10 Movies Too Big To Fail (That Did It Anyway)

5. Solo: A Star Wars Story

Why It Was "Too Big"

Star Wars movies don't fail. Even the poorer Prequel Trilogy releases banked a massive amount for LucasFilm and made the company a viable asset for Disney to buy. The brand is just that strong.

So, taking one of the most beloved characters within that brand and expanding it - even with the somewhat cliched prequel treatment - was surely another opportunity for Disney to print some money. Not even production worries would kill it, either, since they've pretty much always been part and parcel of a Star Wars release.

Why It Failed Anyway

For a start, it didn't need to be made. Rather than expanding the character and adding depth, all Solo does it demystifies a character whose all shtick was the mystery of whether his claims to past glories were real or not. We didn't need to see him do the Kessel Run in record time, because all that mattered was that he CLAIMED he had.

The film also struggled thanks to the backlash from The Last Jedi and also probably because those production stories came out. It's not a bad movie, per se, it just doesn't do enough to justify its existence.

The Damage

The Star Wars stand-alone strategy seems to have shifted in another direction on the back of Solo's underwhelming reception. The cast should be fine, but Disney won't be quick to ignore bad early reactions again.