I was in my first year of university when Star Wars returned to the big screen with The Force Awakens back in 2015. After more than a decade of absence from the silver screen — Clone Wars does not count, sorry — the legendary sci-fi franchise returned with renewed vigour and trust.

Now owned by Disney after Lucasfilm was sold by George Lucas for billions, it felt like the House of Mouse wanted to reboot the cinematic universe for a new generation with a wondrously familiar tale that didn’t push the boat out so much as refit it with a fresh purpose.

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And for a while, Star Wars was on top of the world all over again. Whether you grew up with the original trilogy or the prequels, it felt like everyone was coming together to celebrate this franchise that was integral to our individual upbringings. For a little while, it felt special again.

But then came the divisive sequels, the avalanche of streaming shows, the theme parks, and an insistence from Disney that Star Wars needed to be anything and everywhere. Eventually, everyone except the most hardcore of fans walked away and didn’t bother coming back.

All of this culminated in the recent release of The Mandalorian and Grogu, a feature film that continues the story of a Disney Plus show that also wants to be seen as a huge blockbuster. Since its release on May 22, the film has grossed $246 million against a $165 million budget, which I imagine still won’t be a profit when you factor in marketing.

Disney

It has already been beaten in the box office charts by original, much cheaper horror films like Backrooms and Obsession, while IMAX screen priority has shifted over to Masters of the Universe ahead of its launch this week.

No matter how you slice it, The Mandalorian movie has been a monumental failure for Disney and is likely going to result in a huge shift in strategy for all things Star Wars. It used to feel like an untouchable titan of popular culture capable of justifying immense amounts of hype, but now nobody cares. A new film came out and everybody has moved on with their lives. How did this happen?

The Mandalorian and Grogu’s Failure Was Inevitable

Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe have experienced similar trajectories in the modern era. Once upon a time, they both felt untouchable as they grossed billions at the box office while attracting mainstream critical and commercial adoration. But then they reached the natural end point of their respective storylines in Endgame and Rise of Skywalker. At that point, the story was over, but the money needed to keep coming in.

The Last Jedi — despite, in my opinion, being a great film — also split audiences down the middle because of how it treated beloved characters. It tried something new and daring, and that’s a bad thing.

In our world of relentless capitalism and excessive streaming services, nothing is truly dead, and much like Palpatine, Star Wars refused to stay down and demanded our global attention with countless different TV shows that each folded into a wider canon.

I swear a new live-action or animated show was coming out every other month featuring existing or new characters with stories that would eventually paint a bigger picture. But Kenobi was far from the epic homage to the prequels fans were hoping for. Boba Fett was straight up mid, Ahsoka was fine, while The Acolyte came under fire for being too woke.

I don’t think it was too woke, for the record.

Andor was incredible because it understood that Star Wars didn’t need to be all about the Force, Jedi, and things we had already fallen in love with. It told an amazing new story filled with tension, stakes, and managed to make the Empire feel threatening for the first time in decades. I also have a soft spot for Star Wars Visions and how it gave animation houses all over the world access to such a legendary IP. But a few tremendous yet rare victories don’t make up for Star Wars, otherwise fading from relevance over the past decade.

The Mandalorian got off to a terrific start but would eventually become a vehicle to introduce us to characters who would very soon lead their own shows as Mando’s story faded into the background. Oh, and it wanted to sell lots and lots of Grogu merch. The excitement began to fade away and viewers stopped caring.

If the movie launched at the height of the first season, we would be telling a completely different story, but so many things have changed in the past couple of years. We have fallen out of love with franchise film-making as independent efforts and video game adaptations take their place. I still think Star Wars could win us back with a nostalgia-driven trilogy of new films that leave all of this baggage behind, and I’d echo much the same thoughts for Avengers’ Doomsday.

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Every single new piece of Star Wars media used to be a significant event. A reason for you and your friends to get excited, book tickets, and start theorising before the big day. But in its pursuit of profits, Disney has normalised the presence of Star Wars media to such an extent it has grown boring.

Nobody wants to keep up with all of these TV shows and the last trilogy ended on such a mediocre whimper that trust has slowly but surely eroded into nothing. The Mandalorian and Grogu is far from the end of the road, but it has to be a wake-up call.

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The Mandalorian and Grogu

PG-13 Action Adventure Science Fiction Release Date May 20, 2026 Runtime 132 minutes Director Jon Favreau Writers Noah Kloor

Cast

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  • Pedro Pascal The Mandalorian
  • Jeremy Allen White Rotta (voice)
  • Sigourney Weaver Colonel Ward
  • Brendan Wayne The Mandalorian Suit Performer
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