Disney and Lucasfilm,s The Mandalorian and Grogu opened to $163 million worldwide over the four-day Memorial Day weekend, including $100 million from US and Canadian cinemas, according to studio data published by local outlets (per local reports).
Opening numbers
Of the $163 million global haul, around $63 million came from international markets, with Mexico, the United Kingdom, France and Australia listed among the strongest territories, local reports indicated (per local reports). The four-day domestic number was enough to make it the clear winner of the Memorial Day frame, even though it landed at the bottom of the Star Wars theatrical opening league table.
Local reports indicated that the $100 million domestic start is the lowest opening for any live-action Star Wars feature since Disney took ownership of Lucasfilm (per local reports). That sets a sober benchmark for a franchise that routinely opened above $150 million in the years following the 2015 release of The Force Awakens.
How it compares
By way of comparison, local reports indicated that Solo: A Star Wars Story opened to roughly $103 million over the four-day Memorial Day weekend domestically and $168 million globally in 2018 (per local reports). The Mandalorian and Grogu therefore lands just below Solo at home and slightly below it overseas.
However, executives argued that the new film is on a different cost footing. The Wrap reported a production budget of around $165 million, well below recent Star Wars features, which should make the path to profitability shorter even if total grosses fall short of past entries (per The Wrap). Audience scores in opening-weekend exit polls have also been stronger than for Solo.
What happens next
Distribution executives will watch the second weekend closely. Early tracking cited by industry outlets pointed to a sharp drop in the days after Memorial Day, with World of Reel reporting a roughly 72 per cent decline in some markets, raising questions about long-term legs (per World of Reel).
For Disney, the opening still resets expectations around the Star Wars brand on the big screen after a long hiatus from live-action releases. The film stars Pedro Pascal reprising his role as the Mandalorian alongside the Grogu character introduced in the streaming series. A second theatrical Star Wars feature is already in development, and the studio is expected to use The Mandalorian and Grogu,s performance as a calibration point for future release planning.
