After a seven-year hiatus, Disney brought Star Wars back to screens with The Mandalorian and Grogu, which topped the box office heading into Memorial Day weekend.
“The Mandalorian and Grogu” grossed $33 million Friday from 4,300 theaters in North America. The intergalactic western is expected to gross between $80 million and $100 million during the holiday season.
The $100 million cap places “The Mandalorian and Grogu” with a similar opening to 2018’s “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” which also opened on Memorial Day. Although the film is considered a financial failure, The Mandalorian and Grogu’s metrics are interpreted as a moderate success. Star Destroyer could be filled with recent box office think pieces about why that is, but they mostly come down to franchise fatigue and the small showings of Star Wars on Disney+ shows like Andor, Ahsoka, and The Mandalorian, which is based on The Mandalorian and Grogu.
The Mandalorian and Grogu, directed by Jon Favreau, follows the titular bounty hunter and his young companion as they try to save Lotta the Hutt, Jabba’s muscular son, from the clutches of a warlord gang. The film stars Pedro Pascal, Jeremy Allen White, Sigourney Weaver, and Johnny Coyne.
In a box office surprise, Focus Features and director Curry Barker’s horror hit “Obsession” is having a big second weekend, up from last week’s impressive $17.2 million opening. It recorded an unprecedented 16% growth for a movie, making $19.9 million in its second week, ranking second only to The Mandalorian and Grogu. The extended Memorial Day window is expected to bring in $24.8 million, bringing the domestic total to $55.1 million.
In third place was Lionsgate’s “Michael,” which added $5.1 million on Friday to surpass $300 million domestically. The music biopic is on track to gross $18.5 million over its traditional three-day weekend and $23.6 million over the long Memorial Day holiday. After five weekends of release, “Michael” is estimated to have grossed $788.8 million worldwide. If this trend continues, it’s likely to become the highest-grossing music biopic of all time, surpassing 2018’s Bohemian Rhapsody ($911 million worldwide).
“The Devil Wears Prada 2” added $3.2 million on Friday to take fourth place. The 20th Century High Fashion sequel grossed approximately $14 million over its four-day weekend, and is expected to bring its total domestic box office gross to nearly $200 million after four weekends in theaters.
Other new releases this weekend were the neon surreal comedy “I Love Booster” and Paramount’s hitchhiking horror “Passengers.” “Passengers” earned about $3.5 million on its first day of release. By the end of the long weekend, the R-rated horror is expected to gross between $9 million and $10 million. Directed by Andre Øvredal, Passengers follows a young couple who witness a horrific highway crash and flee the scene, haunted by the ghost of a vengeful hitchhiker. Cast members include Melissa Leo, Lou Lovell, Jacob Scipio, and Joseph Lopez.
Boots Riley’s “I Love Boosters” grossed about $1.5 million on Friday. It should generate a profit of $4 million to $5 million during the holiday season. Starring KiKi Palmer, Taylor Page, Naomi Ackie, Demi Moore and LaKeith Stanfield, I Love Boosters follows a group of shoplifters with a Robin Hood complex as they face off against the biggest names in the fashion industry.
