Star Wars fans very quickly found out that this was the way when The Mandalorian and Grogu arrived in movie theaters on Memorial Day weekend. The feature film brought Din Djarin and Grogu to the silver screen for the first time ever, and brought Star Wars back to movie theaters for the first time in seven years.
Led by Pedro Pascal and the fan-favorite known as "Baby Yoda" (along with the Sigourney Weaver), the film has been well-received by audiences, despite mixed reviews over the how much it actually contributes to the overall Star Wars lore. Nevertheless, it overperformed in its first weekend, earning an impressive $165 million worldwide, instantly recouping its initial production budget. Unfortunately, it hasn't managed to sustain the momentum.
Obsession outperforms The Mandalorian in midweek box office
While The Mandalorian and Grogu did defy expectations at the box office in its opening weekend, the equally big story was how indie horror hit Obsession did the unthinkable and increased its own takings in its second weekend. That momentum hasn't slowed down at all, as the film is continuing to drive big numbers on a daily basis. According to Forbes, it could very well end up increasing its takings on its third weekend too, with its weekday numbers looking mighty strong. That includes even outperforming Star Wars' most recent movie.
Yes, Obsession brought in $5.6 million domestically on Wednesday, above The Mandalorian and Grogu's $4.6 million on that same day. While this is more of a testament to the positive word-of-mouth that Obsession has been thriving off, it can also be argued that the inevitable second-week drop-off is already kicking in for Mando and Grogu. Remember, that film is only heading into its second weekend while Obsession is heading into its third.
As it stands, the Star Wars film is tracking similarly to that of Solo: A Star Wars Story, which made just shy of $400 million in 2018 and currently holds the record for the lowest-grossing movie in the franchise since Disney purchased it in 2012. If The Mandalorian and Grogu can't sustain its opening weekend momentum, it could very well end up taking that record from Solo.
The silver lining here, of course, is that Mando and Grogu has a much lower budget, which means it stands a much better chance of breaking even (and even on the off chance that it doesn't, it will enjoy an incredibly long and successful run on Disney Plus - which is the home of The Mandalorian). Solo is, at this point, the only outright box office failure in the Star Wars franchise and, in many people's minds, it's what influenced Disney to shift the franchise to television after The Rise of Skywalker brought an end to the five-decades-long Skywalker Saga.
That shift would ultimately prove successful as it led to the introduction of The Mandalorian and Grogu, with the first season of The Mandalorian launching Disney Plus and receiving praise for successfully telling new Star Wars stories outside of the Skywalker Saga. This would lead to direct spinoffs like The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka while also kickstarting new Star Wars stories like The Acolyte and Skeleton Crew. Much as we saw with Marvel on that same streamer, the overexposure of the franchise led to a fatigue from audiences, which has ultimately influenced Disney and Lucasfilm to take the galaxy so far, far away back to the silver screen.
The Mandalorian and Grogu was a safe enough bet for the first outing in the new Star Wars movie era, given how well the characters played on TV, but many felt that it didn't add anything new to the franchise and therefore wasn't all that different from its pre-established Disney Plus era. That familiarity might ultimately undercut the film's legs as some moviegoers may simply wait until the movie joins the three Mandalorian seasons on Disney Plus. With a 69% Week 2 decline in box office takings predicted by Deadline, that may well be the case for the most recent Star Wars movie.
The Mandalorian and Grogu is now playing in theaters.
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