The Mandalorian and Grogu marks the weakest start of the Disney era for a Star Wars film

With around 82 million dollars over its first weekend and a projection of around 100 million at the end of Memorial Day, the new Star Wars film has a historically weak debut for the franchise.

Not the disaster predicted for the new film Star Wars. But…

With approximately $82 million for its first weekend and a projection towards a maximum launch of $102 million over four days (this Monday being a holiday in the United States for Memorial Day), The Mandalorian and Grogu avoid the worst-case scenario.

Nothing really dramatic at first glance. And yet: this is quite simply the weakest start in the history of the saga Star Wars in North America since Disney bought the franchise in 2012.

Baby Yoda therefore does less well than Solo: A Star Wars Story. The spin-off film dedicated to Han Solo opened to around $83 million over its first weekend in 2018, over a comparable window, since it also took place on Memorial Day, before ending its long weekend at around $103 million over four days.

It is therefore paradoxically a solid score in absolute terms, which allows The Mandalorian and Grogu to largely dominate the US box office of the weekend, despite the presence of the phenomenon Michael in front. But historically, the signal remains weak.

Because Solo was already well below the usual standards of the franchise, traditionally accustomed to launches above $150 million or even $200 million. For comparison: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ($175 million), Rogue One ($155 million), Star Wars: The Last Jedi (~$220 million) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($248 million).

The spin-off centered on Han Solo finally ended its career with around $400 million in revenue worldwide, a decent result but far from the billionaire standards of the saga.

A trajectory in which it seems to be part The Mandalorian and Grogu. The film, a direct sequel to the Disney+ series, was not helped by lukewarm reviews. This latest chapter brought to the big screen by Jon Favreau has already accumulated around $65 million in its first days in the rest of the world (in 51 territories). Its worldwide total is estimated around $165 million at this stage. Nothing crazy, but a result rather at the top of the estimates compiled by the industry in recent weeks. It is still necessary to emphasize the production cost, almost twice as low as the last film compared to Solo (165 million compared to 300 million at the time).

In second place, the horror film from Focus Features Obsession did better than expected with a four-day weekend which should be around $26 million (including $22 million over 3 days, up 26% over its second weekend).

Michael fell back to third place on the podium but will still earn more than $26 million in four days ($20 million over three days). Its total has now reached $317.8 million after five weeks, in North America. The biopic should therefore approach $800 million worldwide by Monday evening.

Finally, The Devil Wears Prada 2 (20th Century) will end this long weekend with around $15 million, bringing its total to almost $200 million at the US box office after four weeks. The film reached an important milestone at the box office with more than $600 million in worldwide revenue.