The Mandalorian And Grogu Crashes With 70% Drop In Second Weekend - Can Overseas Box Office Save It?

The Mandalorian and Grogu had a disappointing second weekend in North American theaters, with Backrooms and Obsession proving to be much tougher competition than expected.

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By JoshWilding - Jun 01, 2026 04:06 AM EST

Filed Under: The Mandalorian

Source: SFFGazette.com

Kane Parsons' YouTube short-series-turned-movie is breaking box office history this weekend, with the $10 million budgeted Backrooms scoring A24's biggest opening ever with $81 million at the domestic box office.

20-year-old Parsons dethrones Chronicle director Josh Trank to become the youngest filmmaker in history to have a film open at #1 in North America. At the same time, YouTube Curry Barker's Obsession—which cost a mere $750,000 to produce—is still on the rise during its third weekend in theaters, grossing $26.4 million. It should end the weekend with $104.7 million in total from the U.S.

While excited Hollywood studio executives will now be searching feverishly for the next YouTube sensation-turned-mega hit, Backrooms and Obsession have done The Mandalorian and Grogu no favours whatsoever.

As we first reported on SFFGazette.com, it slipped to #3 during its second weekend. It's now on track to earn $24 million, marking a significant drop of 70% from its Memorial Day weekend debut. While Disney maintains that The Mandalorian and Grogu will be more valuable for them in terms of merchandise and theme park ticket sales, this is a troubling result for the first Star Wars movie since 2019.

The marketing campaign was lacking, and the consensus seems to be that The Mandalorian would have been better served remaining on Disney+. Eager for more theatrical content after Bob Chapek's massive streaming spend, former Disney CEO Bob Iger pushed to bring Din Djarin to the big screen alongside a Moana TV series that became Moana 2. The latter was a massive hit, but The Mandalorian and Grogu soaring to anything close to $1 billion is downright impossible.

While Backrooms and Obsession have found success overseas, it's in the U.S. that they've really taken off. That helped The Mandalorian and Grogu a little, with it dropping 53% this weekend with $27.8 million. Combining $137.4 million from the domestic box office and $109.2 million from abroad, the Star Wars movie sits at a so-so $246.6 million worldwide.

There's now a long way to go until it reaches Solo: A Star Wars Story's $393 million haul, though the big difference there is that Solo cost over $300 million to produce, compared to The Mandalorian and Grogu's far more modest $165 million.

"The Mandalorian and Grogu is a fun, pulpy reminder that Star Wars doesn’t need to grow up; it just needs to be entertaining," we said in our review. "Jon Favreau's action-packed love letter delivers exactly the crowd-pleasing adventure fans have been craving."

In The Mandalorian and Grogu, the evil Empire has fallen, and Imperial warlords remain scattered throughout the galaxy. As the fledgling New Republic works to protect everything the Rebellion fought for, they have enlisted the help of legendary Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his young apprentice Grogu.

Directed by Jon Favreau, the movie also stars Sigourney Weaver and Jeremy Allen White. It's produced by Jon Favreau, Kathleen Kennedy, Dave Filoni, and Ian Bryce, with music composed by Ludwig Göransson.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is now playing in theaters.

Audiences are raving about Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu.

Don't miss the movie event of the summer now playing in theaters and IMAX. Get tickets. https://t.co/oO5Cz6Ueo7 #TheMandalorianAndGrogu pic.twitter.com/ZqZGla275A
— Star Wars (@starwars) May 31, 2026

About The Author:

JoshWilding
Member Since 3/13/2009

Comic Book Reader. Film Lover. WWE and F1 Fan. Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic and ComicBookMovie.com's #1 contributor.

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41 Comments

1 2

UltimaRex - 6/1/2026, 4:40 AM

And Toy Story 5 is next.

Urubrodi - 6/1/2026, 4:50 AM

@UltimaRex - there is absolutely no chance that Toy Story 5 will fail in the box office, the question is more on the lines of if it can surpass the previous ones

JustAWaffle - 6/1/2026, 4:59 AM

@Urubrodi - I could see a sharp knock off in the second week with TS5 if it's not any good.

