re: Looks like Disney might be coming to grips with what they have done to the SW franchise

I’ll put this as simply as I can:

For the first time ever, millions of SW fans (casual and hardcore) weren’t interested enough in seeing a SW to pay for it in theaters. If Disney execs think that it was mostly due to a May release and marketing, those same people will not see the next one either. It was the problems of TLJ, both the movie and how the negative feedback was handled, that kept most people away from Solo.

I'll give you the same courtesy.

For the first time ever, we had a Star Wars film tell the backstory about a character who was defined by a somewhat mysterious backstory. For the first time ever, we had a Star Wars film released only months after another Star Wars film. For the first time ever, we had the director(s) of a Star Wars film replaced near the end of production. For the first time ever, we had a Star Wars film with the largest production budget of any other without a marketing campaign to reflect that.

If this movie stays on budget, doesn't have the behind-the-scenes drama, releases at the right time, and tells a story people care about, it's at least another billion in Disney's pocket. Those are the lessons they'll take away from this if they like money, and they do.

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we had a Star Wars film tell the backstory about a character who was defined by a somewhat mysterious backstory.

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This is a positive, not a negative.

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we had a Star Wars film released only months after another Star Wars film.

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Fatigue played zero part. No one, anywhere, has said “Nah. I can’t see this good movie. I just saw a movie set in the same world 5 month ago.”

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we had the director(s) of a Star Wars film replaced near the end of production.

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Production problems don’t help, but by all accounts, this was a good move. And if you think the average moviegoer pays any attention to production issues, I can’t help you. That isn’t stopping 50 people much less thousands from seeing a movie.

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we had a Star Wars film with the largest production budget of any other without a marketing campaign to reflect that.

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They marketed it as much as Rogue One. But it was poor quality. The quantity wasn’t an issue.

None of these were issues before the movie was released when you were saying it would make a ton of money. I can pull that quote for you again. You, me, Disney, and everyone else didnt think it would bomb this bad. Like I said, if Disney still has it’s head in the sand over the impact of TLJ, it can expect more of this regardless of release date, marketing or production issues.

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If this movie stays on budget, doesn't have the behind-the-scenes drama, releases at the right time, and tells a story people care about, it's at least another billion in Disney's pocket. Those are the lessons they'll take away from this if they like money, and they do.

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Sure, but let me give you another scenario.

Had TLJ been a competent film, had they not made the character decisions that they did, had they not called all of those who didn’t like the film racists, sexists, etc., had Kathleen Kennedy and Rian Johnson not been as insulting to the fans, even with all of those problems that Solo faced, it would have made a billion dollars.

The excitement would have been there.

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Feel the same way about IX

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I have no desire to see IX. I melted hard about how they treated Luke, but I’m actually more upset that it really did a poor job setting up the next movie. It felt like the end of a trilogy, not the middle chapter. There isn’t a storyline that I’m anxious to see continued or wrapped up in the next movie. Couple that with the inevitable awkwardness of having to write Leia off, and it’s just setting up to be a disaster.

How Disney fumbled this is beyond me.

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There isn’t a storyline that I’m anxious to see continued or wrapped up in the next movie.

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There isn’t really a storyline, which is the problem.

The big bad is dead.

The main protagonist has not advanced in any way.

The only villain left is still torn and isn’t really a villain.

The leader of the First Order is a buffoon.

There are only like 20 “rebels” left.

The entire First Order fleet was destroyed.

What is left?

Maybe they can go rescue the slave kids.

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There isn’t really a storyline, which is the problem.

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Exactly.

The minute the news came across about Carrie Fisher’s death, the script should’ve been rewritten/edited to include Luke living at the end. At least I could be hopeful that while the Resistence was down to 6 people, it would be led by a re-energized Luke Skywalker and we could at least hope for a real Kylo-Luke showdown.

That’s a lot more exciting than seeing some slave kid use the Force to get a broom.

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This is a positive, not a negative.

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No it isn't. The comment "this is a movie we didn't want or need" has been made just as often as the complaints about TLJ.

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Fatigue played zero part. No one, anywhere, has said “Nah. I can’t see this good movie. I just saw a movie set in the same world 5 month ago.”

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Wrong. Outside of this bubble a lot of people do just that. Taking a family of six to see three movies in three weeks isn't something most will do.

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And if you think the average moviegoer pays any attention to production issues, I can’t help you. 

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If you think the average moviegoer ignores negativity surrounding a film, I can't help you.

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They marketed it as much as Rogue One. 

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I can pull that quote for you again. 

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Do it. It has a made a ton of money, whether it underperformed or not.

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Had TLJ been a competent film, had they not made the character decisions that they did, had they not called all of those who didn’t like the film racists, sexists, etc., had Kathleen Kennedy and Rian Johnson not been as insulting to the fans, even with all of those problems that Solo faced, it would have made a billion dollars.

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Solo was never going to make a billion dollars with all of the issues I listed, regardless of the meltdowns over TLJ.

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The comment "this is a movie we didn't want or need" has been made just as often as the complaints about TLJ.

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That's only been said since TLJ. The fear for this movie before TLJ was about who could possibly play Han. Once TLJ was released, everyone here (you can do a site specific google search) started complaining that they didn't want this movie at all.

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Taking a family of six to see three movies in three weeks isn't something most will do.

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What 3 movies were released in 3 weeks? No need for exaggerating (again). We've been through this. I can show you summers were there was blockbuster after blockbuster even ones separated by less than 2 weeks. Show a movie released in the summer that tanked simply because of another movie.

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If you think the average moviegoer ignores negativity surrounding a film, I can't help you.

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HELLO HYPOCRISY!!! That's exactly what people mean when we say "TLJ severely hurt Solo". That was a ton of negativity about SW. That was widespread. That negativity gets 50+ threads and thousands of posts just on this forum alone. Ron Howard replacing the LegoMovie directors on the other hand... 2 pages... most of which were TLJ jabs/jokes.

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It has a made a ton of money, whether it underperformed or not.

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People will go watch this movie, they will like this movie, and it will make a ton of money. So will the next one, and the one after, and so on.

Being a bitch about it won't change that.

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Still so funny.