Disney’s “The Mandalorian and Grogu” begins its theatrical run with reported figures that outlets describe as underwhelming compared with recent Star Wars benchmarks. CNBC and Deadline report about $12 million in North American Thursday night previews, with CNBC saying it is the lowest such advanced-ticket total in franchise history. Multiple outlets also cite a weekend start that is lower than “Solo” when comparisons are made using inflation-adjusted amounts. Fox News and CNBC both report domestic performance in the range of about $81–82 million for the first three days, with Fox later citing about $155 million domestically overall. The New York Times and Los Angeles Times report expectations and projections for the opening window around the $102 million domestic mark through Thursday through Monday, based on typical box office schedules. Deadline further reports an opening at roughly $100 million in the U.S. over four days and an estimated $163 million worldwide. While Breitbart and Fox focus on negative interpretation of the results, IndieWire emphasizes that families and broader audiences drive attendance and notes the film’s much lower budget (reported as $300 million to make and market by The New York Times).