Urubrodi - 6/1/2026, 5:10 AM

@JustAWaffle - it's a very consistent franchise, unless there is a huge drop in quality, I don't think it would impact that much the box office considering the last 2 movies passed a billion

it's a very different situation to Star Wars, which has lost a lot of credibility over the years (in the movie realm especially)

UltimaRex - 6/1/2026, 5:18 AM

@Urubrodi - Lilypad will prove divisive. Kids don't want screen time to be the villain and parents secretly don't want their digital babysitter criticised...

JustAWaffle - 6/1/2026, 5:43 AM

@Urubrodi - I agree TS has a quality track record. But I think things are a little more volatile these days for Disney. They need a win.

dragon316 - 6/1/2026, 7:20 AM

@UltimaRex - digital babysitter been around for years for kids and adults it call cellphones

UltimaRex - 6/1/2026, 7:49 AM

@dragon316 - exactly my point.

Thanks.

Bucky74 - 6/1/2026, 8:42 AM

@UltimaRex - parents will get the message and then ignore it as soon as the credits roll

Urubrodi - 6/1/2026, 8:46 AM

@UltimaRex - Don't think her screen time will be any different than that given to the villains in the previous movies (unless something was said otherwise). Lotso for example gets a lot of time in Toy Story 3. As for the parents thing, I think that's reaching, don't think anyone is thinking like that.

Urubrodi - 6/1/2026, 9:31 AM

@JustAWaffle - They have been more consistent in the animation department, both Inside Out 2 and then Zootopia 2 (I know this one is not Pixar) passed way over 1 billion

UltimaRex - 6/1/2026, 9:58 AM

@Bucky74 - they won't like being preached at. Especially when they're paying for it.

UltimaRex - 6/1/2026, 10:00 AM

@Urubrodi - I meant kids screen time with their devices.

TheShellyMan - 6/1/2026, 10:05 AM

@UltimaRex - Presales for Toy Story 5 have been excellent so far.

UltimaRex - 6/1/2026, 10:36 AM

@TheShellyMan - yeah, the first weekend...

Malatrova15 - 6/1/2026, 5:03 AM

Crashes and burn baba hello yeah Josh you are such a madman hello yeaj the supreme journalist. Here in Guatemala we call you EL JORNALISTA wich means The Hoochie Cocchie man hello yeah

Chasekeane - 6/1/2026, 5:08 AM

The thing is, the box office may not be great, but there's so much Baby Yoda merch everywhere, my little one wants a grogu learning tablet, I'll probably get a #1 Dad Mandalorian mug for Father's Day, like it's going to make money one way or another.

Cass - 6/1/2026, 5:28 AM

@Chasekeane - Took my kids to the toy shop the other day and saw a baby yoda toy. It was about the size of a small-medium sized doll and cost €80.

No idea if they sell many but I suspect they sell enough to make up a chunk of what’s not being made at the box office.

vegetaray - 6/1/2026, 8:23 AM

@Chasekeane - Those amazingly high merchandise sales really carried Solo across the break even point. Good thing too because if Solo had failed we might not have gotten any Star Wars theatrical releases for nearly a decade…………………………………..

mastakilla39 - 6/1/2026, 9:52 AM

@Chasekeane - doubt Disney is happy about that. Disney owns the most popular franchises like Snow White & Winnie the Pooh that sell a lot of merch, but knowing that their entertainment value is non-existent hurts profits.

This and Solo are huge flops that will not break even during its theatrical run. It proves that people dont care about prequels, derivative characters, or recastings.

