Disney/Lucasfilm’s “The Mandalorian and Grogu” arrived at the box office Thursday night and made $12 million from preview screenings as it prepares to go wide today on 4,300 screens.
By comparison, the last “Star Wars” Memorial Day weekend release, “Solo,” opened to $14.3 million from previews before going on to a $103 million 4-day opening. From this start, “Mandalorian and Grogu” is on pace for a 4-day opening in the $90 million range, consistent with pre-release tracking and with the $97 million opening of recent hit “Michael,” which earned $12.6 million in previews.
From a likely fanboy-heavy early audience, “Mandalorian and Grogu” earned a largely positive reception with an 89% Rotten Tomatoes score to go with a 63% critics score.
“The Mandalorian and Grogu” will lead what is expected to be a much quieter Memorial Day weekend than last year, when “Lilo & Stitch” and “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” led the box office to a holiday record $330 million overall total.
Studio sources tell TheWrap that they are estimating a $190 million overall total for the weekend, which is still a high floor given the $595 million grossed this month in North America so far.
More to come…