Is the Han Solo Movie Getting Pushed Back to December 2018?
By Buckie Wells
Since December proves to be a great month for Star Wars, Lucasfilm might want to consider moving Han Solo from summer to December.
In case you missed it, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story continues to dominate the box office. After premiering in mid-December, it swept through the holiday season, knocked Captain America off the No. 2 spot for 2016, and appears to be on its way to a billion. And it hasn’t even been in theaters for a whole month yet.
Following the unprecedented success that was The Force Awakens, Rogue One‘s box office numbers show that December is a good month for the series. Apparently, the holidays are the perfect time for lightsabers, Jedi and the Force.
This December, Episode VIII hits theaters. If the hype train follows the same track as Rogue One, we’ll be getting an official title soon, followed by a trailer in April. Then, the rest of 2017 will be a matter of watching the clock tick down to Dec. 15.
Instead of releasing the next installment of the franchise the following December in 2018, the Han Solo movie is set to premiere in May. Previously, Kathleen Kennedy described the film as a “Western,” so it makes some sense to premiere the movie before summer … except that December is Star Wars month. At least, it makes the studio a lot of money. The holidays give people a lot of time to pay for repeat viewings of the new film.
According to Making Star Wars, some “sources in the theater industry have received a release date of December 13th, 2018 for Star Wars: Han Solo.”
Obviously, Lucasfilm looked at the numbers, and they like what they’re seeing. However, Star Wars: Han Solo is a weaksauce name, and will hopefully change before Lucasfilm releases the film.
While the rumor only sparks the speculation, it would probably prove to be a smart move for Lucasfilm. Let’s just make it official and call December the official “Star Wars Month”. Considering the magnitude of Star Wars, it’s okay if we have May and December.
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Just a reminder: Episode VIII releases on Dec. 15, 2017; and Han Solo (tentatively) hits theaters on May 25, 2018.