The force is not with The Mandalorian and Grogu.
The first Star Wars movie to hit theaters in seven years, The Mandalorian and Grogu (released in 2026), continues the story from the popular Disney+ series The Mandalorian. It follows Din Djarin, a former bounty hunter, and Grogu, the force-sensitive child he protects, on a new journey. Directed by the show’s creator, Jon Favreau, the film opened over Memorial Day weekend and earned $81.7 million domestically—the lowest opening weekend for a Star Wars movie since 2002’s Attack of the Clones (which made $80 million, not adjusted for inflation).
According to Deadline, The Mandalorian and Grogu is expected to make $25 million over the next three days in US theaters. This represents a significant drop of 69% from its opening weekend earnings.
Honestly, the big drop – over 60% – doesn’t totally shock me. When a movie opens huge, it has a long way to fall, especially during the summer or around the holidays. That’s when new blockbusters come out every weekend, trying to take the spotlight from the ones already playing. Thinking about it, every Star Wars movie has always been released in either summer or during the holidays, and two of the last three had even bigger drops than this one. Actually, The Last Jedi from 2017 had a drop of 67.5%, which was the record until now.
Here’s a look at how much money each live-action Star Wars movie made in its second week of release. This excludes the original two films, as their second-week box office numbers aren’t available.
| Title | 3-Day Dom. Debut | Week 2 Drop | Worldwide B.O. |
|---|---|---|---|
| A New Hope (1977) | $1.5 million | N/A | $775.4 million |
| The Empire Strikes Back (1980) | $4.9 million | N/A | $549 million |
| Return of the Jedi (1983) | $23 million | -25.6% | $482.4 million |
| The Phantom Menace (1999) | $64.8 million | -20.7% | $924.3 million |
| Attack of the Clones (2002) | $80 million | -40.2% | $656.7 million |
| Revenge of the Sith (2005) | $108.4 million | -49.1% | $902.9 million |
| The Force Awakens (2015) | $248 million | -39.8% | $2.071 billion |
| Rogue One (2016) | $155.1 million | -58.7% | $1.056 billion |
| The Last Jedi (2017) | $220 million | -67.5% | $1.322 billion |
| Solo (2018) | $84.4 million | -65.2% | $393.1 million |
| The Rise of Skywalker (2019) | $177.4 million | -59.2% | $1.07 billion |
| The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026) | $81.7 million | -69% | TBD |
While The Mandalorian and Grogu started with lower numbers, this week’s decrease is more concerning than the drop experienced by The Last Jedi, which had a much bigger opening. The fact that it’s falling behind 2018’s Solo – the first live-action Star Wars film to underperform at the box office – is worrying. Solo only earned $393.1 million despite costing $300 million to make.
Although the reported budget for The Mandalorian and Grogu is lower, around $165 million, it still needs to earn approximately $413 million to break even. This is typical for movies, as they often need to earn two and a half times their production cost to cover theater profits and marketing expenses. Given that Solo didn’t even reach $400 million worldwide, it’s doubtful this new series will perform much better.
As a huge Star Wars fan, I’ve come to expect a certain level of financial cushion for these films, and The Mandalorian and Grogu is no different. It probably won’t be a massive box office hit, but Disney can always rely on merchandise sales to boost its profits. That, combined with streaming, digital rentals, and eventually Blu-rays, could make the film profitable overall. Still, even with all that, I wouldn’t necessarily count on seeing Mando and Grogu back in theaters anytime soon – it might not reach the numbers needed for another big-screen adventure.
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2026-05-30 18:20