🛸 The Force awakens in theaters

Friday domestic grosses came in at a concerning $33 million, putting the Jon Favreau-directed feature at risk of posting the worst opening in the franchise’s modern history since Disney acquired the studio from George Lucas in 2012.

However, Saturday and Sunday completely shifted the narrative. The turning point was a massive surge of family audiences and children, a demographic that tracking services traditionally struggle to project. Grogu (affectionately known as Baby Yoda) made a triumphant leap from streaming to the big screen: young viewers under 13 and their parents propelled the film to an “A” CinemaScore and a maximum 5 stars on PostTrak. On Rotten Tomatoes, the audience score skyrocketed to a franchise-high 89%, despite a more muted 62% approval rating from professional critics.

According to preliminary studio estimates, the film is projected to gross approximately $100 million–$102 million domestically over the four-day Memorial Day holiday weekend, alongside $63 million internationally, yielding a solid global debut of $165 million. For comparison, 2018’s box office misfire Solo: A Star Wars Story generated a similar $165 million worldwide in its opening frame, but carried a colossal $275 million production budget. By contrast, the net budget for The Mandalorian & Grogu was a much more modest $165 million, which, combined with strong word-of-mouth, guarantees the project a long theatrical runway. Premium large formats, including IMAX, have already driven 53% of the film’s global ticket sales.

Disney executives emphasize that The Mandalorian was originally born on the small screen, and its ultimate value extends far beyond theatrical box office metrics. The series remains the most-watched original title on Disney+ (surpassing 1.3 billion streaming hours), while Baby Yoda merchandise has already generated over $1 billion for the corporation.

Meanwhile, the number-two spot at the domestic box office is firmly held by the low-budget horror hit Obsession from Focus Features. Directed by Curry Barker and produced for under $1 million, the film saw an extraordinary 39% box office bump in its second week, pulling in an additional $30,4 million over the holiday weekend (bringing its 11-day domestic cume to $60 million).

Lionsgate’s Michael Jackson biopic, Michael, crossed a major milestone by passing $300 million domestically, while its global box office cume has cleared $700 million.

20th Century/Disney’s comedy sequel The Devil Wears Prada 2 achieved a milestone of its own in its fourth week of release, crossing the $600 million mark worldwide ($200 million domestic / $400 million international).

Rounding out the top five is Amazon MGM’s family hit The Sheep Detectives, which collected $12.8 million over the weekend, bringing its total domestic gross to $74.4 million.