Why The Mandalorian And Grogu Is A Box Office Failure

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0:00The Mandalorian and Grogu may have

0:02blasted off to the big screen, but the

0:04first Star Wars film in 7 years isn't

0:06making nearly as much money as they used

0:08to. Are the franchise's days of breaking

0:10the box office over for good? Let's find

0:13out.

0:14Remember when Star Wars used to mean

0:15something? Star Wars used to mean

0:17massive lines at the movie theater,

0:19dressing up in costumes, and enjoying a

0:21collective love of the galaxy far, far

0:24away. Each film was nothing less than a

0:26cinematic event. So, what happened? In a

0:29word, Disney happened. Star Wars was a

0:32money-making merch machine long before

0:34the House of Mouse got the rights to the

0:36series, but Disney expanded the

0:38franchise in a way that made each

0:40installment just a little less special

0:43than the last. We went from two

0:45trilogies and The Clone Wars to three

0:47trilogies, multiple spin-off movies, and

0:49so many TV shows that it's hard to keep

0:52track. Not even the popularity of the

0:54first Star Wars Disney+ show was enough

0:57for the opening weekend of The

0:58Mandalorian and Grogu to reach the new

1:00series standard set by Rey and Kylo Ren.

1:03As cute as Grogu is, the newest Star

1:05Wars movie's opening weekend box office

1:07was one of the weakest of the entire

1:09Disney era. Only Solo: A Star Wars Story

1:13made a comparably low amount in its

1:15first few days, and that's the only film

1:17in the franchise that's outright bombed.

1:20Thankfully for Disney, The Mandalorian

1:22and Grogu has a budget half the size of

1:24Solo's, but that doesn't mean that the

1:26company is satisfied by the movie's

1:28reception.

1:30OH, THE HORROR BABY.

1:31OH, THE HORROR BABY. IT'S A BAD BABY.

1:34It's easy to forget how big of a deal

1:35The Mandalorian was when it first came

1:37out in 2019. Star Wars had existed in

1:40the television space for a number of

1:42years, but only in the form of animated

1:45series like The Clone Wars and Rebels.

1:47This was the first time that a Star Wars

1:49show was in live action, and when Grogu

1:51was revealed at the end of the first

1:53episode, we all knew that we were in for

1:55something special.

1:56>> [music]

1:56>> 2019 was also the year that The Rise of

1:59Skywalker hit theaters to a much less

2:01positive [music] reception. Since then,

2:03Star Wars has been nothing but shows and

2:05the occasional video game. Movie

2:07characters like Obi-Wan Kenobi, Boba

2:10Fett, and Cassian Andor have been

2:12relegated to the small screen to varying

2:14degrees of success. Now, we finally have

2:16another movie after 7 years, but for the

2:19first time in Star Wars history, you

2:21need to watch multiple seasons of

2:22television for the full context. At

2:24least, that's the impression that a lot

2:26of people have. Even though The

2:28Mandalorian and Grogu works fine as a

2:30standalone story, the fact that it's

2:32basically a feature-length episode of

2:34the show just adds insult

2:36[clears throat] to injury for anyone who

2:37only watches Star Wars in theaters. I

2:40told you that was a bad idea.

2:42To see how rough a time Disney has had

2:44integrating movies or streaming shows,

2:46all we have to do is look next door to

2:48the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Some of

2:50the MCU's worst box office does in

2:52recent years have been films that

2:54require a Disney Plus subscription to

2:56understand.

2:57>> [music]

2:57>> The Marvels, Captain America: Brave New

2:59World, and Thunderbolts all

3:01underperformed, which wasn't never a

3:04good sign for The Mandalorian and Grogu.

3:06There will always be fans that watch

3:08everything no matter what size screen

3:09it's on, but some more casual viewers

3:12felt inclined to stay home this time

3:14around.

