The next chapter of the Star Wars Saga, The Mandalorian and Grogu (read our review here), is officially in theaters, and it’s already making a nice chunk of change for Disney and Lucasfilm. The adorable and surprisingly violent sci-fi spectacle earned $12 million in Thursday Night Previews, kicking off this long Memorial Day weekend with a bang!
Interestingly, Mando’s $12M is less than 2018’s Thursday grab for Solo: A Star Wars Story, which banked $14.1 million on opening day. Solo eventually Force-choked $84.4 million out of Star Wars fans during the three-day weekend, and $103 million for the four-day Memorial Day mark. Looking at the past several years of Star Wars films, 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the clear winner with $247.9M before Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame came along in 2018 and 2019, respectively. The Mandalorian and Grogu is playing at 4,300 theaters, including 425 IMAX, with the full suite of PLF, 4DX, 3D, and ScreenX. The key to Mando’s success will be whether the film reaches families on Saturday and Sunday. If not, the studios could have another Star Wars-related disappointment on their hands.
Elsewhere, André Øvredal’s Paramount horror film Passenger (read our review here) hitched a ride to $1.1 million from Thursday Night Previews, across roughly 2,125 locations. Analysts expect Passenger to take in $9M to $10M over the four-day holiday weekend. In Passenger, a young couple witnesses a horrific accident that leaves the driver dead. They soon encounter a demonic stalker who’s impossible to outrun and follows them wherever they go. Passenger isn’t winning over audiences yet, as critic reviews are at 46% while the audience score is at 50% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Meanwhile, NEON‘s Boots Riley movie, I Love Boosters (read our review here), nabbed $430K in previews. Analysts expect the film to do in the high single digits over 4 days. The crime comedy is currently sitting at 92% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Have you seen The Mandalorian and Grogu yet? What did you think of the Jon Favreau-directed Star Wars film? Is it the Star Wars film you wanted, or did Lucasfilm wait too long to capitalize on the popularity of the Mandalorian series? I want to see it, but my schedule is jam-packed this weekend, so I doubt I’ll get around to it. We’ll see. Let us know what you think about The Mandalorian and Gorgu in the comments section!