The Mandalorian and Grogu's opening box office is the worst in Star Wars history

The first Star Wars film of 2019 opened within forecasts, and this is not a particularly impressive figure.

According to The Wrap, the blockbuster earned $82 million in the United States in its first weekend. The extended Memorial Day weekend will be $102 million. The start was worse than "Han Solo," which had $84.4 million in three days and $103 million in four on the same dates in 2018.

The Mandalorian and Grogu have the worst start in the history of a live-action Star Wars movie. Only the animated "Clone Wars" by Dave Filoni had a weaker start.

Globally, the film had $165 million in its first extended weekend, beating Han Solo ($155 million). If the pace of collections is similar to that of the spin-off about Solo, the final collections will be in the region of $400 million.

The film has an A- rating from audiences in the CinemaScore poll, which is on par with the successfulThe Devil Wears Prada 2andGuns. Positive feedback can help collect well in subsequent weeks.

The film cost $160 million to produce, and marketing cost at least $100 million. Disney will need $500-$600 million in worldwide box office receipts to turn a profit. But the box office may not be that important for this film.

Why The Mandalorian and Grogu is profitable anyway

The seriesThe Mandalorianon Disney+ brought the company more than $1 billion in merchandise sales alone. Based on this,The Mandalorian and Grogucan be seen as a promotional tool for toys, Disneyland and even a streaming service. A Disney representative indirectly confirmed this in an interview:

The impact this will have on Disney+ is critical to us. Not only could this end up hitting the service and racking up tens of millions of hours watched, but it could also impact the first three seasons ofThe Mandalorian.And we see that this is already helping not only The Mandalorian, but the entire Star Wars catalogue.

Last year, children were in no hurry to buy toys based on "Thunderbolts", so the box office gross of $382.4 million was perceived as a disappointment. However,Star Warsis a completely different matter, and Disney relies more on toys than on box office revenue.

Even if The Mandalorian and Grogu grosses less than $500 million, the sale of merchandise will cover all costs. A bigger test for the franchise will come withStar Wars: Starfighternext year. It will be more difficult to sell toys, so its success will depend on the collections.

It is worth noting that Disney has still not been able to recoup the costs of purchasing Lucasfilm. This is $4 billion.