With a little more than a week until the global release of Solo: A Star Wars Story, the first reviews have arrived, followed by the unveiling of the Rotten Tomatoes score, allowing us to see how the new film stands up to the previous nine installments of the blockbuster franchise -- at least in the eyes of critics.

Directed by Ron Howard, who stepped in to replace the fired Phil Lord and Chris Miller, Solo made its Tomatometer debut Tuesday evening with a rating of 71 percent. That number subsequently ticked up to 73 percent with the publication of additional positive reviews.

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That places Solo somewhere in the lower third of Star Wars films, above the Tomatometer ratings of 1999's The Phantom Menace (55 percent) and 2002's Attack of the Clones (66 percent), but well below 2015's The Force Awakens (93 percent) and 2017's divisive The Last Jedi (91 percent). After 38 years, the beloved The Empire Strikes Back still leads the franchise with a score of 95 percent.

For a little more apples-to-apples comparison, the first anthology film, 2016's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, stands at 85 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, where it's "Certified Fresh." Here's a breakdown of all 10 franchise films, with their Tomatometer ratings:

Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) -- 73 percent

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) -- 91 percent

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) -- 85 percent

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) -- 93 percent

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (2005) -- 79 percent

Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (2002) -- 66 percent

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999) -- 55 percent

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983) -- 80 percent

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) -- 95 percent

Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) -- 93 percent

As we saw from the shift overnight, Solo's rating will likely change again as additional reviews are published closer to the film's theatrical premiere. Rotten Tomatoes requires a steady Tomatometer score of 75 percent before a film can be awarded the "Certified Fresh" accolade.

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Part sci-fi Western, part heist movie, Solo: A Star Wars Story chronicles how a young Han Solo met his Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca, encountered the notorious gambler Lando Calrissian and acquired the iconic ship the Millennium Falcon on his way to becoming one of the unlikeliest heroes of the Star Wars saga.


Directed by Ron Howard from a script by Lawrence and Jon Kasdan, Solo: A Star Wars Story stars Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo, Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian, Emilia Clarke as Qi’ra and Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca. They’re joined by Thandie Newton as Val, Phoebe Waller-Bridge L3-37, Paul Bettany as Dryden Vos, and Woody Harrelson as Tobias Beckett. The film opens May 25.