By Janet H. Cho

Walt Disney topped the holiday weekend domestic box office draw, with Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu projected to haul in more than $100 million over the four-day weekend, but even that won't touch last year's blockbuster totals.

The latest Star Wars adventure grossed an estimated $100 million over the four-day weekend, part of an estimated $222 million in domestic weekend box office sales for the industry through Monday, according to Comscore.

The film was expected to sell another $63 million internationally, for a $163 million global opening weekend, Comscore said.

But ticket sales for Mandalorian and Grogu and this weekend's other movies are expected to fall about 33% short of last year's record, when Lilo & Stitch and Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning delivered the biggest-ever domestic Memorial Day weekend at the movies.

Still, Mandalorian and Grogu powered "a very solid" holiday weekend, says Comscore's head of marketplace trends Paul Dergarabedian said.

Memorial Day 2025 cleared more than $330 million in domestic ticket sales, 55% of which came from Lilo & Stitch. "No one is anticipating that level of performance, but it seems like spirits are rather high given the strength of the year-to-date box office," he said.

Mandalorian and Grogu, directed by Jon Favreau and starring Pedro Pascal, Sigourney Weaver, and Jeremy Allen White as characters from the Disney+ series, is "this year's sole tentpole, Memorial Day weekend release," making comparisons with last year "extremely difficult," said Eric Handler, senior media and entertainment analyst for Roth.

Although Mandalorian and Grogu's early buzz has been mixed and opening weekend expectations are on the softer side, audiences looking for a good movie often embrace films underestimated by critics and analysts, Dergarabedian said.

This year, Hollywood has generated an estimated $3.46 billion in domestic ticket sales through Monday, up 12.5% compared with the same point in 2025, according to Comscore.

That's because "this crop of incredibly strong holdovers" that opened weeks ago are still selling well, Dergarabedian said.

Universal Pictures' and Focus Features' R-rated horror thriller Obsession sold an estimated $33.3 million domestically in its second weekend through Monday, and has grossed $60.7 million globally.

Lionsgate's Michael , the biopic about Michael Jackson that opened April 24, sold another $26.9 million over the four-day weekend, and is expected to surpass $321.1 million in domestic box office sales through Monday. It has grossed an estimated $468.1 million internationally, bringing its global gross to $788.0 million worldwide, according to studio estimates.

Disney and 20th Century Studios' The Devil Wears Prada 2 , the sequel to the 2006 hit movie that kicked off the summer movie season on May 1, sold $16.5 million in its fourth weekend, pushing its estimated domestic box office total past $200 million through Monday. Its estimated global take of $604.1 million has already outperformed the original The Devil Wears Prada's $327 million global haul.

Adam Aron, CEO of AMC Entertainment Holdings, one of the world's largest movie theater companies, with about 850 theaters and 9,600 screens worldwide, said the summer moviegoing season is just getting started.

Box office sales thus far are "a powerful indicator also of what is immediately ahead, as blockbuster movie after blockbuster movie after blockbuster movie is set to dazzle moviegoers throughout the coming summer months," he said. "We look forward to welcoming tens and tens of millions of moviegoers to our theaters all summer long."

Handler said June's box office prospects look bright, with Sony Pictures' Masters of the Universe and Paramount's Scary Movie both opening June 5, followed by Universal's Steven Spielberg-directed Disclosure Day opening June 12.

Then comes Disney's Toy Story 5 (June 19), Warner Bros.' Supergirl (June 26), and Paramount's Jackass 5 (June 26).

Write to Janet H. Cho at janet.cho@dowjones.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 25, 2026 17:22 ET (21:22 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.