‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ collapses in second weekend at box office, cementing huge loss for Disney
The news is getting worse for “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” The Walt Disney Company, Lucasfilm, and by extension the future of the Star Wars franchise.
A little more than a decade ago, “The Force Awakens” became the highest-grossing film in U.S. domestic box office history, not adjusted for inflation. While deeply flawed and derivative, it at least attempted to create a coherent story for the next-gen Star Wars trilogy.
The situation has been getting worse since then.
When “The Last Jedi” hit theaters a few years later, it became clear that Lucasfilm, then headed by Kathleen Kennedy, had no coherent plan for the series. “The Last Jedi” spoiled much of “The Force Awakens,” offering little explanation of the plot from the first film and treating the legendary hero of the Star Wars universe with disdain. In short, a small example of the problems of modern filmmaking.
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The studio scrambled and brought JJ Abrams back to fix the problems in “The Rise of Skywalker.” It was widely criticized for its unrealistic plot, ridiculous dialogue and inexplicable script. Fast forward seven years and “The Mandalorian and Grogu” was released in theaters as the first Star Wars movie of the 2020s.
Lucasfilm president and chief creative officer Sigourney Weaver, Pedro Pascal, Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni attend the Los Angeles world premiere of The Mandalorian and Grogu on May 14, 2026. (Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images for Disney)
Opening weekend ticket sales were disappointing, coming in at a low of estimates at nearly $81 million, and its long Memorial Day weekend gross fell far behind “Solo,” the final non-trilogy film in the Star Wars universe. This appeared to leave Disney potentially taking a small loss or struggling to its theatrical break-even point.
Still, if the film had positive word-of-mouth, a strong second week could have put “The Mandalorian and Grogu” back on track financially. Last weekend’s box office results were unfortunately the opposite for Disney.
According to Box Office Mojo, “The Mandalorian and Grogu” not only fell from the top spot in theaters, but also fell to third place thanks to a massive 70% drop in revenues. Its opening weekend was a disappointing $81.7 million, dropping to just $25 million from Friday to Sunday. This is not unprecedented, but it is certainly disastrous.
Even more incredibly, the two films that surpassed “The Mandalorian” were primarily low-budget films from first-time directors. “Back Rooms” is a $10 million horror movie from 20-year-old YouTuber Kane Parsons. It grossed $81.4 million in its first weekend; That was slightly less than a $175 million Star Wars movie, even though it didn’t hit theaters on the holiday weekend.
“Obsession” also surpassed “The Mandalorian,” grossing an estimated $26.4 million over the weekend. This movie was directed by 26-year-old Curry Barker, who found fame on YouTube and TikTok. “Obsession’s” production budget of about $750,000 was likely lower than what “The Mandalorian” spent on office supplies. It already exceeded this figure last weekend.
Pedro Pascal attended the Los Angeles world premiere of The Mandalorian and Grogu on May 14, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)
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These results also indicate that Disney will lose a significant amount of money from “The Mandalorian.” Reports suggest that production and marketing costs are around $300 million. Even if tax credits reduce that figure, the reasonable breakeven point would be around $500 million worldwide. It won’t even come close to that figure, with $137 million domestically and a 70 percent drop.
Another 70% drop for the third weekend ensures it will gross just $7.5 million, but well below $200 million domestically. It’s possible “The Mandalorian and Grogu” won’t even reach $375 million worldwide, as international grosses are better but still lackluster. It could potentially cost Disney more than $100 million in losses. For a Star Wars movie.
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Pedro Pascal attended the Los Angeles World Premiere of The Mandalorian and Grogu on May 14, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Disney)
There are many lessons to be learned from this if anyone involved is interested in learning these things. Churning out lazy, uninspired movies no longer works, even if they were previously tied to a major brand name. Years of disparagement of the Star Wars legacy with terrible, unwatched streaming series and the disappointing ending of the prequel trilogy have taken their toll.
Young people today don’t have the same respect for Star Wars as previous generations did. Because the movies they watched weren’t good enough to warrant it. Focus on quality stories and memorable characters rather than checking certain boxes and satisfying goals. Does anyone care about Rey, Poe, or Finn? Of course not. However, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca continue to be beloved parts of cinema history. Under Disney and Kathleen Kennedy, they forgot what made Star Wars what it is. Or it used to be. And it may be too late to fix that, as this past weekend YouTubers showed that two low-budget horror movies have surpassed a Star Wars movie.
