'The Mandalorian and Grogu' flops: $81 million and Star Wars' worst opening

'The Mandalorian and Grogu' flops: what is happening to Star Wars?
What has peine to Disney's golden goose? 'The Mandalorian and Grogu', the first Star Wars film in seven years and Dave Filoni's big moment at the helm of Lucasfilm, has delivered the franchise's worst opening under the Disney banner. With $81 million at the domestic box office over Memorial Day weekend (May 22, 2026), the figures fall far short of any expectation. It is not just a stumble: it is a sign that the vein is running dry.

Explanations abound, but none reassure investors. On one hand, the film received mixed reviews: solid technical craft, but lacking emotional impact, forgettable within days. The original series had created expectations the film failed to manage. On the other, a generational debate is emerging: young audiences, raised on 'The Lord of the Rings' and deeper universes, do not feel the same nostalgia for the echoes of Kurosawa and World War II that their parents did. For them, Star Wars is what 'The Guerrero del Antifaz' is to boomers: a relic.

Added to this is the perception, voiced by some, that Disney tried to impose a social agenda that audiences reject. While the antiestéticature films stumble, animated series like 'Clone Wars' or 'Rebels' hold their own. Irony of ironies: in 2027 Ryan Gosling lands in the franchise under Shawn Levy, with a script by Jonathan Tropper, promising a story free of ties to the past or legacy characters. Perhaps it is the reboot the franchise needs; perhaps, the final nail in the coffin. Time, and the box office, will tell.