We Have a Star Wars Movie

A really bad Star Wars movie. It opened to the lowest box office in the Disney Lucasfim era.

This post morphed into a monster, because one post got stuck in drafts, so this merges them together. The first part talks about the movie, financial performance, and some reviews. The break is in the middle of the 1st part. The 2nd part deals with how Disney took the #1 cinema franchise of all time, and created apathy.

First I direct you to this story from Marvin Montanaro at Geeks + Gamers: ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ is Officially The Lowest Opening Disney Star Wars Movie Ever

For years, Disney and Lucasfilm treated Din Djarin and Grogu like the future of Star Wars. The duo became the centerpiece of the franchise’s streaming era, drove massive merchandise sales, and were positioned as the answer to fan backlash surrounding the sequel trilogy. Now, the box office numbers are in for The Mandalorian and Grogu, and they paint a troubling picture for the state of the brand.

The film officially opened to approximately $81.9 million domestically over its traditional 3-day opening weekend, with an estimated $102 million over the extended Memorial Day frame.

Now Marvin only had the Sunday and Monday estimates. Typing this on Tuesday 26 May, I have the actual spend, at least the domestic spend. The number is NOT $102 million. The actual number (from The Numbers - click on the Box Office tab) is $98 million domestically as of the end of Memorial Day weekend (Monday the 25th).

There was much discussion prior to the weekend, if it would be necessary to account for inflation of the next-worst-performing, Disney, Star Wars movie; it is not. The worst-performing movie HAD BEEN Solo: A Star Wars Story, which came out in 2018. It also released on Memorial Day weekend. Domestically Solo cleared $103 million through its first Monday. That is without accounting for inflation.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is officially the worst-performing movie in the entire Disney era. It is worse if you take inflation into account.

There are a lot of reviews out there. This one is short, and to the point.

My expectations were fairly low, but I am genuinely stunned how bad The Mandalorian and Grogu is. That’s enough Star Wars for now, thanks. https://t.co/CGYGsujjt7

— Sam Adams (@SamuelAAdams) May 20, 2026

The state of Star Wars is so bad, even Matt Walsh is talking about it. He has finally realized that Culture and Pop Culture matter. He may have also realized that his audience is in the process of evaporating, but that is a different issue.

And as long as I'm talking about money, I may as well note, again, that studios do not get 100% of the box office. Theaters, it turns out, do not show movies for free. It can vary a lot, but the rule of thumb is that studios get about half of the gate. Disney gets a bit more than half domestically, and a bit less internationally. Which brings us to what the break even point is. From The Hollywood Reporter: ‘The Mandalorian & Grogu’ Won’t Lose Money. It May Not Rescue ‘Star Wars’ Either

The film wasn’t expensive by Star Wars standards — it has the lowest production budget of any previous title made since Disney acquired Lucasfilm. But nor was it cheap: $165 million before a global ad campaign of at least $100 million, likely more. Those close to Disney’s decision-making confirm the Jon Favreau film needs to make $500 to $600 million globally to land in the black.

Now Disney is famous for lying about budgets, and that $165 million number is suspect. While it comes from a tax document filed in California, it is the "qualified expenses." Expenses that do not qualify are things like Pedro Pascal's salary, Sigourney Weaver's salary, Director Jon Favreau's salary, and more. And if they only spent $100 million on marketing that would be a miracle. They spent $10 million on a forgettable Super Bowl ad.

The Most Expensive Decision in the History of Cinema

So now, we finally get to how Disney destroyed Star Wars.

I would say they spent the last 13 years pushing everyone away from the franchise. From Marvin Montanaro at That Park Place: Star Wars Spent a Decade Pushing Away Boys — So Why Would Today’s Teenagers Care About The Mandalorian and Grogu?

I will grant that boys were the primary audience of the original trilogy, but it was executed in a way that everyone loved it. No one loves what Disney has done to it. Well, almost no one. They spent BILLIONS of dollars for this franchise and started in immediately to destroy it.

Disney and Lucasfilm have been telling boys that Star Wars isn’t for them since the sequel trilogy kicked off in 2015. So why should any boy born in the Disney era care at all about The Mandalorian and Grogu?

For years, Disney and Lucasfilm insisted that Star Wars needed to “evolve.” Kathleen Kennedy’s Lucasfilm repeatedly framed the franchise as something that had to move beyond its traditional audience and embrace a “modern” identity.

The modern audience, isn't exactly mythical. It is incredibly vocal on social media, but there are not enough of them to support a franchise like Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, or Harry Potter. The fact that it is so vocal on social media means that companies like Disney have decided that they are the majority. They are not.

Lucas wanted to build a modern mythology for young boys, because in the 1970s, entertainment was heavy on the anti-heroes, in the mold of Dirty Harry Callahan. He wanted to give them things that he liked as a kid, or thought they would like such as ...

• armored bounty hunters,
• giant monster fights,
• laser battles,
• cool ships,
• silent stoic heroes,
• creature sidekicks,

And "action figures waiting to happen."

This is exactly the kind of thing that historically connected with young boys. George Lucas understood that from the beginning. Star Wars was mythic pulp adventure. It was Flash Gordon mixed with Kurosawa, westerns, comic books, and war serials.

Do I need to say how much he succeeded? He sold Lucasfilm to Disney for several billion dollars. That was Star Wars in its shape after the prequel trilogy, together with the good will of the Expanded Universe, mostly books, though some comics (I think), and Indiana Jones.

Disney immediately declared the Expanded Universe as dead, and started in on turning Star Wars into a brand dominated by the girlboss. At this point I think it makes sense to call on Chris Gore, of Film Threat:

Disney turning Star Wars (and Marvel) from a boy brand into a girl brand will prove to be the costliest decision in movie history. #MakeMarvelMaleAgain

— Chris Gore (@ThatChrisGore) August 21, 2025

But back to Marvin Montanaro. One of the things Lucas understood was merchandising. That is how he built his empire. He gave up his salary for directing the intial movie for the rights to sequels and merchandising. Disney has killed the toy sales, and maybe killed Hasbro in the process.

There is more. Click thru.