That’s not very encouraging news for Star Wars fans, The Mandalorian & Grogu, as the film’s soft earnings of about $11–12 million in Thursday previews. with an estimated $80–100 million over the four-day Memorial Day weekend while playing in 4,300 theaters.
The previous standalone franchise film, Solo: A Star Wars Story, directed by Ron Howard, earned $14.1 million in previews, which was a respectable result compared to “The Mandalorian & Grogu”’s $11–12 million preview. Solo later opened to $84 million over the three-day weekend and $103 million across the four-day holiday frame.
It’s not just Solo: A Star Wars Story that performed well — Star Wars: The Force Awakens broke the domestic opening weekend record, directed by J.J. Abrams, with $247.9 million, while Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, directed by Gareth Edwards, opened to a strong $155 million domestically.
Directed by Jon Favreau, The Mandalorian and Grogu has received mixed reactions on Rotten Tomatoes, earning one of the lowest critic scores of the Disney-era Star Wars films with 61%. However, the audience response has been far more positive, with an impressive 88% audience score.
With its 88% audience score and 61% critic score, The Mandalorian and Grogu now ranks among the highest audience-rated Star Wars movies, surpassed only by three The Empire Strikes Back with a 97% audience score and 93% critic score, Star Wars (A New Hope) with 96% audience and 94% critic scores, and Return of the Jedi with a 94% audience score and 83% critic score.
Pedro Pascal leads as Din Djarin/The Mandalorian, with Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder on set. The cast features Jeremy Allen White voicing Rotta the Hutt, Sigourney Weaver as a New Republic representative, and Steve Blum bringing Zeb Orrelios to live action. Martin Scorsese adds a surprise voice cameo as a four‑armed alien vendor.
