“Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” key art.
LUCASFILM LTD./DISNEY
The Mandalorian and Grogu just opened in theaters, and it’s already projected to make less money in its debut than 2018’s Disney Star Wars misfire Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Officially titled Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, the film is directed by Jon Favreau, while Pedro Pascal returns as the title character from the Disney+ streaming series The Mandalorian. In the film, Pascal’s Din Djarin, aka the Mandalorian, is recruited along with his diminutive but powerful sidekick Grogu by the New Republic to apprehend an Imperial warlord and rescue Rotta the Hutt (voice of Jeremy Allen White), the long-lost son of the villainous Jabba the Hutt.
Alien and Avatar film icon Sigourney Weaver also stars in The Mandalorian and Grogu as Rebel Alliance Colonel Ward, while legendary Oscar-winning filmmaker Martin Scorsese voices Hugo Durant, an alien street vendor who supplies Mando and Grogu information on where they can find Rotta the Hutt.
The Mandalorian and Grogu played in preview screenings on Thursday before opening in theaters nationwide on Friday. Deadline is projecting that The Mandalorian and Grogu will earn about $34 million on Friday, an amount that includes the $12 million the film made in Thursday previews.
By Friday night, Deadline had already projected The Mandalorian and Grogu’s three-day and four-day opening takes — since the film is opening on Memorial Day weekend— and both fall short of the final domestic tallies Solo made over the same holiday weekend in 2018.
As such, Deadline is projecting the new Mando movie — which is playing in 4,300 North American theaters — to make $80 million in its first Friday to Sunday frame and $90 million over the four-day holiday period.
By contrast, 2018’s Solo made $84.4 million from 4,381 North American theaters from Friday to Sunday, May 25-28, and a total of $103 million over the four-day period, including Memorial Day, on May 29.
Solo, which was beleaguered with issues during its production — including the firing of directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who were replaced by Ron Howard — went on to earn $213.7 million domestically and $179.3 million internationally for a worldwide box office tally of $393.1 million. The film, however, had a net production budget of $298.8 million before marketing costs.
The upside is, while The Mandalorian and Grogu is projected to earn less than Solo in its opening holiday Friday, the film is in better shape out the gate, financially, than the 2018 Star Wars release. According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Mandalorian and Grogu had a production budget of $165 million, with a global marketing spend of “at least $100 million.”
How Did Other Disney ‘Star Wars’ Films Do In Their Opening Weekends?
While Solo: A Star Wars Story and The Mandalorian and Grogu (unless it miraculously overperforms) are at the bottom of the heap of Star Wars films released by Disney in their opening weekends, the studio has had much better luck with theatrical debuts of their other four films from “a galaxy far, far away.”
The best domestic opening weekend for a Disney Star Wars movie is Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, which $247.9 million in its opening weekend Dec. 16-19, 2015. Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, is next with a $220 million domestic opening weekend, Dec. 13-15, 2017.
Third on the list is Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker, which earned $177 million in its opening weekend frame of Dec. 18-20, 2019, which is followed by Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which earned $155 million at the North American Box office in its opening weekend, Dec. 14-16, 2016.
Rated PG-13, Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu are new in theaters.
Note: This box office report will be updated throughout the Memorial Day weekend holiday. Final numbers for the four-day weekend will be released on Tuesday.