3:15It's not just going from the TV to the

3:17big screen is an uphill battle. It's

3:19also that The Mandalorian already had

3:21its time in the sun. The first season

3:23was novel and exciting, like a western,

3:25but with a whole lot more aliens. With

3:28Pedro Pascal in the lead role and Grogu

3:30as a series' adorable mascot, the future

3:33seemed bright. Unfortunately, the show

3:35only lasted two great seasons before it

3:38largely lost its way. And if there's

3:40anyone who knows how important it is to

3:42have a way, it's Mando.

3:44It's not like The Mandalorian season 3

3:46was the worst thing that Star Wars has

3:48ever produced, but there was definitely

3:50a dip in quality along with some

3:52questionable creative choices. Some

3:54viewers thought that the season paid too

3:56much attention to Bo-Katan Kryze and not

3:58enough [music] to Din Djarin. Others

4:00were annoyed that major plot

4:02developments for the main characters

4:03>> [music]

4:03>> took place in The Book of Boba Fett. If

4:06The Mandalorian and Grogu would come out

4:08in, say, summer of 2022, its [music]

4:11opening weekend probably would have been

4:12a whole lot better. Not only did The

4:15Mandalorian season 3 change the way that

4:17people think about the show as a whole,

4:19but it's also been more than 3 years

4:21since the series finale premiered. In

4:23the meantime, Star Wars fans were

4:24treated to some of the best television

4:26in the franchise so far with season 2 of

4:28Andor. The Mandalorian just isn't the

4:31new hotness anymore, and unfortunately

4:33for Disney, [music] the end of Cassian

4:35Andor's story has already been told.

4:38When the sequel trilogy kicked off with

4:39The Force Awakens, one of its biggest

4:41selling points was the return of

4:43characters we grew up with after decades

4:45away. Han Solo, Princess Leia,

4:47Chewbacca, everyone knows those names

4:50even if they've somehow never seen a

4:52Star Wars movie before. That's helped

4:53episode 7 become the highest-grossing

4:56[music] film in the franchise.

4:57Let's compare that to the familiar faces

4:59in The Mandalorian and Grogu. Aside from

5:02the two title characters, we have names

5:04like Zeb Orrelios, Rotta the Hutt, and

5:07Embo. If you ask your mother who Embo

5:09is, do you think she'll know the answer?

5:11Mm, probably not. But show her a picture

5:14of Luke Skywalker and there's a 90%

5:16chance she'll recognize him. I like

5:18those odds. You've probably seen plenty

5:21of jokes and memes about there being

5:22hundreds of uniquely named Star Wars

5:24characters. It's one of the things that

5:26gives the series its special charm.

5:28There's nothing wrong at all with giving

5:30some of these characters a turn in the

5:31spotlight, but you shouldn't be

5:33surprised when they don't make as much

5:35cash. Apologies to Dave Filoni, but you

5:37can't expect people to get excited about

5:39Trapper Wolf as they do for R2-D2 and

5:42C-3PO.

5:44If you're making a movie, one of the

5:45most important elements to get right is

5:47its name. George Lucas knows how

5:50important a good movie name is. His

5:52oddly titled debut, THX 1138, wasn't a

5:56box office success. And his second film,

5:59American Graffiti, might have been

6:00called Goodbye Burger City or Ask

6:03Wolfman Jack if Universal executives had

6:06gotten their way. Star Wars? Now, that's

6:09a snappy title. The Empire Strikes Back?

6:12Flawless. No notes. The Phantom Menace?

6:15The movie might have some problems, but

6:17its name isn't one of them.

6:18Unfortunately or fortunately, depending

6:20on who you ask, Lucas isn't calling the

6:22shots anymore. None of the titles of

6:24sequel trilogy movies were particularly

6:26horrible, but let's just be honest, The

6:29Mandalorian and Grogu is not a good name

6:31for a movie. Sure, it's accurate. It is

6:34indeed a movie about The Mandalorian and

6:35Grogu. That doesn't make its title

6:38exciting or fun to say. It's not that

6:40people don't want to see Grogu. We

6:42[music] do. We all love Grogu. I would

6:44like to see the baby.

