Star Wars Returns to Theaters with Moderate Success

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After nearly seven years off the big screen, a new Star Wars movie attracted sizeable but not record crowds at theaters worldwide this weekend. Studio estimates on Sunday showed “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” earned $82 million from 4,300 theaters in the U.S. and Canada. By the end of Monday’s Memorial Day, it is projected to have made $102 million domestically and $165 million globally.

This debut surpassed initial expectations for the film, which continues Disney+’s “The Mandalorian” series. However, its performance aligns with the lower tier of Disney-era Star Wars films, paralleling “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” which garnered $103 million over the four-day Memorial Day period in 2018. While “Solo” was deemed a commercial failure, the situation differs for “The Mandalorian and Grogu.” The production cost for “Solo” was about $300 million, whereas “The Mandalorian and Grogu” was made with a significantly lower budget of $165 million, excluding marketing costs. This budgetary difference makes profitability more achievable, especially with favorable audience responses.

Though critics provided mixed to negative reviews (with a 63% rating on Rotten Tomatoes), audiences overall awarded the film an A- CinemaScore. Young boys under 13 gave it an A CinemaScore and a perfect PostTrak score. Parents agreed, scoring it five out of five. The film, directed by Jon Favreau, stars Pedro Pascal as the bounty hunter, tasked with saving Jabba’s son Rotta the Hutt, voiced by Jeremy Allen White.

“Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” may also benefit from its connection to the streaming series and its eventual Disney+ release. Disney+ was new when “The Rise of Skywalker” premiered in December 2019. Star Wars faces a transitional period under new leadership by Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan. Early this year, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy announced her departure after 13 years. The industry questions if Star Wars can maintain big-screen appeal or if the upcoming “Star Wars: Starfighter,” starring Ryan Gosling, will answer this.

Strong audience responses may encourage word-of-mouth enthusiasm in the coming weeks. “The audience is in charge,” said Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends at Comscore. He believes the film will have lasting success.

This weekend, the thriller “Obsession” with Curry Barker surpassed expectations with a 30% ticket sales increase in its second weekend, earning $22.4 million from 2,655 theaters. Focus Features projects $28.2 million in earnings by Monday, reaching a total of $58.5 million. The film took second place, while the “Michael” biopic came in third with $20 million over three days, and a total of $782.4 million.

“Obsession” outperformed the new horror film “Passenger” from Paramount Pictures, which earned an estimated $8.7 million from 2,534 locations, predicting $10.5 million over four days. The film received low marks from critics (44% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences (B- CinemaScore).

Boots Riley’s surreal satire “I Love Boosters,” starring Keke Palmer and Demi Moore, opened with $3.7 million. However, this year’s film lineup did not match last year’s Memorial Day weekend record, featuring “Lilo & Stitch” live-action and “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning.” The total earnings for this weekend will be approximately $211 million, a 36% drop from last year’s $330 million, yet better than 2024’s low when “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” debuted.