• by Wayne Friedman , May 29, 2018

U.S. box-office revenue for the highly anticipated “Solo: A Star Wars Story” has under-delivered for its big three-day Memorial Day weekend.

So far, the latest edition of the big movie franchise has earned $84.7 million, anticipating around $101 million over the four-day holiday weekend, according to analysts. The Walt Disney movie was anticipating $130 million to $150 million -- to recoup a $300 million production price tag.

Estimates from iSpot.tv say the Walt Disney movie spent $23.1 million on national TV for the movie -- a marketing campaign that began in earnest the first week in April.

National TV efforts were placed around TV events and sports, as well as shows for young consumers..

In terms of overall money, ABC, NBC, ESPN, Nickelodeon and AMC network got the lion’s share of the national TV marketing dollars -- with individual TV programs benefiting, such as NBA basketball, ABC’s “American Idol,” NBC’s “The Voice” and AMC’s “The Walking Dead.”

The bulk of the commercial airings were on kids TV networks: Disney XD (451), Nickelodeon (252); ESPN Deportes (232); Disney Channel (229); and Cartoon Network (226).