Lucasfilm’s Solo: A Star Wars Story blasted off aboard the Millennium Falcon last night and set a Memorial Day Weekend Record for a Thursday night opening with $14.1 million.
The previous record was held by another Disney film, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, which earned $13.2 million on the same date back in 2007.
Pirates went on to earn $153 million including Thursday night previews for the four-day Memorial Day weekend, which is also a record. Currently Solo is tracking for anywhere between $11o and $150 million depending on who you ask, so it will be a close race to see if the record falls or not.
Compared to the last Star Wars Story, Rogue One, Solo came up way short of expectations. The first standalone Star Wars film earned more than double Solo at $29 million for its Thursday night preview showings.
Audience CinemaScore ratings and word-of-mouth will be critical to Solo’s success throughout the weekend. It’s light tone and popcorn ride construction could play favorably to a wide audience, as long as that audience is made aware of its fun factor.
