranger come to mind.  With 2 more “side stories” in the pipe, maybe this is the first and last of the bunch.  If Han, arguably the most likeable character in the SW universe cannot make it work, what change do Obi-Wan and Bobba Fett?

Or maybe audiences just have had enough and Disney has to show some effort.