The Mandalorian and Grogu has set an unwanted record, becoming the Star Wars film with the lowest opening weekend box office in the sci-fi franchise's history.
The film, directed by Jon Favreau of Iron Man fame, did top the box office charts. However, as reported by Variety, it made just $82 million in the U.S., slightly below the $84 million earned by 2018's Solo: A Star Wars Story. The Mandalorian and Grogu is projected to reach $102 million through the end of the holiday weekend on Monday. Solo, which also opened on Memorial Day weekend, made $103 million in the same timeframe.
Solo was the first Star Wars movie to lose money during its theatrical run, with a production cost of around $300 million. In contrast, The Mandalorian and Grogu's budget of $165 million makes it the cheapest Star Wars film ever produced, meaning it is likely to break even and may turn a profit.
Internationally, The Mandalorian and Grogu grossed $64 million, bringing its total box office to $145 million over three days and putting it on track for $165 million over the four-day holiday window.
The film is a big-screen spin-off of the hit series The Mandalorian, featuring Pedro Pascal's masked bounty hunter teaming up with Grogu (aka Baby Yoda) to rescue Rotta the Hutt, the estranged son of Jabba the Hutt, voiced by Jeremy Allen White of The Bear.
This marks the first Star Wars feature directed by Favreau, who previously directed, wrote, and produced episodes of The Mandalorian, as well as the limited series The Book of Boba Fett and Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.
The Independent critic Clarisse Loughrey gave the film a two-star review, writing: "The Mandalorian and Grogu merely stitches together what is clearly three episodes of the previously planned fourth season of The Mandalorian and calls it a day. There's not a whiff of effort here."
The most impressive box office performance of the weekend belonged to horror movie Obsession, which achieved the rare feat of posting second weekend results around 30% higher than its opening weekend. YouTuber Curry Barker's new film made $17.2 million in its debut and $22 million this weekend. The Independent's Loughrey praised Obsession, awarding it four stars and writing: "Obsession ultimately triumphs in how willing it is to make two monsters out of its cautionary tale."
