LOS ANGELES -- Solo: A Star Wars Story is losing momentum quickly at the box office, even with a relatively quiet weekend free of any new blockbuster competition. After an underwhelming premiere, the space saga fell 65 percent in weekend two with about $29.4 million from North American theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Solo has now earned about $149 million domestically, which is still shy of Rogue One's December 2016 opening weekend of $155.1 million and more than $135 million short of where Rogue One was in its second weekend.
The 65 percent drop off is one of the highest in recent Star Wars history, although it is less steep than the second week fall of the franchise's last film, Star Wars: Episode VIII -- The Last Jedi, which slid 67.5 percent in weekend two this past December -- but, that was also after a $220 million debut.
Internationally, Solo added $30.3 million, and globally the film has netted $264.2 million.
Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for comScore, thinks that all the media attention given to Solo's less-than-impressive opening weekend numbers could have actually affected its second weekend earnings.
"Sometimes news of the box office can affect a movie's bottom line," Dergarabedian said.
He noted that in comScore's audience survey, most of the more than 1,000 people polled really liked the movie.
Solo's tumble brought it even closer to Deadpool 2, which still managed to reel in about $23.2 million to take second place. With a domestic total of $254.5 million and a crowded marketplace with Solo and Avengers: Infinity War surrounding it, Deadpool 2 is still only about $30 million behind where the first film was in its third weekend.
Shailene Woodley's lost-at-sea drama Adrift fared the best of the three newcomers, which included the horror pic Upgrade and a Johnny Knoxville comedy Action Point. Adrift, from STX Entertainment, washed up in third place with $11.6 million, while the others struggled to make a significant impact.
Upgrade opened in sixth place with $4.6 million, behind Avengers: Infinity War ($10.5 million) and Book Club ($7 million), and Action Point, which was not screened for critics, landed in ninth place with a dismal $2.4 million.
Last weekend also saw a few smaller studio landmarks for Magnolia Pictures, whose Ruth Bader Ginsburg documentary RBG became its highest grossing film ever with $7.8 million, and Pantelion Films, which scored a similar feat with Overboard, which is now up to $45.5 million.
Even with Solo's stumble, the year-to-date box office is still up 6.2 percent as June kicks into gear with some big movies on the horizon, including Ocean's 8, Incredibles 2 and Jurassic World.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by comScore:
Solo: A Star Wars Story, Disney, $29,396,882, 4,381 locations, $6,710 average, $148,989,574, 2 weeks.
Deadpool 2, 20th Century Fox, $23,178,597, 4,161 locations, $5,570 average, $254,506,035, 3 weeks.
Adrift, STX Entertainment, $11,603,039, 3,015 locations, $3,848 average, $11,603,039, 1 week.
Avengers: Infinity War, Disney, $10,507,279, 3,570 locations, $2,943 average, $643,006,211, 6 weeks.
Book Club, Paramount, $7,039,033, 3,169 locations, $2,221 average, $47,555,781, 3 weeks.
Upgrade, OTL Releasing, $4,670,905, 1,457 locations, $3,206 average, $4,670,905, 1 week.
Life of the Party, Warner Bros., $3,504,625, 2,511 locations, $1,396 average, $46,350,255, 4 weeks.
Breaking In, Universal, $2,811,515, 1,682 locations, $1,672 average, $41,341,530, 4 weeks.
Action Point, Paramount, $2,390,164, 2,032 locations, $1,176 average, $2,390,164, 1 week.
Overboard, Lionsgate, $1,949,527, 1,228 locations, $1,588 average, $45,497,721, 5 weeks.
A Quiet Place, Paramount, $1,771,171, 1,156 locations, $1,532 average, $183,520,369, 9 weeks.
Show Dogs, Open Road, $1,527,370, 2,327 locations, $656 average, $14,602,851, 3 weeks.
Veere Di Wedding, Zee Studios International, $1,239,535, 118 locations, $10,505 average, $1,239,535, 1 week.
RBG, Magnolia Pictures, $1,060,087, 432 locations, $2,454 average, $7,835,946, 5 weeks.
Rampage, Warner Bros., $620,437, 502 locations, $1,236 average, $95,111,646, 8 weeks.
First Reformed, A24, $421,447, 91 locations, $4,631 average, $1,023,243, 3 weeks.
I Feel Pretty, STX Entertainment, $297,566, 315 locations, $945 average, $48,324,313, 7 weeks.
Super Troopers 2, 20th Century Fox, $281,771, 138 locations, $2,042 average, $30,318,666, 7 weeks.
Ready Player One, Warner Bros., $250,873, 271 locations, $926 average, $136,060,031, 10 weeks.
Black Panther, Disney, $246,901, 284 locations, $869 average, $699,129,850, 16 weeks.
MovieStyle on 06/08/2018