The Mandalorian & Grogu Is The 4th Failure From A Disney Strategy That Needs To End

Published Sep 9, 2026, 10:45 AM EDT Cooper Hood is the Associate Editor for all new movie releases, in theaters and on streaming. In addition to writing articles about these titles and upcoming releases, he also oversees content planning for each, ensuring that ScreenRant continues to cover major releases for months after their release. He has written various reviews for ScreenRant that appear on Rotten Tomatoes, coordinated Oscars and San Diego Comic-Con coverage, appeared on CNN to talk about Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, and done select interviews with talent over the years. The Mandalorian and Grogu's theatrical release didn't go as planned, and the disappointing results are tied to a failed Disney strategy. In the lead-up to the first Star Wars movie in seven years, Lucasfilm was expecting this to be a feature event that would rally audiences around the globe and kickstart a whole new chapter of the galaxy far, far away. Disney and Lucasfilm knew how successful Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu were throughout The Mandalorian's three seasons and how popular they'd become through merchandise and parks. It was only sensible to upgrade both characters, along with series creator Jon Favreau, to the big screen. The Mandalorian and Grogu became an opportunity to show just how big they were for the franchise and within pop culture at large. However, that isn't where we ended up. The Mandalorian and Grogu's box office disappointed with $345 million worldwide. It's the low mark for the franchise across all live-action movies. A lackluster marketing campaign, mixed reviews, the decline of the Star Wars brand, and The Mandalorian's decreasing quality are but a few reasons to rationally explain why The Mandalorian and Grogu flopped. But the poor performance is also tied to a larger trend of failure that Disney has experienced firsthand. The Mandalorian and Grogu was thought to be in a good position for success in theaters because of how popular the Disney+ show that preceded it was. Instead, the underwhelming outing falls in line with the struggles Disney has seen with this exact approach over the last few years. Theatrical Movies That Are Sequels To Disney+ Shows Have Not Been Box Office Hits The Mandalorian and Grogu is not Disney's first movie that could accurately be described as a sequel to or continuation of a Disney+ show. It is the fourth. Previously, The Marvels acted as a sequel to WandaVision, Ms. Marvel, and Secret Invasion. Captain America: Brave New World was a follow-up to The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Thunderbolts* built off The Falcon and the Winter Soldier​​​​​​, too. One could argue Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, ​given its ties to WandaVision, but even then, Scarlet Witch originated in the movies. The Mandalorian and Grogu is unique in the sense that all the characters audiences know originated on the small screen, making it the most reliant on Disney+ in that realm. The Marvels still had Carol Danvers, Brave New World had Sam Wilson, and Thunderbolts* retained several MCU veterans from previous films. But the MCU movies all had at least one prominent character whose story and relationship with audiences stemmed from Disney+. Disney Movie Box Office Budget The Marvels (2023) $206 million $270 million Captain America: Brave New World (2025) $415 million $180 million Thunderbolts* (2025) $382 million $180 million The Mandalorian and Grogu $345 million $165 million What also ties these four movies together is that all had lower box office hauls than anticipated. Each one had much higher expectations with Disney's corporate offices. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been greenlit with massive budgets; The Mandalorian and Grogu is the lowest at $165 million. While there is more complexity behind each film's performance, the Disney+ ties are a common thread that's impossible to ignore. Why Disney's Movies Tied To Disney+ Shows Have Struggled So Much These results suggest Disney miscalculated the impact of tying movies to Disney+ shows. There was surely a hope that the millions of fans worldwide who watched these characters on streaming would then be eager to see them on the big screen. Furthermore, Disney was likely counting on the Disney+ connections boosting viewership of the tie-in shows. Rather than the Disney+ shows serving as a launching pad for successful movies, they appear to be a hindrance. A movie like The Marvels created a sense that you needed to have seen three MCU Disney+ shows just to fully understand the characters and story. The shows became extra homework for viewers who felt like necessary viewing to see the movie. Instead of binging these shows, audiences skipped the movies. Most of the movies can still be enjoyed without having seen the shows, but that is not how it feels from the outside. There were certainly people who thought they needed to watch The Mandalorian before seeing The Mandalorian and Grogu in theaters and wound up missing the film as a result. Others may have even elected to skip seeing these films because they were used to having stories with these characters on streaming. Audiences were conditioned to see Din, Grogu, Ms. Marvel, and others on the small screen for "free" as part of a Disney+ subscription. That history makes it easier to bypass a theatrical viewing and wait for streaming, similar to how Disney's decision to put Pixar movies straight to streaming during the pandemic has hurt their original movies at the box office since. Disney Has Mostly Learned Its Lesson About Continuing Streaming Shows With Movies Whether by design or by accident, Disney seems to now understand that movies continuing storylines from streaming shows are not what audiences want. The studio has moved away from developing multiple movies that serve this purpose, and it has lessened the feeling that viewers need to watch certain Disney+ shows to understand new movies. Take Spider-Man: Brand New Day, for example. It includes some Disney+ ties with Punisher's return, but audiences didn't need to have seen Daredevil: Born Again or The Punisher: One Last Kill to fully understand the movie. Granted, it has a leg up on the other titles we've discussed, since it is the fourth entry in the MCU's biggest solo franchise, so its streaming connection wasn't going to hurt it. Looking more broadly at Disney's strategy, Marvel isn't actively developing movies that prominently feature characters from Disney+ shows. Even a project like Nova has shifted from a streaming show to a movie. It's an example of how the MCU is scaling down its streaming output to keep the focus on its event films. Daredevil: Born Again is not poised to lead to Charlie Cox leading his own feature film. There is also no plan for a Percy Jackson movie to conclude the hit series, and don't expect that to change after what we've seen lately. However, Lucasfilm could test these waters again after The Mandalorian and Grogu, depending on how one project develops. Star Wars May Still Try Another Movie Heavily Tied To Disney+ Shows The only movie in development at Disney that has major streaming ties is the untitled Star Wars crossover film announced for Dave Filoni. The project was unveiled at Star Wars Celebration 2023 to serve as the conclusion of the overall story told through The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Skeleton Crew, and Ahsoka​​​​​​. The movie has never received a release date, and Filoni has since been promoted to be Lucasfilm's Chief Creative Officer and President. Those new responsibilities seemed to decrease the likelihood that he'll take up so much of his attention by directing the Mandoverse movie. Yet, Filoni's Star Wars movie received a production listing in September 2026, suggesting that it is still on the way. This would be an even bigger test of audiences' appetite for Disney+ shows getting sequel movies than any of the other projects. Whereas The Mandalorian and Grogu could be seen without watching The Mandalorian in its entirety, a movie where Din teams up with other Disney+ characters to fight the overarching villain from these shows, Thrawn, would require audiences to have seen multiple streaming shows. Only time will tell if Filoni's Mandoverse movie still happens, but The Mandalorian and Grogu shows the risks that would come with it. Disney could be better off having this story conclude on Disney+ in some fashion and keeping future movies for its biggest franchises clear of as many streaming connections as possible. Release Date May 20, 2026 Runtime 132 minutes Director Jon Favreau Writers Noah Kloor Producers Ian Bryce, Kathleen Kennedy, Dave Filoni, Karen Gilchrist, John Bartnicki Prequel(s) The Mandalorian Sequel(s) Dave Filoni's Untitled Mandalorian Movie Franchise(s) Star Wars