Ron Howard: ‘I Feel Badly’ About ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ Underperforming at the Box Office

“Solo: A Star Wars Story” may soon hold a dubious honor: becoming the first “Star Wars” movie to lose money. Even the prequel trilogy, which received negative reviews and earned scorn from longtime fans, did gangbusters at the box office; unlike those three films, “Solo” hit theaters just five months after its predecessor and within weeks of both “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Deadpool 2.” Now director Ron Howard admits he “feels badly” that more people aren’t seeing his contribution to the franchise.

“I’m proud of #SoloAStarWarsStory and the cast & crew worked hard to give fans a fun new addition,” he tweeted in response to a fan theorizing that backlash to “The last Jedi” is partially to blame. “As a director I feel badly when people who I believe (& exit polls show) will very likely enjoy a movie… don’t see it on a big screen w/great sound.”

Howard took over for Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who were fired midway through production; rumors of what might have gone wrong did little to help audience perception of the film in the lead-up to its release.

“Solo” has made $176 million domestically in its first 17 days of release, far less than half what previous standalone entry “Rogue One” earned in the same amount of time.