The first Star Wars film in almost seven years, The Mandalorian and Grogu, is off to a humble start, garnering US$165 million at the global box office over its opening weekend and through the Memorial Day holiday, making it one of the lowest openings in franchise history.
As reported by Variety, the Jon Favreau-directed film collected a domestic earnings of US$82 million over its opening weekend, with an estimated US$102 million through the Memorial Day holiday, garnering a further US$64 million at the international box office. While breaking the US$100 million mark is already impressive for any film, expectations for such a massive IP like Star Wars are much higher, something that The Mandalorian and Grogu unfortunately failed to hit, with its earnings on par with that of the lowest-earning film in the franchise, 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story.
By comparison, Solo snagged US$84 million domestically over its opening weekend, and US$103 million through the Memorial Day holiday, with an additional US$65 million internationally. The film would go on to become the first Star Wars film to lose money over its theatrical run, garnering just US$392 million against its massive US$300 million budget. While The Mandalorian and Grogu’s opening figures fall short even by these standards, the film has a notably lower budget of US$165 million, so it’s safe to say that it would at least make money this time around.
Elsewhere at the box office, Antoine Fuqua’s biopic, Michael, continues its winning streak as the film is now poised to cross the US$800 million mark with an additional US$28.5 million tally from its overseas market. The film has now grossed US$319 million domestically and US$468 million overseas to date, and with the film still slated for a later release in Japan on 12 June, it’s highly likely to surpass the US$800 million mark, or even oust 2018’s Bohemian Rhapsody’s US$911 million as the highest-grossing musical biopic of all time.
Michael isn’t the only film which has hit major milestones, as Disney’s The Devil Wears Prada 2 has now surpassed US$600 million worldwide over its fourth weekend with an additional US$21 million from the overseas market. The sequel, which sees the return of familiar faces like Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci, has been especially popular at the international box office with an estimated US$408 million earnings, for a combined total of US$604 million globally.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
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