8 Times Audiences Were Blamed For Movies That Failed

Even people who appreciate Star Wars: The Last Jedi cannot ignore the hate it received from certain corners of the fandom. It did well critically and financially, but it lacked that universal fan support that massive franchises really do need to thrive.

And while the backlash was clear as day, nobody could have predicted just how badly that negativity would affect Solo. Up until its release, every single Disney Star Wars movie had grossed over a billion dollars worldwide (with The Force Awakens hitting two billion), but the Han Solo spinoff didn't even hit $400 million.

There were several factors that contributed towards this poor result, such as the film's troubled production, and even a bit of Star Wars fatigue. But the fan backlash was the most notable, and there was even a substantial movement to boycott the film.

And while, again, this controversy was as clear as day, the folks over at Lucasfilm and Disney would never come out and acknowledge that they'd alienated a good portion of their fanbase. In fact, the only person who mentioned that this was even a problem was the film's director, Ron Howard.

The filmmaker pinned his movie's disappointing box-office figures on the "pushback" from Star Wars fans who hated The Last Jedi, noting that the online movement to try and tank the film was a key reason behind its failure:

"Timing, young Han Solo, pushback from the previous movie... and some trolling, definitely some trolling. Some actual aggressive… it was pretty interesting. Several of the algorithms, whether it was Metacritic or Rotten Tomatoes, there was an inordinate push down on the ‘want to see’ and on the fan voting."

You can tell he's trying to keep his response as diplomatic as possible, but he must be royally ticked off that his film suffered due to factors outside of his control.