It's official: The Mandalorian and Grogu has made box office history

Din Djarin and Grogu made their silver screen debut earlier this year in The Mandalorian and Grogu and they unexpectedly made history in the process. The brand new Star Wars movie brought two characters who became global sensations on the Disney Plus streaming service to movie theaters for a new entertaining adventure set in that galaxy so far, far away. But, unlike their small screen chapter, the Razor Crest's journey was a bit bumpier than expected.

Despite a solid overperformance in its opening weekend back in May, The Mandalorian and Grogu ended up underperforming throughout its box office run. From an overcrowded summer landscape to those long-standing conversations about franchise fatigue, it just couldn't break out and drive the revenue that Disney and Lucasfilm needed it to. And now, as many of us expected, it has finished out that box office run with a record-setting first that we all hoped it wouldn't pull off.

The Mandalorian and Grogu's box office run is over, officially cementing it as the worst-performing Star Wars movie of all time

The Mandalorian and Grogu's box office run has reached its end. While expected, Disney made things official by announcing both the movie's upcoming digital release date (July 21) and its home media release date (August 25) as the studios now shift their focus to the next phase of the film's rollout. That's common practice with movies in today's day and age, but with an underperformer like Mando and Grogu, it's imperative to help recoup some of the losses that the film faced during its theatrical run.

In announcing the film's rollout on other platforms, Disney and Lucasfilm have also quietly confirmed that The Mandalorian and Grogu's time on the silver screen is over (for now, at least). And, with that, the sci-fi space western has officially brought in $342 million during its box office run, which unfortunately makes Star Wars history as the worst-performing movie in the franchise's 50-year run.

To put in perspective where The Mandalorian and Grogu lands among the overall franchise, here is the list of Star Wars movies and their respective box office earnings:

• Episode VII: The Force Awakens - $2.07 billion
• Episode VIII: The Last Jedi - $1.33 billion
• Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker - $1.07 billion
• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - $1.05 billion
• Episode I: The Phantom Menace - $1.04 billion
• Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - $905 million
• Episode IV: A New Hope - $775 million
• Episode II: Attack of the Clones - $653 million
• Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back - $550 million
• Episode VI: Return of the Jedi - $482 million
• Solo: A Star Wars Story - $393 million
• The Mandalorian and Grogu - $342 million

Throughout the entirety of The Mandalorian and Grogu's box office run, there has been a lot of discussion as to whether it might be able to outperform Solo: A Star Wars Story, which has gone down in history as the biggest flop in Star Wars history. Many felt that it needed to do that in order to save face because of Solo's reputation and its opening weekend did make that a possibility. Unfortunately, it couldn't sustain momentum in the weeks and months that came after that - with the reality of the situation becoming incredibly clear after that shocking 70% drop in its second week, which made catching up to Solo an impossibility.

The film's box office takings never really got a chance to level off because they were in a state on constant decline since the first week after its opening weekend. That was obvious when it began losing the day-to-day box office fight to the likes of Obsession and Backrooms - low budget horror movies that opened well behind the Star Wars flick and relied on overwhelmingly positive word of mouth to carry them ahead of it in the long-run.

As it stands, The Mandalorian and Grogu has made less than both of those movies, with Obsession finishing out its box office run at $429 million worldwide and Backrooms currently boasting a gross of $380 million. For two low-budget horror films to do that in the summer and up against a major movie like The Mandalorian and Grogu - which had a major studio backing it and a marketing campaign that cost Disney north of $100 million - is absolutely insane. In fact, in our last update just two weeks ago - when the writing was on the wall for Mando and Grogu due to its abysmal daily numbers - Obsession was at $380 million and it has managed to add another $59 million to its numbers since then, while the Star Wars movie has added another $8 million.

The good news is that Mando and Grogu isn't a complete box office disaster. A disappointment? Absolutely, but it's in a much better position for profitability than fellow summer blockbuster Supergirl, and it's also not as much of a loss for Disney and Lucasfilm as Solo was - despite making less than it.

Mando and Grogu's digital release starts Disney's strategy to make the film a long-term success

The Mandalorian and Grogu has a respectable $165 million budget due to the concept originaly being envisioned as a fourth season of The Mandalorian (while the pre-built sets allowed them to keep the cost lower). It instantly earned that money back in its opening weekend and managed to pull in another $200 million throughout its box office run. Although it will fall short of the projected $440 - $600 million break even point, there are grounds that can be made to help it make that money back in the long-run - something that would never have been possible for Solo with its massive budget, higher break-even point, and no streaming endgame.

First thing's first: The Mandalorian and Grogu has an ace in the hole. That's Grogu himself; the beloved character also known as Baby Yoda continues to drive millions in merchandise sales for the Star Wars franchise, and that was no different with the newer wave released exclusively for the theatrical film. We also have to factor in streaming: The Mandalorian is a streaming juggernaut that has driven millions of subscribers to the Disney Plus streaming platform since its debut in 2019. When The Mandalorian and Grogu makes its presence felt on the platform later this year, it will undoubtedly find greater success given how well-received the characters are on that streamer.

But before it makes itself at home on Disney Plus, the digital release will make up for some of the costs too. For those who didn't go out to see Mando and Grogu's most recent adventure on the silver screen because they are simply used to watching the pair at home, the PVOD release on platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and Fandango will allow them to do just that. And, with that, The Mandalorian and Grogu can begin bridging the gap between its final box office numbers and the lower end of the break-even projections.

The same can be said about the home media release. Lucasfilm has announced the Blu-Ray (along with the digital release) will feature hours of bonus content while two special collector's editions of the 4K UHD will ensure that die-hard Star Wars fans will collect them - one of which is a steelbook and the other is a special Beskar Collector's Edition.

All things considered, The Mandalorian and Grogu did fail to meet box office expectations and made an unfortunate kind of Star Wars history as a result, but it isn't as bleak as some might want you to believe. Despite now being the lowest-performing Star Wars movie of all time, it was far from an outright flop. $342 million proves that there is still an audience for these characters and, even with the record that it now holds, it was still a more successful release than 2018's Solo: A Star Wars Story. There is a path to profitability for the movie - even if it might take a while for it to reach the finish line that it couldn't reach during its box office run.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is released on PVOD platforms on Tuesday, July 21, and on 4K UHD, Blu-Ray, and DVD on Tuesday, August 25, 2026.

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