THE MANDALORIAN & GROGU Lands $163M Worldwide Opening as Fans Hope STAR WARS Can Find Its Big Screen Groove Again

Disney and Lucasfilm finally brought The Mandalorian and Groguto theaters, and while the movie didn’t explode at the box office the way many hoped, it still delivered a solid global launch with $163 million worldwide and a $100 million four-day domestic opening over Memorial Day weekend.

That puts the film slightly behind Solo: A Star Wars Story domestically, which opened to $103 million over four days back in 2018. That movie was considered a disappointment at the time, especially after all the behind-the-scenes chaos involving directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller leaving the production before Ron Howard stepped in to finish the film.

This time around, though, the situation feels very different.

Fans have a much stronger connection to Din Djarin and Grogu than audiences ever had with Alden Ehrenreich’s younger Han Solo, and there’s still a lot of goodwill surroundingJon Favreau and Dave Filoni.

Filoni especially has become one of the most trusted creative voices in the franchise after expanding Star Wars lore through The Clone Wars, Rebels, and Ahsoka.

Even so, there’s no denying the movie hit theaters carrying a major question mark asking if audiences would actually rush out to see a theatrical continuation of a Disney+ series? That seems to have become the biggest hurdle for the film.

According to PostTrak exits, a large percentage of viewers said they’d rather catch the movie again on streaming instead of returning to theaters. Social media chatter leading into release also reflected growing fatigue from some fans who viewed the project as “a TV show stretched into a movie.”

RelishMix reported: “Mixed-negative leaning chatter for The Mandalorian & Grogu is loud, specific, and frankly more energized. Skepticism clusters around a ‘TV show stretched into a movie’ fatigue, lore inconsistency complaints, and Disney-era trust issues.

“Apathy is creeping in, which is more dangerous than outrage, with many opting to wait for streaming. There’s also sharp critique of creative choices, tone shifts, and perceived laziness in storytelling. ‘A TV show on the big screen.

“That’s always been a great idea’ paired with ‘I’m apathetic. Who cares about Star Wars anymore’ signals erosion. Harder hits like ‘I will wait for it to stream. Theaters too expensive’ underline both quality doubts and theatrical resistance.”

That’s rough commentary, but despite the online skepticism, audiences who actually showed up seemed to enjoy the movie. The Mandalorian and Grogu earned an A- CinemaScore along with a 71% definite recommend score on PostTrak, which puts it in a very similar spot to Solo.

Critics, on the other hand, were confusingly much colder on the movie. Still, Disney has a lot more riding on this release than ticket sales alone.

The movie reportedly cost around $165 million net, far less than Solo, and the merchandising machine attached to Grogu remains gigantic. Grogu toys alone reportedly sold over 13 million units during the first two years of The Mandalorian series.

There’s also a massive promotional campaign tied to the film with companies like Burger King, Coca-Cola, Volkswagen, Walmart, Hertz, and more.

Theme parks are also part of the equation. Disney recently updated Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run with a new Mandalorian and Grogu missions, making the movie part of the company’s larger Star Wars ecosystem.

So while the theatrical numbers may not scream “event movie,” Disney is clearly viewing this release as something bigger than box office alone.

The bigger concern for longtime fans is what this says about the future of Star Wars movies in general. For years, Lucasfilm scaled back theatrical development after Solo underperformed. The studio became more cautious, shifting much of the franchise to Disney+.

Now that Star Wars has returned to theaters for the first time since The Rise of Skywalker, many hoped this would feel like a major comeback moment. Instead, the response has been a little more complicated.

Some fans wanted something fresh and cinematic rather than a continuation of streaming storytelling. Others are still frustrated by reports that Lucasfilm passed on projects like the rumored Steven Soderbergh-directed The Hunt for Ben Solo starring Adam Driver.

At the same time, there are plenty of fans, like myself, rooting for this movie to succeed because they genuinely love these characters and want Star Wars movies to thrive again.

That’s really where things stand right now. The Mandalorian and Grogu isn’t a disaster, but it also doesn’t feel like the triumphant theatrical return many expected from one of the biggest franchises in movie history.

Now all eyes turn to Star Wars: Starfighter from Shawn Levy starring Ryan Gosling, which is set to hit theaters on May 28, 2027. Fans are hoping that movie delivers and an awesome massive cinematic event.

Source: Deadline