Dave Filoni’s approach—treating Star Wars like a deep, character-rich story scrapbook—has thrilled fans for more than a decade. But “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” his first big test as Lucasfilm president and chief creative officer, opened to the weakest live-ac
The first clue arrived fast, before the movie could settle into comfort. “The Mandalorian and Grogu” opened to $163 million worldwide and $81 million domestic over the long Memorial Day weekend—numbers that looked respectable on paper. But the drop that followed wasn’t.
In its second weekend, the film slid 70%, landing on a $25 million haul and dropping to the No. 3 slot. By weekend three. it was entirely knocked out of the top five at the domestic box office. taking home only $10 million—again behind “Backrooms” and “Obsession. ” and also behind newcomers “Scary Movie. ” “Masters of the Universe” and “The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act.”.
The scale of that tumble matters more because it doesn’t match what Disney-era “Star Wars” has taught audiences to expect. In the Disney era, Filoni’s feature is the only “Star Wars” film to get knocked out of the No. 1 slot at the box office after only one weekend. It’s also the only Disney “Star Wars” movie to spend just two weekends in the domestic top five. With that trajectory. the film is likely to become the lowest-grossing “Star Wars” movie of all time—outside of Filoni’s pre-Disney animated “Clone Wars” film. which had a significantly smaller budget.
The fallout lands in a timing that feels almost cruel for someone stepping into the biggest job in the franchise. Filoni has spent more than a decade shaping “Star Wars” stories across shows like “Star Wars: The Clone Wars. ” “Star Wars: Rebels” and “The Mandalorian. ” building narratives around characters that fans feel are “deep cuts” rather than throwaways. Now. as Lucasfilm president and chief creative officer. he’s facing the hard question the box office has already started answering: can that toy-box storytelling travel from the living room to the movie theater—and keep younger audiences there?.
Dan Zehr. host of the “Coffee With Kenobi” podcast and an author who has written books for Lucasfilm. put the bind plainly. “The current state of ‘Star Wars’ is complicated,” Zehr told TheWrap. “On the one hand, we are getting a lot of content in different media (film, streaming, animation, etc.). However, the results have been mixed.”.
A Lucasfilm representative declined to comment on this story.
The numbers point to a split the franchise has been struggling to heal: younger viewers are not showing up for theaters the way competitors are. “The Mandalorian and Grogu” opened with a nearly identical opening weekend to “Backrooms” and “Obsession. ” but their audience makeup diverged in the key places—age.
For “Backrooms,” 86% of the opening weekend audience was under the age of 35, with 44% younger than 21. “The Mandalorian and Grogu” had an under-25 audience share of just 27%.
It’s a mismatch that becomes harder to ignore in a moment when younger moviegoers have been driving theatrical excitement. “Masters of the Universe” hit similar turbulence too: it received solid reviews, but failed to ignite audiences outside its Gen X core.
That contrast lands awkwardly for Filoni because his previous work is tied to younger fans. The animated era—built to reward attention—has been part of his calling card. “The Clone Wars” in particular has staying power in the data around streaming.
According to Nielsen. the series that got Filoni his start in the franchise was the 10th most-streamed title on May 4. 2025. even though it aired its finale exactly five years earlier on May 4. 2020. Nielsen’s first-quarter data also shows that “The Clone Wars” is the most streamed “Star Wars” title for Gen Z. Nielsen also reports that Gen Alpha and Baby Boomers prefer “The Mandalorian,” while Millennials and Gen X prefer “Andor.”.
That divide between “Andor” and the Filoni/Favreau projects is stark—especially because “Andor” built a reputation for seriousness and consequences on television.
Zehr’s comments carry that same tension. He argued that Din Djarin and Grogu are “absolutely a logical next step” in taking the saga in a new direction. particularly with the Skywalker storyline wrapped up in 2019 with “The Rise of Skywalker.” But he also said “The Mandalorian and Grogu” didn’t match the storytelling level that Disney+ reached across its three seasons. “Mando. in particular. is a nuanced character with a lot to say about identity. culture. family dynamics. adaptability and responsibility — but unfortunately. that was not clear in the new film. ” Zehr said.
He wasn’t alone in the underlying question. In the same “Star Wars” conversation. a quote from “Andor” Season 2 screenwriter Tom Bissell has resurfaced. recounting advice showrunner Tony Gilroy gave when he joined the show. Bissell recalled Gilroy saying: “A lot of times. when you’re working on IP storytelling. your impulse is to open the toy box and start playing with all the toys.”.
Bissell continued: “You should try to resist that, and what you should do is leave more toys in the toy box than were there when you got there — resisting the impulse to be a child and instead think more like a storyteller who’s adding to the world rather than taking from it.”
Zehr pointed to how that strategy worked for Gilroy’s “Andor,” which became the most well-received “Star Wars” series and earned 22 Emmy nominations with five wins.
“Action and special effects are an essential part of the ‘Star Wars’ universe. but fans want new additions to the lore so we can learn about these wonderful characters. I am not sure why the new film took a safer approach. but my hope is that the powers that be can find a way to create material that is poignant for both old and new fans alike. ” Zehr said. “I will always want more ‘Star Wars’ content. but I am much more enamored of stories that need to be told because they teach us more about the world and ourselves.”.
Intentionally or not, Gilroy’s toy-box warning rubs against the exact ethos Filoni and Favreau brought to Disney+. On Disney+, their approach has often made fans feel like they were returning to a world full of hidden doors.