TheDiverMan - 6/1/2026, 5:21 AM

The movie was solid and it doesn’t deserve the hate. Unfortunately this is a case where the audience score and the critics score are drastically different. I firmly believe that the critics and constant gloom and doom YouTubers have absolutely killed this movie’s momentum. I wish people would make up their minds for themselves before listening to others when it comes to all forms of art. I get it, I understand things are expensive and people are more selective when choosing their entertainment. However, there have been hundreds of films that I have watched in my lifetime that I absolutely loved that the critics hated and then there have been films the critics loved, that I didn’t like. All film is subjective.

mastakilla39 - 6/1/2026, 10:07 AM

@TheDiverMan - Very true...but ultimately people vote with their wallets. It just shows that tv movies or prequel star wars isn't worth their hard earned money. I loved dungeons and dragons honor among thieves film, it had 91% RT score from critics, 92% RT score from audience, and an A- cinemascore but movie flopped so it just shows that the masses aren't interested in that franchise.

The Star Wars brand is on a decline. They no longer have any marketable characters or actors that will draw the masses out to see them as they've killed all the popular ones and the new ones aren't resonating with people. Then by throwing it on D+ for the past few years it removed the prestige from the franchise that you can only see Star Wars in theaters.

TheJok3r - 6/1/2026, 5:29 AM

This franchise is dead.

RealTurner - 6/1/2026, 5:57 AM

This one will be fine on balance. Starfighter or whatever it's called is going to be a blackhole atm. I hope the fact it got made at all shows confidence in the material but clearly "oh look the first X-wing in 7 years" isn't getting people into theaters.

dragon316 - 6/1/2026, 7:23 AM

@RealTurner - material Mandalorian original new material tv show is big hit all fans want to see is space fights and all Star Wars is empire vs rebellion all time in every Star Wars series old and new same with comics marvel dc goood vs bad goood wins all time bad want to rule kill universe world kill hero goood wins .,

All it is same war differnt characters just like gundam

Satur9 - 6/1/2026, 6:58 AM

So, word of mouth wasn't too strong?

dragon316 - 6/1/2026, 7:25 AM

@Satur9 - word have nothing to do with it doesn’t effect success dragonball super hero’s had no marketing no reviews only YouTube it became number one movie in box office and to see

TheShellyMan - 6/1/2026, 10:07 AM

@Satur9 - WoM were from hardcore fans.

TheVisionary25 - 6/1/2026, 7:19 AM

I have seen so many “think pieces” about this over the weekend and how this is the death of IP films and some vermin on Twitter even celebrating that or the fact this had such a big drop domestically which i find just absolutely pathetic (i guess ignoring stuff thus also not speaking ill about things you don’t enjoy isn’t an option anymore thus they have to be assholes) that it honestly puts me more on the side of the creatives then the so called fans.

Frankly while im sure Disney/Lucasfilm would like this to do better then it’s currently doing , i also feel they have to be or are likely aware that it doing as great as a SW film before was slim given the 7 year hiatus from the big screen…

Plus with Moana 2 , it was different since that was reconfigured from a show that never aired and I wouldn’t be surprised that many didn’t know was even going to be a thing initially while the Mandalorian has been a successful show so to have it transition the big screen (especially given it’s not really at the peak of its popularity i feel anymore) was going to be a hard sell but i do think this cushions Starfighter a bit and lets the execs & such know where big screen SW stands and where to set their financial expectations for the film but we’ll see.

Anyway , i feel merch and ultimately streaming will help this film land in the black for Disney & Lucasfilm so this isn’t as much of a big deal as some are making it out to be.

Oh and kudos to Kane Parsons & Curry Barker for the success of Obsession & Backrooms which shows not only that horror remains a popular genre amongst the youth (since they were the audience that turned out in droves for those films) but that YouTube can be a sufficient creative pipeline for people trying to break into the industry given their built in audiences due to their work on those platforms aswell as for the former atleast , his film being based on internet lore that had a following which certainly lent to its success thus some calling it an original film while it’s based off his “shorts” is hilarious to me but I digress!!.

Irregular - 6/1/2026, 7:24 AM

The Mandalorian And Grogu Crashes With 70% Drop In Second Weekend

Batmangina - 6/1/2026, 7:58 AM

Can Overseas Box Office Save It?

