The Force is officially back on the big screen

As expected, Lucasfilm’s The Mandalorian & Grogu earned $12 million in previews when landing in select theaters across America at 2 p.m. local time on Thursday. The bigger headline: it’s audience score has already rocketed to 88 percent.

The tentpole — which marks the first Star Wars film to play in theaters in seven years — continues the story of The Mandalorian, the Jon Favreau‘s series that helped launch Disney+ and introduced the world to Baby Yoda (Grogu) just as the pandemic struck.

Pre-release tracking services show The Mandalorian and Grogu opening to roughly $82 million at the domestic box office for the four days, while some exhibitors see it coming in as high as $95 million to $100 million.

While the preview number is likely the lowest of any Star Wars title released by Disney since the company paid $4.05 billion to buy Lucasfilm in 2012, it’s not a huge surprise since the movie is tracking strongest with kids and older moviegoers.

In 2018, Solo: A Star Wars Story earned $14.1 million in previews on its way to a four-day opening of $103 million (that movie had the disadvantage of being dissed by both critics and audiences). Solo marked a low point for the ranchse in topping out at less than $400 million globally.

Mandalorian‘s preview gross was on par with recent 2026 box office hits Michael ($12.6 million), Avatar: Fire and Ash ($12 million) and Project Hail Mail ($12 million).

Last year, Memorial Day weekend tentpole Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning grossed $8 millionin previews on its way to four-day opening of $79 million.

Globally, Disney insiders expect Mandalorian and Grogu to earn at least $160 millions.

The movie sees Pedro Pascal return as Mandalorian, a bounty hunter also known as Din Djarin, who is charged with protecting Grogu. Favreau directed the film from a script he wrote with Noah Kloor and Dave Filoni, who earlier this year was upped to oversee the creative direction of Lucasfilm as president and chief creative officer following Kathleen Kennedy’s departure (he was a George Lucas protégé).

In the film, the Mandalorian is tasked by Sigourney Weaver’s Colonel Ward of the New Republic to rescue Rotta the Hutt, voiced by Jeremy Allen White. (Martin Scorsese also voices a memorable, four-armed food stand chef.)

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix is taking U.S. rights to Romain Gavras’ starry satire Sacrifice, starring Chris Evans (Captain America), Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen’s Gambit), Salma Hayek Pinault (Frida) and Vincent Cassel (La Haine).

The Cannes market deal for Gavras’ English-language debut comes after the film debuted at Toronto last year.

Also starring are John Malkovich (Being John Malkovich), Swedish rapper Yung Lean in his film debut, Ambika Mod (One Day), singer and actress Charli xcx (I Want Your Sex), and more.

We can also reveal the international buyers for the film. Rocket Science has cut deals in the UK (Black Bear), Germany, Austria, Switzerland (DCM), Italy (Eagle), Spain (YouPlanet), Canada (Elevation), Portugal (Lusomundo), Latin America (Sun), Poland (KinoSwiat), EE (Prorom/Blitz) South Africa (Empire), CIS/Baltic States (Volga), Singapore (Shaw), Philippines (Pioneer) Middle East (Front Row), Airlines (Anuvu), and Scandinavia (Mis Label).

We understand there will likely be a theatrical corridor for the international buyers before Netflix releases stateside. Dates have yet to be set but late summer/fall is in play.

The synopsis reads: “Sacrifice tells the story of Joan (Taylor-Joy), a zealous spirit driven by a volcanic prophecy only she can hear, who is on a mission to save the world from a fiery reckoning. Along with her militia of mystical disciples, she hijacks a glamorous charity gala and takes three hostages: Mike Tyler, a beleaguered movie star desperate for redemption, Bracken, the world’s richest man, and Katie, who’s just unlucky. They are forced on a journey, as hilarious as it is epic, through forest and fire until Mike faces the ultimate question: what would he sacrifice for humanity?”

Deadline’s Damon Wise described the film as “an entertaining eco-satire with a surprisingly emotional impact”.

Giorgos Karnavas of Heretic is producing and Kate Glover of Neversleep Pictures is co-producing. Robert Walak and Jacob Perlin for Iconoclast, Mid March Media, Film4 and Romain Gavras are executive producing. Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Evans and Will Arbery are executive producers along with Gucci Productions.

The film’s financing is led by Mid March Media, Film4, Stefano Cantino at Gucci Productions, Head Gear Films and the Onassis Foundation.

193 the international production and sales outfit launched by Legendary and former Summit/Lionsgate boss Patrick Wachsberger last year, has had a good Cannes, unveiling multiple territory pre-sale deals across its slate of upcoming features.

Top seller was The Brigands of Rattlecreek, the hotly-anticipated new feature from South Korean director Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, No Other Choice). Sun Distribution picked up the film for Latin America, with Leone Film Group taking Italian rights.

The movie, described as a revenge Western, is based on a script by Bone Tomahawk writer/director S. Craig Zahler, co-written with Park. Matthew McConaughey, Austin Butler, Pedro Pascal, and Tang Wei are attached to star. After Sheriff Bill Adams (McConaughey) sees his wife and town massacred by a violent gang led by the charismatic and ruthless gunslinger Henry Lee (Butler), he joins forces with the enigmatic stranger Dr. Abraham Weiss (Pascal), and the two violent, vengeful men chase down the bandits to exact their own form of brutal justice. Clockworks, Warner Bros.’ new specialty label, is in negotiations for domestic rights to the project.

Art, an adapation of Yasmina Reza’s hit satirical play by two-time Oscar-winning screenwriter Christopher Hampton (The Father, Dangerous Liasons) with Fernando Meirelles (The Constant Gardener) set to direct, also pre-sold, with Sun Distribution taking rights for Latin America and Spain, and DCM picking up the film for German-speaking Europe. Ralph Fiennes, Colin Farrell and Wagner Moura are set to star in the chamber piece, in which the friendship between three men unravels after one of them buys an expensive all-white painting, sparking a debate over modern art, taste and personal values that unearths long-buried resentments.

Sun Distribution also pre-bought 193’s project Bitcoin for Latin America, Spain and South Africa. The upcoming satirical thriller from director Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow) will star Casey Affleck as a computer scientist desperate to prove that he is in fact the mysterous creator of Bitcoin. Isla Fisher, Gal Gadot, and Pete Davidson co-star.