Overview
- On Wednesday, Disney told investors that Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu and the live-action Moana underperformed the company’s box-office expectations during the quarter.
- The Mandalorian and Grogu finished its theatrical run at about $345.2 million worldwide and Moana at roughly $262–263 million, figures Disney provided to shareholders.
- Industry analysts estimate The Mandalorian needed roughly $500–600 million to break even and made it the lowest-grossing live-action Star Wars theatrical release, while Variety reported Moana’s reported $250 million production budget could leave a sizable theatrical shortfall.
- Disney executives highlighted a gap between critics and audiences, citing high audience scores for both films, and said the titles boosted retail sales, park attendance at Star Wars attractions, and gaming engagement and should perform well on Disney+.
- Executives including CEO Josh D’Amaro and CFO Hugh Johnston framed theatrical returns as one data point in a broader ‘flywheel’ and signaled no near-term change to the studio’s slate of remakes, sequels and Star Wars projects.