The Mandalorian and Grogu Earns $82M Opening Weekend — Star Wars Is Back, But Is It Enough?

The Mandalorian and Grogu Earns $82M Opening Weekend — Star Wars Is Back, But Is It Enough?

Star Wars fans, hold onto your lightsabers — because after a seven-year drought on the big screen, The Mandalorian and Grogu finally landed in theaters and delivered an $82 million domestic opening weekend. Directed by Jon Favreau and starring Pedro Pascal, this marks the first theatrical Star Wars release since The Rise of Skywalker back in 2019. So the big question is: did seven years of waiting pay off, or is this just a solid-but-unspectacular debut for a franchise that used to break records?

Box Office Breakdown: Big Number, Bigger Expectations

Let's start with the good news — $82 million makes The Mandalorian and Grogu the biggest sci-fi release of 2026 so far, topping earlier contenders like The Devil Wears Prada 2 and Michael. The film pulled in around $12 million in Thursday night previews alone, according to Deadline. Not bad for a Memorial Day weekend opener.

But here's where things get interesting. For context, The Rise of Skywalker opened at $177 million in 2019. Even Solo: A Star Wars Story — widely considered the franchise's biggest box office disappointment — managed $84 million. So while $82 million is respectable, it's also a far cry from the $200M+ openings Star Wars used to guarantee.

According to Forbes, the worldwide debut landed around $165 million when you factor in international markets. That's a decent start for a Disney/Lucasfilm release, but it's also the kind of number that has Kevin Feige and the Marvel crew breathing a sigh of relief. Speaking of Marvel — Avengers: Doomsday is still the undisputed king of 2026 box office, and The Mandalorian and Grogu isn't dethroning it.

Critical Reception: Mixed Reviews, Solid CinemaScore

Critics were split on The Mandalorian and Grogu, and the audience reception followed suit. CinemaScore gave the film a grade that insiders say is decent but not spectacular — suggesting that while fans enjoyed the experience, it didn't blow anyone away. Collider called the opening "underwhelming" for a Star Wars release, while ComicBook.com noted that the Thursday preview numbers actually trailed Solo — the movie that supposedly tanked the franchise theatrically.

But there's a flip side. Obsession, the 2026 horror hit that's been making waves, is projected to pull off a rare second-weekend-greater-than-first feat this same weekend. That tells you two things: horror is having a massive year, and Star Wars might need to recalibrate what a "successful" theatrical release looks like in the streaming era. Remember, this is the same universe that spun off Andor on Disney+, The Acolyte, and of course the original The Mandalorian series that started it all with Pedro Pascal, Giancarlo Esposito, and Grogu stealing everyone's hearts.

What This Means for Star Wars Going Forward

The bigger picture here is that The Mandalorian and Grogu proves Star Wars still has theatrical viability — it just looks different now. Audiences want quality over spectacle, and the franchise is learning that lesson the hard way. With Shawn Levy's Star Wars: New Jedi Order (starring Ryan Gosling) reportedly still in development, and James Mangold's ancient Star Wars movie somewhere on the horizon, Lucasfilm has time to course-correct.

Bottom line: $82 million is a strong opening in today's fragmented market. It's just not the Star Wars opening we remember. But hey — Grogu's still adorable, Pedro Pascal is still carrying the franchise on his back, and there's still plenty of movie left to run. May the Force be with the box office.