Solo: A Star Wars Story struggles with $36 million at Friday box office

Solo: A Star Wars Story is flying toward first place at the Memorial Day weekend box office, but the Han Solo prequel movie is still coming up short when it comes to projections.

Solo, the second of the standalone Star Wars movies, earned $35.63 million from Friday box office sales — that includes its historic $14.1 million from Thursday night previews. The film was initially projected to earn between $130 million and $150 million by weekend's end, putting it more on par with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story's opening ($155 million). These newer, more tepid results, however, place predictions closer to $114 million.

Solo is also competing for ticket attention this weekend with Deadpool 2, Avengers: Infinity War, the Fifty Shades-loving Book Club, and Melissa McCarthy's Life of the Party. Ryan Reynolds' return as the katana-wielding Wade Wilson easily broke Infinity War's hold when it dropped May 10. The theaters weren't this busy with releases when Rogue One opened in December 2016.

Reviews of Solo had already been fairly mixed heading into theaters. One critic called it "dull and dutiful," while another called it "consistently entertaining." Directed by Ron Howard, Solo stars Alden Ehrenreich as a younger Han Solo as he meets Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) and Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover). Emilia Clarke, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Woody Harrelson, Thandie Newton, and Paul Bettany highlight the surrounding cast.

At the very least, it seems this Memorial Day weekend will top last year's — the lowest Memorial Day box office of the century.