The Mandalorian powers what is shaping up to be one of the strongest Memorial Day box office weekends the industry has seen in years, and Hollywood is not complaining one bit.
Studios have spent months crossing their fingers for a holiday frame that truly delivered, and this one finally came through. A Star Wars return that genuinely felt like an event, a horror film that nobody predicted would blow up the way it did, and a music biopic that keeps quietly rewriting the record books all made this one of the more satisfying holiday weekends in recent memory.
According to Variety, final Memorial Day numbers will not be confirmed until Monday and Tuesday, but early projections already have Hollywood in a noticeably good mood heading into summer.
The Mandalorian Powers the Holiday Box Office at No. 1
For the first time in nearly seven years, there was a brand new Star Wars movie in theaters. That alone felt like a moment worth noting.
Through Sunday, The Mandalorian and Grogu is sitting at an estimated $82 million and holding the No. 1 position. Factor in Memorial Day Monday and the Mandalorian holiday box office haul is tracking toward somewhere around $102 million for the full frame. Not a bad way to make your big screen comeback.
Context matters here though.
The studio spent several years building the franchise through Disney+ rather than the multiplex. The Mandalorian, Andor, Ahsoka, and The Book of Boba Fett all did their part to keep Star Wars alive between theatrical releases, but a real lingering question hung over everything during that stretch.
Was Star Wars still capable of being a theatrical event?
This weekend offered a pretty convincing answer.
No, the totals are not touching the peaks of the sequel trilogy years, but that era is not the right measuring stick anymore. The theatrical business today looks completely different than it did in 2015 or 2019, and clearing $100 million over a holiday frame right now is genuinely something to feel good about, especially for a franchise that has been off theater screens for so long.
Worth noting too: audience reception for this one is running considerably warmer than it did for Solo: A Star Wars Story, which launched on a similar Memorial Day weekend before audiences walked away.
Jon Favreau is in the director’s chair, and Pedro Pascal is back as Din Djarin with Grogu along for what feels like the most ambitious thing these two characters have tackled on any screen. Whatever questions existed about this one before opening weekend, the box office has answered them pretty definitively.
The Mandalorian Powers the Holiday Weekend as Obsession Shocks Hollywood
The Mandalorian powers its way to the top of the chart, but the most genuinely jaw-dropping story may belong to Obsession.
The horror film brought in an estimated $22 million in weekend two. That figure is not just strong on its own. It is actually running ahead of its opening frame, which is something that almost never happens with wide releases. Most films take a meaningful hit in their second weekend. This one grew.
According to Variety, Obsession is tracking toward more than $58 million domestically once Memorial Day Monday closes out, and it has done that in just two weekends. Word of mouth is doing all the heavy lifting here.
The film comes from Curry Barker, a YouTube creator who made the jump to theatrical filmmaking, which makes the whole thing feel even more unexpected. Horror continues to be one of the most dependable genres going right now, particularly when a film catches on the way this one has.
Michael Keeps Marching Quietly Toward History
The newer titles grabbed most of the weekend conversation, but Michael has been doing something quietly impressive for weeks now and this holiday frame is no exception.
The Michael Jackson biopic earned another estimated $20 million through the standard weekend and is projecting toward roughly $25.7 million once Memorial Day Monday numbers come in.
Globally the film is past $788 million now, which puts Bohemian Rhapsody and the all time music biopic record squarely in its sights. Holding this well this deep into a theatrical run just does not happen much anymore, especially with streaming sitting right there as an easy alternative for most moviegoers.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 Continues Its Strong Run
Nostalgia has been a real driving force at the box office this year, and The Devil Wears Prada 2 remains one of the clearest examples of that.
The sequel brought in another estimated $12.6 million through the weekend and looks on track to hit roughly $16.5 million by the end of the holiday frame. Four weekends in and the film has already crossed $600 million globally. Audiences were clearly more than ready to return to Miranda Priestly and Runway Magazine.
The Sheep Detectives Rounds Out a Solid Top Five
The Sheep Detectives keeps doing exactly what a good family film should do: hold.
The mystery comedy earned another estimated $8.9 million over the weekend with a minimal drop from the previous frame. That kind of staying power is what studios are always hoping for with family titles, films that build steadily across multiple weekends rather than burning through their audience all at once. The Mandalorian fuels overall confidence in the summer marketplace, proving that when the right movie shows up, audiences will absolutely meet it there.
Check back with us tomorrow for the full Memorial Day weekend box office numbers and updated totals.
You May Also Like:
Credit: Source link