The Mandalorian And Grogu Set An Unwanted Star Wars Record At The Box Office

When "The Mandalorian and Grogu" opened in theaters, it did so in a softer-than-expected fashion, particularly for a "Star Wars" movie. This is "Star Wars," after all, and, in the Disney era, it's a franchise that has produced several hits that have grossed at least $1 billion. I argued that, despite the relatively smaller opening, "The Mandalorian and Grogu" was a win for "Star Wars" at the box office. I may have been overly optimistic.

During its second weekend in theaters, director Jon Favreau's "The Mandalorian and Grogu" dropped a whopping 70% from its opening, taking in just $24.4 million and falling to third place. That means it suffered the worst second weekend drop ever for a "Star Wars" movie, bigger than "Solo" (65%) and even bigger than the much-hated "Clone Wars" animated movie (61%). Even the ever-divisive "The Rise of Skywalker" only dropped 59% in its second weekend. In short? Not great.

Favreau's big screen take on "The Mandalorian" placed behind both "Backrooms" ($81.4 million) and "Obsession" ($27.4 million), two horror movies that led to one of the most important weekends ever at the box office. That's in no small part because they both overshadowed a new "Star Wars" movie, the first in nearly seven years. That would have been unthinkable even a handful of weeks ago.

The only decent news is that Mando and Baby Yoda did okay overseas in weekend two, pulling in $27.8 million. Normally, "Star Wars" is very domestic-heavy. To date, the movie has earned $246.9 million worldwide against a reported $165 million budget. It's not yet an outright flop but, depending on how things go from here, it could be. That leaves Disney with an awful lot to think about.

"The Mandalorian and Grogu" is going to have an uphill battle to theatrical profitability. "Solo: A Star Wars Story" made just $393 million worldwide, but its budget ballooned to nearly $300 million and was met with so-so reviews initially. The difference is that the latest "Star Wars" movie is very family-friendly, and while critics were a bit mixed, it scored very well with audiences. There's at least a chance it will rebound in the coming weeks, especially since "Masters of the Universe" looks like it might get buried at the box office.

It could, in a best-case scenario, wind up like "The LEGO Movie" ($257 million domestic/$468 million worldwide). That's if it avoids another huge drop and finds its footing with families, in addition to getting some more help from overseas. It could also wind up closer to "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" ($171 million domestic/$397 million worldwide). Then again, we're getting another "Planet of the Apes" movie, so is that a fate worse than death?

$500 million or more is now totally out of the question. Granted, the bar was always lowered since this was a TV-show-turned-movie and not a typical "Star Wars" film. All the same, no matter how much Baby Yoda merch this movie sells, it's going to be tough to sell over/under $400 million at the box office as a win for this storied franchise.

Disney and Lucasfilm will have to hope that "Star Wars: Starfighter" (which doesn't feature any legacy characters) fares better next summer. Perhaps something truly new from a galaxy far, far away will be more appealing. Either way, "Star Wars" is far from bulletproof, that much has been made very clear.

"The Mandalorian and Grogu" is in theaters now.