The Mandalorian and Grogu is on a mission to avoid a Star Wars box office record.
The Star Wars franchise finally ended its movie hiatus with a new movie based on the hit Disney+ series, The Mandalorian. The sci-fi installment had a decent $80 million opening in mid-May, but it suffered a major blow with a 70.1% drop, which is an unfortunate record for the Disney franchise. This performance has since raised an alarm about Star Wars' future.
According to Box Office Mojo, The Mandalorian and Grogu surpassed $315 million at the global box office in its fourth weekend. Currently, the domestic total has gone up to $165 million after adding $4.7 million this past weekend. On the other hand, the latest weekend drop was 52.8%, but it's not as profound as the previous weeks.
As of writing, the new Star Wars movie is currently the lowest-grossing live-action installment in the franchise. Up to this point, the 2018 spinoff Solo held that record with a global total of $392 million. However, The Mandalorian and Grogu still have time to avoid that record, given that Disney's theater exclusivity ranges from 45 to 62 days. Still, it's unclear whether the studio plans to release the Star Wars movie on streaming sooner, given the box office performance.
Even if The Mandalorian and Grogu movie doesn't make up the difference, it wouldn't be as big of a disaster as Solo. The Han Solo spinoff had an expensive $299.8 million budget, which led to a disastrous commercial performance. In comparison, The Mandalorian and Grogu had a lower $165 million budget, which also included a $21 million tax credit for filming in Los Angeles. Thus, the estimated breakeven point would be around $400 million to $500 million, which is slightly more doable.
Nevertheless, it's difficult to determine whether the new Star Wars movie can avoid the brutal record, let alone hit $400 million before the end of its theatrical run. The Mandalorian and Grogu movie keeps getting high weekend drops, especially as new movies dominate screens each week.
When the Disney+ series premiered in 2019, Din Djarin and his foundling Grogu became a sensation for their adorable father-son relationship. While the movie was originally supposed to be The Mandalorian season 4, the plans pivoted to making a high-budget movie instead, following the duo on a mission to rescue Rotta the Hutt in exchange for information about a missing Imperial officer.
While the first two seasons were widely praised, season 3 earned a more mixed reception from audiences. The Mandalorian and Grogu reviews were mixed, with critics praising the practical effects and Rotta the Hutt's arc, but taking issue with the narrative structure. Even though moviegoers enjoyed the new movie, with an 87% audience score, it didn't boost its box office in subsequent weeks.
The future of the Star Wars franchise becomes the major question, especially as Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan replace Kathleen Kennedy as the Lucasfilm bosses. Meanwhile, there is one more movie ready for release next year with Ryan Gosling and Shawn Levy's Starfighter. Beyond that, however, there have been multiple Star Wars movies in development, but they have yet to make significant progress, including the announced Rey sequel.
The Mandalorian and Grogu is playing in theaters.
