The Mandalorian and Grogu took the top spot at the box office with a solid, if not spectacular, opening weekend.
The Mandalorian and Grogu opened to $81 million for the three-day weekend and an estimated $102 million for the four-day holiday weekend. That puts it slightly below Solo: A Star Wars Story, which opened at $84.4 million, making it the lowest-opening Star Wars movie since Disney bought the franchise. Unadjusted for inflation, it’s ahead of The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Star Wars, and The Clone Wars, but if you adjust for inflation, most of those films, especially the Prequel trilogy, are ahead of it except for Return of the Jedi, Star Wars, The Clone Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. Release structures in the 70s and 80s were drastically different from those of today, though, so it’s not an apples-to-oranges comparison. Worldwide, The Mandalorian and Grogu have made $144 million. The movie got an A- CinemaScore, which seems to indicate that most people who attended were happy with what they got, and we’ll have to see what the drop-off is this coming weekend.
Obsession continues to be a phenomenon in second place, with a basically unheard-of increase in business from last weekend’s opening, jumping 30% to another $23.9 million. That indicates white-hot word-of-mouth that is making it a must-see horror hit. It has made $54.2 million domestically and $75.4 million worldwide. If it keeps up this pace, it could cross over $100 million domestically, which would give Universal and Blumhouse an absurd return on their investment.
Michael continued to hold well in third place, dropping only 21% from last weekend, when it returned to the top spot, and made another $20.7 million. It has made over $314 million domestically and over $783 million worldwide.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 and The Sheep Detectives rounded out the top 5, with The Sheep Detectives only dropping 6% from last weekend. The Devil Wears Prada 2 is close to topping $200 million domestically, while The Sheep Detectives has made just over $43 million.
Passenger opened up just outside the top 5 in sixth place with $8.7 million. Unlike Obsession, with its tiny budget of $1 million, Passenger cost at least $15 million. It has made $13.5 million worldwide. Opening against a Star Wars movie and with a massive horror hit already in the marketplace, Passenger seems like it might exit the top 10 fairly quickly.
I Love Boosters opened in eighth place with $3.7 million. If you compare it to Boots Riley’s previous movie, Sorry to Bother You, that movie made over $4 million in about half as many theaters in its first weekend of “wide” release. The movie got a B on CinemaScore, which is more of a mixed reaction, but it received rapturous reviews from critics.
