They tried to milk Star Wars but fans rebelled against Han Solo, and they've shut down a bunch of the Star Wars spinoffs as a result, so ticket sales speak.
The angry internet nerds would have you believe that their angry nerd boycott was the reason Han Solo tanked at the box office. But the angry internet nerds were campaigning against Captain Marvel too, and it has turned out big even by Marvel "MCU" standards. So I think it's fair to suggest that the angry internet nerds aren't nearly as powerful as they think they are.
I think the real reason Han Solo (which I actually really enjoyed...) was a box office dud is that it was, as you say, just trying to cash in. Fans didn't *want* a Han Solo reboot. Once upon a time they tried to launch a Young Indiana Jones Adventures TV show, and people didn't want it. Later on, they tried to reboot Indiana Jones with Harrison Ford passing the torch to Shia LaBeouf, and people didn't want that either. People didn't want Indiana Jones reboots starring anybody except Harrison Ford. I don't think people wanted a Han Solo reboot starring anybody else either. Disney assumed they could just put the name Han Solo on a product and people would flock to see it because everybody loves Han Solo. They were wrong.
So what else did Disney have in the planning stages? An Obi Wan Kenobi reboot, and a Boba Fett reboot. Oops. If fans didn't flock to see a Han Solo reboot, I'm pretty sure they weren't going to flock to Obi Wan or Boba either. I'm actually
**** glad that they cancelled that
****. I'm glad they killed off the whole familiar characters reboot idea, because it sucks ass. I'm sure glad they didn't get to the point of planning a Young Yoda and Young Chewbacca and Young frickin Jar Jar Binks Adventures.
There are a couple of Star Wars projects still in the works. One of them is a new trilogy being planned by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss-- the guys behind Game of Thrones. The rumor going around is that their trilogy will be set in the "Old Republic" age of the Star Wars universe. Which means it's a clean break from the current movies and all the existing characters and the baggage that comes with them. Which is great news as far as I'm concerned. This is much like the Amazon Lord of the Rings series being set in the Second Age (as discussed in the TV thread). This is the first time I've felt optimistic about the future of the Star Wars franchise in quite a while.
-k