The failure of Solo: A Star Wars Story adds considerable weight to my argument that consumers of popular media crave original stories about original characters with original plots expressed in tight arcs. Sticking someone else in Harrison Ford’s clothes, in Harrison Ford’s ship, and with Harrison Ford’s Wookie simply doesn’t cut it. Originality counts.
The same lack of originality is what condemned Feig’s Ghostbusters reboot to a mediocre box office haul. Ditto Marvel’s efforts to wow fans by breaking lore in order to put new faces in old costumes–it simply didn’t work because it was a cheap gimmick that lacked vision.
Again, originality counts.