Parrot Analytics data shows that three of the four most in-demand season premieres across “Star Wars” and Marvel series on Disney+ belonged to “The Mandalorian.” The first season of the show had nearly 100 times greater demand than the average TV series. Subsequent seasons stayed popular, though they faced diminishing returns.
Nielsen also reports that a greater percentage of people watched “Star Wars” live-action movies than live-action series in 2025. despite the lack of new features since 2019—suggesting theaters can still pull attention. But the way “The Mandalorian” trained viewers to expect big-budget, low-stakes adventures at home may have changed the deal. When Filoni and Favreau’s “Mandalorian” movie arrived. filled with unnamed characters and a lack of human faces. audiences seemed to accept the idea that the franchise’s next stop could wait for the couch.
The movie’s own production ties it tightly to Filoni’s earlier roots. The feature was directed by Jon Favreau. Favreau and Filoni wrote it alongside Noah Kloor. While Filoni was not Lucasfilm president when “The Mandalorian and Grogu” went into production—the movie was a Kennedy green light—its story reaches back to the earliest “Clone Wars” days.
Rotta the Hutt, son of Jabba, was introduced as the MacGuffin in the “Clone Wars” movie. Rotta returns as the MacGuffin again in “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” now old, buff and voiced by Jeremy Allen White.
Still, the franchise’s question now isn’t whether Filoni understands “Star Wars.” It’s whether his strengths translate to a mass theatrical moment.
Filoni’s rise was built on the opposite of spectacle alone. When the offer to join “Star Wars” first came. he was working on “Avatar: The Last Airbender.” He received a call from Lucasfilm asking if he wanted to talk about working with George Lucas. The story goes that it took convincing before Filoni believed it wasn’t a joke aimed at crushing a “Star Wars” diehard’s dreams.
He later took the meeting. the job. directed the 2008 animated feature “Star Wars: The Clone Wars. ” and shepherded its TV continuation. The show gave larger roles to characters like Plo Koon and Wot Tambor. and developed the Clone Troopers beyond being faceless masses from the prequel trilogy. Ahsoka Tano is among the most significant “Star Wars” characters to debut in animation before leaping to live-action.
That leap started with “The Mandalorian,” where Filoni directed the show’s first episode. He directed three episodes and wrote four across the three seasons of “The Mandalorian. ” bringing characters like Ahsoka and Boba Fett into the fold. He also directed and co-wrote one episode of the sister series “The Book of Boba Fett. ” featuring the first on-screen interaction between Ahsoka and Luke Skywalker. rendered as young Mark Hamill through an AI voice tool and deepfake technology.
Filoni’s role in the Disney+ era became even broader as he shepherded his own live-action show with “Ahsoka,” created a number of animated series before taking over for Kathleen Kennedy as president and CCO in January.
Nielsen’s breakdown—Gen Z and Gen Alpha clustering around certain titles—shows what the franchise has already been learning for some time: audience expectations are not uniform. They separate by age and by what each group comes to the screen hoping to feel.
And right now, “The Mandalorian and Grogu” looks like it’s losing the exact audience that many recent theatrical challengers are capturing.
Looking forward, Filoni’s slate doesn’t make the uncertainty go away. A previously announced Filoni-directed “MandoVerse” feature—starring characters like The Mandalorian. Ahsoka and Grand Admiral Thrawn. introduced in pre-Disney “Star Wars” novels before being canonized by Filoni in “Rebels” and “Ahsoka”—is still in play. but its status is unknown.
Next year will see the release of the Ryan Gosling-led “Star Wars: Starfighter,” an original idea directed by Shawn Levy and greenlit by Kathleen Kennedy, with plot details under wraps.
Kennedy’s implied exit positioning also suggests a trilogy of films from Simon Kinberg seems the closest to materializing out of a long list of announced-but-unmade “Star Wars” features. This would reunite Filoni with Kinberg, his “Rebels” co-creator, with a hit-and-miss franchise track record.
For Zehr, that future has to pivot toward what makes audiences feel the story has moved, not just expanded. “For the future. it’s all about telling bold new stories set in this universe that push the boundaries of story. character. effects and action in incredible new ways. which is exactly what ‘Star Wars’ has been known for. ” Zehr said.
When TheWrap previously reported on Filoni’s tenure upon taking his new position. an insider shared that some at Lucasfilm fear that the creator’s conventional and cartoonish stories may not be the right direction for the franchise overall. The reception of “The Mandalorian and Grogu. ” a fun and light adventure without narrative consequence for the titular characters. is being read by many as a direct reflection of that concern.
Filoni, for all the math and debate now swirling around him, remains a torchbearer of “Star Wars” lore. His animated shows have long felt like an invitation to fans who study background prequel characters and Ralph McQuarrie concept art the way some people prepare for an exam.
But this is the first time his instincts have been measured as Lucasfilm’s president in the one place where “Star Wars” has always been tested hardest: a theater with limited patience. “The Mandalorian and Grogu” was supposed to be the moment that translated the Disney+ toy box to a bigger stage. Instead. it delivered a lesson—fast. blunt. and loud enough that the franchise’s future now looks less certain than it did a few weekends ago.
Dave Filoni Lucasfilm The Mandalorian and Grogu Star Wars box office Nielsen Gen Z Gen Alpha The Clone Wars Andor Tony Gilroy Tony Bissell Kathleen Kennedy Jon Favreau