Why The Mandalorian And Grogu Is A Box Office Failure

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, the Star Wars saga was a reliable and bankable box office property. Unfortunately, "The Mandalorian And Grogu" looks like it's going to be a "Solo: A Star Wars Saga"–style bomb for Disney. Want to know why the flick failed? Click our video above and learn about everything that went wrong with the new motion picture.

Audiences may love watching the adventures of Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his adopted son on the small screen, but while families were sold on trekking to the theater for a new chapter of their tale writ large, it was apparently a non-starter for many other demographics. It doesn't help that the big screen continuation of the story doesn't do anything to actually further the show's plotline — much of the show's baseline status quo is reset by the ending of "The Mandalorian and Grogu." Turning this into a nothing-special one-off and stuffing it with characters of little import to the main Star Wars continuity likely turned off laypeople to the franchise and contributed to the low box office turnout. 

Other factors seem to include a combination of franchise fatigue, lore discontinuity — even though it contains a major connection to the original "Star Wars" movie – and anger at Disney for its handling of the brand. While this might seem to leave Din and Grogu's potential as moneymakers for the Star Wars universe in question, there's one good reason why their time as flagship characters for the series is likely to continue.

There's one important reason why "Star Wars: The Mandalorian And Grogu" might not be the end of the line for this particular branch of the universe — it makes a whole lot of merchandising dough. As of this writing, the Star Wars franchise pulls in over $1 billion a year in merchandising royalties alone. Grogu's cute mug sold 13 million toys during the first two seasons of "The Mandalorian," and the show has continued to be lucrative for Disney in multiple ways. In short: kids are likely to keep on loving the little green guy even after this misstep recedes in the rear-view mirror.

It also looks like "The Mandalorian" will continue to impact the larger Star Wars world; in both Disney parks, the "Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run" attraction has been updated with a Grogu-centered mission. Between that and a stellar merchandising campaign that seems to have successfully sold the world on Grogu-branded ice cream shakes and Din-approved cars, don't be surprised if you see more of these two — even if their big screen debut underperformed. Want to hear more about why "Star Wars: The Mandalorian And Grogu" didn't connect with viewers? Click the video above. Want to decide for yourself if it's an unworthy bust? The movie is now playing in theaters.