After a bumpy opening day, the Force has thrown its weight behind Star Wars:
#TheMandalorianandGrogu.
On Friday, Jon Favreau‘s feature film adaptation of his hit Disney+ series appeared at risk of scoring the lowest box office opening of any title in the storied Star Wars franchise since
#Disney bought
#Lucasfilm in 2012.
But all bets were off when the movie snagged a franchise-best audience score of 89 percent on Rotten Tomatoes — the best of any Star Wars film since Disney took over — and equally strong exit score on PostTrak, especially among youngsters as
#BabyYoda, aka
#Grogu, made the leap from the small screen to the big screen. (Disney insiders believe Mando could become the most family friendly film of any title in the iconic series, at least in modern times.)
Still, Disney and Lucasfilm executives were no doubt on pins and needles when Mando topped Friday’s domestic box office chart with a worrisome, series-low $33 million from 4,300 theaters, behind the $35.4 millio...