Disney’s big-screen gamble with Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu ran into trouble in its second weekend, plunging 69% from its opening frame.
The theatrical expansion of the Disney+ series pulled in $25 million domestically across 4,300 venues during its second weekend. That steep decline follows a $165 million global debut that had initially positioned the film as a potential franchise revival. The picture’s North American total now stands at $137 million, with international receipts adding $109 million for a worldwide sum of $246 million.
When The Mandalorian and Grogu arrived on May 22, 2026, it generated roughly $165 million globally in its first few days. The collapse in holdover business indicates that core supporters largely showed up opening weekend, turning out primarily to witness Star Wars’ theatrical comeback rather than spreading their visits across multiple weeks. The franchise’s previous big-screen outing, Star Wars: Episode 9 – The Rise of Skywalker, premiered nearly seven years earlier.
Disney has not managed to reignite the blockbuster fervor that once defined this property, yet audiences still frequented multiplexes through Memorial Day weekend. Domestically, The Mandalorian and Grogu slipped to third place, trailing two micro-budget horror releases. Backrooms, an indie horror film based on the viral internet phenomenon of liminal spaces, claimed the top spot with a solid opening frame, while Obsession, a psychological thriller from A24, held strong in second place during its third weekend.
Jon Favreau directed the feature, with Pedro Pascal reprising his role as Din Djarin. The project had carried expectations of restoring Star Wars to its former box-office dominance, but instead its performance has fallen short of those projections. Its theatrical struggles point to ongoing challenges for Disney in drawing crowds to cinema releases for the science-fiction saga it acquired in 2012. Still, several factors soften the blow.
Variety noted that the spin-off film landed at the lower budget tier for Star Wars productions, costing $165 million. Marketing expenses remain unaccounted for, yet calling Djarin’s cinematic debut a flop at this juncture would be premature. The film also stands to gain additional viewership once it reaches Disney+, where it will join the original The Mandalorian series that helped establish the company’s streaming footprint in 2019.
The theatrical landscape has shifted considerably since the franchise’s peak, and younger audiences have shown less attachment to Star Wars than previous generations. This generational divide may partly explain why theatrical momentum has proven difficult to sustain.
