Lucasfilm/Disney’s first Star Wars movie in seven years, The Mandalorian and Grogu, arrived on tracking in what looks to be an $80 million-plus four-day start over the U.S. Memorial Day weekend.
While that’s not the $100M+ opening to which we’re accustomed for a Star Wars movie, duly note that it’s still early in the campaign, and though skewing currently with men over 25, Disney’s plan is to attract more families heading into the pic’s opening May 22. On May 4 aka Star Wars “May the Fourth” day, Imax auditoriums will show off the first 19 minutes of the movie directed by Jon Favreau, who co-wrote and produced the pic with Dave Filoni.
Disney has turned popular TV properties into box office hits before, i.e., Disney Channel’s High School Musical 3: Senior Year which bowed to a domestic opening of $42M in 2008 and legged out to $90.6M stateside. This is the first time we’re seeing a Disney+ property going full-on theatrical; The Mandalorian is one of the OTT service’s most-popular series, having crossed 1 billion hour streamed. Some of the comps being kicked around for Mandalorian and Grogu are 2009’s Star Trek ($75.2M) and Fast & Furious spinoff Hobbs & Shaw ($60M).
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Currently, first choice with all audiences on Mandalorian and Grogu is similar to Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, which opened to $79M over last year’s Friday-Monday Memorial Day weekend stretch.
The lowest opening for a Star Wars live-action movie belongs to 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story, which debuted to $103M over the four-day Memorial Day holiday and finaled at $213.7M domestic and $392.9M WW, ultimately leading to Lucasfilm scrapping a plan for stand-alone movies about legacy characters. Solo was plagued in advance of its opening with headlines about production problems; filmmakers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were fired and replaced by Ron Howard.
Last year, Disney posted the best Memorial Day weekend opening ever with its live-action Lilo & Stitch, which bowed to $182M. Together Lilo & Stitch and Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning fueled the biggest Memorial Day weekend ever with more than $330M.
This year, there isn’t a big tentpole counterprogramming Mandalorian and Grogu. Opening against it is Paramount’s Andre Ovredal’s Passenger and Neon’s zany Boots Riley comedy I Love Boosters.
Mandalorian and Grogu stars Pedro Pascal, Sigourney Weaver, Jeremy Allen White and Martin Scorsese.
Tickets went on sale for Mandalorian and Grogu on April 17.