The latest Star Wars film hits theaters globally today, but initial box office numbers are a bit disappointing. While it earned $12 million during Thursday’s preview showings, that’s less than the $14.1 million earned by Solo: A Star Wars Story on its preview night in 2018.
It’s worth noting the similarity between the releases of these shows. Just like Solo: A Star Wars Story, the new Disney+ series The Mandalorian and Grogu premiered over Memorial Day weekend. However, the fact that The Mandalorian and Grogu is already performing slower than Solo is concerning.
The Mandalorian and Grogu’s Box Office Is Off to a Slow Start
There are a couple of important differences between the two films. Notably, The Mandalorian and Grogu had a much smaller budget – around half the roughly $300 million it cost to produce Solo: A Star Wars Story. Solo also faced significant behind-the-scenes issues, including the firing of its original directors, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, and their replacement with Ron Howard. This caused negative publicity and affected the film’s reception even before its release.
Critics’ reviews of The Mandalorian and Grogu are comparable to those of Solo: A Star Wars Story. Both films are currently rated “fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes, but haven’t reached “certified fresh” status. The Mandalorian and Grogu has a 63% critic score, only slightly lower than Solo‘s 69%. While audiences generally agreed with critics about Solo – and even rated it a bit lower (63% audience score) – The Mandalorian and Grogu has received a much more positive audience score of 88%.
Both The Mandalorian and Grogu and Solo: A Star Wars Story served as tests for the Star Wars franchise. Solo aimed to see if audiences would embrace Star Wars films that weren’t directly connected to the main Skywalker family storyline. While Solo still featured characters from the original trilogy, it deliberately downplayed some classic Star Wars elements like the Rebellion, the Force, and lightsabers. The film also faced the challenge of recasting iconic roles, with Alden Ehrenreich taking on the part of Han Solo originally played by Harrison Ford, and Donald Glover stepping into Billy Dee Williams’ role as Lando Calrissian.
The upcoming The Mandalorian and Grogu movie is a crucial test for Disney. It’s the first Star Wars film in seven years, so it will show how many people are still interested in the franchise. It’s also the first Star Wars movie adapted from a Disney+ series, The Mandalorian. Disney is taking a risk by releasing it in theaters to see if fans who watched the show on streaming will also go to see it in cinemas, or if they’ll simply wait for it to become available on Disney+ again. This is a significant shift in strategy for Disney.
The Mandalorian and Grogu is now playing in theaters.
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2026-05-22 23:47