?si=QVo1VswElSjU4v9B

thedrudo - 6/1/2026, 8:06 AM

Anyone thinking TS5 will fail is delusional.

It’s tracking the highest movie of the summer outside of Spidey. There’s absolutely no controversy about it except 40 year olds on the internet mad that they didn’t end with the third movie.

vegetaray - 6/1/2026, 8:09 AM

It needs between $500M and $600M to break even according to The Hollywood Reporter…Total world wide gross is going to barely pull this thing across $300M. It’s a colossal financial loss for the mouse house…

TDKRnry88 - 6/1/2026, 9:49 AM

Yay...? I enjoyed the movie. Nothing great, but nothing horrible. TBH, I'd sooner watch it again on TV over Backrooms (I appreciate the movie's existence for its creativity, but certain character elements just didn't connect with me). Has more rewatchability. But DISNEY STAR WARS IS FAILING! SO TIME TO CELEBRATE, I guess 🙄

Matchesz - 6/1/2026, 10:03 AM

Rogue Squadron was the one I was looking for so naturally we got this shit instead

HeavyMetal4Life - 6/1/2026, 10:04 AM

Still haven't seen it yet but I will when I get a chance. I think though that Star Wars as a big screen, 500mil + box office spectacle is probably dead for now. Perhaps if this movie had been more of a Thrawn spectacle then it might have fared better, idk. But Star Wars on streaming is really where it is at right now. And ultimately that's fine. I'd rather get stuff more like the quality of Maul Shadow Lord anyways.

Again, I haven't seen this movie, but from what I hear (and I loved the first 2 seasons of Mando), this movie is fun and has visually great sequences but doesn't do anything different and just plays it safe. At a time when movies are struggling and largely not having as much of an impact as they did several years ago, its time for franchises to start thinking about how to do things differently. Its possible to have a lot of fun at a movie while also offering something new. Take Project Hail Mary for example- that was so much fun and also offered something different. Its time to think about how to push IP forward. Regardless of what people think about TLJ, Rian Johnson was correct about Star Wars staying power- if you don't adapt and reinvent or evolve, then you risk not succeeding. Kathleen Kennedy clearly became the person not to do this, at least not on the big screen. I'm not sure how much of a difference though having Filoni in charge would have made, since Favreau helmed the film andhe and Filoni wrote it.

TheVisionary25 - 6/1/2026, 10:13 AM

@HeavyMetal4Life - sure , they could have connected it to Thrawn more but then you have the “homework” complaints so it’s a damned if you do , damned if you don’t situation.

Also I thought Project Hail Mary was solid but I’m not sure how it was different tbh?:

TheShellyMan - 6/1/2026, 10:06 AM

Yikes, I predicted this movie would finish in the $400M range. Now it's shaping up to finish sub $400M WW. It's Joever for this.

ThorArms - 6/1/2026, 11:01 AM

This was esentially Seasaon 4 in the theaters. They didn't drive it home that this was appointment viewing. Why did we watch Seasons 1-3 at home but now we should rush to the theaters to see this when it's going to be on D+ in 3 months?

ogrodafloresta - 6/1/2026, 11:12 AM

@ThorArms - They still think that people treat the “movie experience” like it’s worth it, even with a “lesser” product. Maybe this was a calculated attempt to make a “shorter season” in disguise, with a slightly higher budget, but gain some cash back by putting it in theaters. But is this a good move for an already tarnished brand? We’ll see…

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The Mandalorian And Grogu Crashes With 70% Drop In Second Weekend - Can Overseas Box Office Save It?

The Mandalorian and Grogu had a disappointing second weekend in North American theaters, with Backrooms and Obsession proving to be much tougher competition than expected.

The Mandalorian & Grogu Plummets With $6.5M Friday As Backrooms Scores Third Biggest Horror Movie Debut Ever

The Mandalorian And Grogu Loses Domestic Box Office No. 1 Spot To Indie Horror Hit Obsession

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