Star Wars fans have been waiting quite a long time to see a galaxy far, far away make its return to the big screen. However, as The Mandalorian and Grogu hit the 2026 movie calendar as this year’s Memorial Day tentpole — taking the No. 1 spot with $82 million from Friday to Sunday — its achievement was somewhat overshadowed by the horror flick Obsession, which saw an increase in ticket sales over its second weekend in release.
The wish fulfillment horror flick from Curry Barker brought in $22.4 million domestically from May 22-24 after opening to $16.1 million, which itself was more than double the projections. It’s nearly unprecedented for a movie that’s already in wide release to see a 30% increase in its second weekend.
Take a look at the chart below, and then we’ll break down all of the Memorial Day weekend fun.
Weekend Box Office: May 22-24, 2026
* denotes new release
TITLE | WEEKEND TOTAL | DOMESTIC TOTAL | LAST WEEK | THEATERS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1. The Mandalorian and Grogu* | $81,960,000 | $81,960,000 | N/A | 4,300 |
2. Obsession | $22,400,000 | $52,784,000 | 3 | 2,655 |
3. Michael | $20,010,000 | $314,220,000 | 1 | 3,306 |
4. The Devil Wears Prada 2 | $12,593,000 | $196,118,726 | 2 | 3,300 |
5. The Sheep Detectives | $8,982,000 | $43,519,000 | 5 | 3,207 |
6. Passenger* | $8,700,000 | $8,700,000 | N/A | 2,534 |
7. Mortal Kombat II | $6,170,000 | $72,766,785 | 4 | 2,726 |
8. I Love Boosters* | $3,723,000 | $3,723,000 | N/A | 1,750 |
9. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie | $3,170,000 | $423,638,000 | 6 | 2,005 |
10. Project Hail Mary | $2,717,000 | $339,610,000 | 7 | 1,321 |
The Mandalorian And Grogu Officially Becomes Star Wars’ Lowest Debut
Pedro Pascal took his Star Wars character to the big screen, and with some help from “Baby Yoda,” The Mandalorian and Grogu opened to $81.9 million over its first three days, per The Numbers, and is projected to finish the four-day weekend at just under $100 million. This puts it on the lower end of projections and confirms fears of it having the franchise’s lowest opening weekend ever.
Solo: A Star Wars Story from 2018 previously held the record, opening to $84 million in the U.S. and Canada before finishing its run with just $393 million. Its budget, however, was in the range of $300 million, while The Mandalorian and Grogu only cost around $165 million.
I’d say Jon Favreau’s latest film has a better chance of breaking even (or at least losing less money) than Solo, but for a franchise that’s used to seeing ticket sales reach the billion-dollar point, its theatrical run is going to need to have some long legs to not be seen as a failure.
Fans Are Obsessed With Obsession
Someone needs to track down Curry Barker and see if he’s got a One Wish Willow of his own, with the sorcery that Obsession has performed on the box office.
After debuting last week at No. 3, the horror flick climbed a spot by increasing its ticket sales by an astounding 30% weekend over weekend. That’s the third-biggest second-weekend jump ever for a movie that played in more than 2,000 theaters and didn’t debut on or around Christmas. (Sound of Freedom and Mother’s Day were the others, per Scott Mendelson.)
Obsession’s domestic pull now stands at an estimated $52.8 million (with another $6K projected to come Monday). When you add the $21 million it’s gotten from international markets, Obsession has made approximately $74 million globally — a huge win for Focus Features, which reportedly paid $15 million to release the movie that was made for under $1 million.
How Critics And Audiences Ranked This Week’s New Releases
Obsession’s success proved unfortunate for this week’s new horror offering Passenger, especially with that flick’s tepid reviews. Let’s see how everyone ranked these new releases:
RANK/TITLE | RT CRITICS | RT AUDIENCE | CINEMASCORE |
|---|---|---|---|
1. The Mandalorian and Grogu | 61% | 89% | A- |
6. Passenger | 44% | 53% | B- |
8. I Love Boosters | 92% | 75% | B |
How Memorial Day 2026 Compares To Past Holiday Weekends
Last year was certainly one for the record books, with Lilo & Stitch combining with Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning for a four-day total of $326.7 million, per Deadline. This year put up a good number, comparatively. Let’s take a look at the four-day domestic totals of post-COVID Memorial Day four-day weekends (and the movies that led them):
- 2026: $221 million (The Mandalorian and Grogu)
- 2025: $327 million (Lilo & Stitch)
- 2024: $132 million (Furiosa)
- 2023: $204 million (The Little Mermaid)
- 2022: $224 million (Top Gun: Maverick)
Will Obsession Continue To Affect New Horror Releases?
After this week’s surprising numbers from Obsession, I have to wonder if the upcoming horror movie Backrooms might lose some of its audience to that as well. Deadline projects that the creepypasta-inspired film coming from A24 will see around $20 million, while Box Office Theory predicted earlier this month the numbers would be between $25 million and $33 million.
Comedian Nate Bargatze, meanwhile, could offer some counter programming to those who don’t like Star Wars or horror. His comedy The Breadwinner is estimated to make between $19 million and $27 million, while Brendan Fraser’s D-Day thriller Pressure is reportedly looking at something between $3.5 million and $7 million.
Other Notes To Wrap The Weekend
- Michael’s quest to overtake Bohemian Rhapsody as the biggest global music biopic of all time continues, and after four weekends, the Michael Jackson movie holds a global total of $782.4 million. Remember, the number to beat is $911 million.
- Is God Is dropped out of the Top 10 in its second weekend, earning $886,000, which is a 60% drop from its first three days.
- My family will be adding to the final Monday box office numbers. Looking for a good horror movie to see with our teen daughter, I cast my vote for Passenger, while my husband leaned more toward Obsession. I guess this week’s box office made that decision for us, and man I hate to lose.
I’m really excited to see what The Mandalorian and Grogu does in its second weekend, and your guess is as good as mine regarding Obsession’s third weekend in release. Will these two continue to dominate, or could we get a little shakeup? I’ll be back here next Sunday to talk it all out!