6:47It's just that in hindsight, maybe Grogu

6:49wasn't the most marketable choice of a

6:51name for the most popular Star Wars

6:53character introduced in the past decade.

6:55There's a reason a lot of people still

6:57call him Baby Yoda, after all. We're not

7:00exactly sure what a better title for The

7:02Mandalorian and Grogu would be, but

7:04Disney probably could have afforded a

7:06few more focus groups to find it.

7:08Star Wars has mostly been critic proof

7:11as far as money is concerned. The Rise

7:13of Skywalker was panned as a poor

7:15conclusion to the sequel trilogy by

7:17plenty of professional reviewers, but

7:19that didn't stop it from making a

7:20billion dollars. Given the polarized

7:23reception to The Mandalorian and Grogu

7:25and its unfortunate opening weekend, one

7:28can't help but wonder if that era has

7:30come to an end.

7:31Some sizable publications don't hold

7:34back. Slate published a review titled We

7:37have a new worst Star Wars movie, with

7:39critic Sam Adams calling The Mandalorian

7:41and Grogu lifeless and half-hearted. He

7:44didn't stop there saying, "If The

7:46Mandalorian and Grogu isn't the worst

7:48Star Wars movie, and it might be, it's

7:51certainly the least the least essential,

7:53the least engaging, the least

7:54necessary." Over at The Atlantic, critic

7:57David Sims declared The Mandalorian and

7:59Grogu a Star Wars movie to fall asleep

8:02to.

8:03He called the film a nothing burger

8:04[music] and argued that the only

8:06character with something of a

8:07personality is Hugo, the Alden

8:10shopkeeper played by Martin Scorsese.

8:12Woah. For this price, I'll tell you

8:14whatever you want.

8:15>> I'm looking for a hat. Closed for the

8:16night. Thank you.

8:18Finally, Hoai Tran Duy at Inverse put

8:21out a review called The Mandalorian and

8:23Grogu is barely a movie. They likened

8:25the film to a filler arc in the middle

8:27of a season or one of those videos you

8:29half watch while waiting in line for the

8:31next Mandalorian-themed ride. The

8:34Mandalorian and Grogu had a Rotten

8:35Tomatoes critic score of 63% on the day

8:38of its release. That's not the worst

8:40percentage in the world, but take a look

8:42at the positive reviews and you'll see

8:43an ocean of three out of fives. Even if

8:46that's not terrible, it's middling. And

8:48when the box office is involved,

8:50sometimes there isn't much of a

8:52difference.

8:53With the long-awaited return of Star

8:55Wars to the big screen being a

8:56disappointment in multiple ways, the

8:58series is in a bit of a strange place.

9:00There are a number of Star Wars projects

9:02that Disney has announced, but the rocky

9:04reception of The Mandalorian and [music]

9:06Grogu calls into question whether or not

9:08they'll actually be any good or whether

9:11they'll come out at all. The next film

9:12planned is Shawn Levy's Star Wars

9:15Starfighter, a standalone story starring

9:17Ryan Gosling as a pilot that's slated

9:20for release in 2027. Casting a

9:22completely new set of characters is a

9:24gamble, but it could prove to be the

9:25shake-up that the series needs. Coming

9:27that same year on the other end of the

9:29spectrum is Ahsoka season 2, which is

9:32more aimed at pleasing long-time fans of

9:34the Star Wars universe. After that, it's

9:36hard to say. Given that there's no

9:38shortage of canceled movies and shows

9:41littered throughout the Disney era,

9:43there's been a talk of a new trilogy

9:44written and produced by Simon Kinberg.

9:47And if these spin-off movies keep

9:48failing to meet expectations, chances

9:50are that executives will want to put out

9:53episode 10 sooner rather than later. Can

9:55Star Wars turn things around and bring

9:57back the colossal [music] crowds,

9:59costume parties, and general excitement

10:01for the most popular space opera saga in

10:03human history? It won't be easy, but

10:06through the force, all things are

10:07possible.

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Why The Mandalorian And Grogu Is A Box Office Failure

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