The Star Wars franchise has created its own sarlacc, in a way, by setting the bar for success so high that even an otherwise excellent box-office performance is viewed as disappointing. In its opening weekend, The Mandalorian and Grogu delivered a haul in the same range as those of Project Hail Mary, Dune: Part Two, and Avatar: Fire and Ash. Considered in isolation, this is an encouraging result for the first Star Wars movie in seven years. However, when you add context, the picture changes. The Mandalorian and Grogu‘s opening weekend haul was also in the same range as Solo: A Star Wars Story, which remains notorious for being the least-successful live-action installment of the franchise. Solo is also largely responsible for bringing about major changes in creative strategy that saw Lucasfilm pivot from a big-screen-first game plan to streaming.
In other words, the failure of Solo influenced The Mandalorian, and now, The Mandalorian and Grogu is in the same pickle as Solo. This is the Way. However, Solo cost a whopping $275 million to produce. And this was the conservative estimate. The movie was effectively shot twice after original directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were fired for going off-script and replaced by the steady studio hand Ron Howard. Solo opened to mixed-to-positive reviews, and grossed under $400 million worldwide. The Mandalorian and Grogu, on the other hand, appears to have had an uneventful production that set Disney back by a reported $165 million. This is lower than most tent poles these days, which tend to cost more than $200 million. Project Hail Mary, for instance, had a reported price tag of $250 million. Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens, on the other hand, remains the most expensive movie ever made with a reported budget of more than $600 million.
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Collider Exclusive · Star Wars Quiz Which Force User Are You? Light Side · Dark Side · Or Somewhere Between
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The Force is not a binary. It is a spectrum — from the serene halls of the Jedi Temple to the shadowed corridors of Sith space. Ten questions will reveal where you truly fall. The Force has always known. Now you will too.
🔵Jedi Master
🟡Padawan
🔴Sith Lord
⚫Inquisitor
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⚪Grey Jedi
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01
What is the Force to you? Your relationship with the Force defines everything else.
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02
When you feel strong emotions — anger, grief, love — what do you do? The Jedi suppress. The Sith feed. Others choose differently.
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03
The Jedi Council gives you an order you disagree with. You: How you handle authority reveals your alignment.
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04
You are offered forbidden knowledge that could give you enormous power. The cost is crossing a moral line. You: The dark side’s pull is never more than a choice away.
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05
Your approach to training and learning is: A student’s habits become a master’s character.
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06
In a duel, your lightsaber fighting style reflects: Combat is the purest expression of a Force user’s philosophy.
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07
A defeated enemy lies at your feet, powerless. You: Mercy — or its absence — is the truest test of alignment.
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08
The Jedi Code forbids attachment. Your honest view on love and bonds: The source of the greatest falls in the galaxy.
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09
Why do you use the Force at all? What’s the point? Purpose is the difference between a knight and a weapon.
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10
At the final moment — light side or dark side pulling at you — what wins? In the end, every Force user faces this moment. What does yours look like?
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Your Alignment Has Been Determined Your Place in the Force
The scores below reveal how the Force sees you. Your highest number is your true alignment. Read on to understand what that means — and what it will cost you.
🔵 Jedi Master
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🟡 Padawan
🔴 Sith Lord
⚫ Inquisitor
⚪ Grey Jedi
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Disciplined, compassionate, and deeply attuned to the living Force, you have walked the path long enough to understand its demands — and accept them. You lead not through authority alone, but through example. You have felt the pull of the dark side and chosen otherwise, every time. That is not certainty. That is courage.
You are earnest, powerful, and brimming with potential — and you know it, which is both your greatest asset and your most dangerous flaw. You act before you think, trust your gut over your training, and sometimes confuse impatience for bravery. The Masters see something in you, though. The question isn’t whether you have what it takes — it’s whether you’ll be patient enough to find out.
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You are not simply dangerous — you are certain, and that is worse. You have decided what the galaxy needs, and you have decided you are the one to deliver it. Your power is genuine and formidable, earned through sacrifice that would have broken lesser beings. But examine your victories carefully. Every Sith believed their cause was righteous. The dark side’s cruelest trick is that it agrees with you.
You were forged in fire and reshaped by those who found you at your lowest. You serve, because service gave you structure when you had none. Your allegiance is not to an ideology — it is to survival and to the master who gave you purpose. But there is something buried beneath the conditioning. The Jedi you hunt? You recognize them. Because you remember what it felt like before the choice was taken from you.
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You have looked at the Jedi Code and the Sith Code and found both of them incomplete. You walk the line not out of indecision but out of conviction — you genuinely believe both extremes miss something essential. The Jedi don’t fully trust you. The Sith think you’re wasting your potential. They’re both partially right. But so are you.
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‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ Doesn’t Need to Gross a Fortune to Break Even
What this also means is that the bar for success is lower for The Mandalorian and Grogu than it was for Solo, which ultimately resulted in more than $100 million in losses for Disney. According to a recent report, the first Star Wars movie in seven years needs to gross between $500 million and $600 million worldwide to break even. This estimate takes into account the film’s combined production and marketing budgets of under $300 million, and the typical 50-50 split that studios have with exhibitors. Movies of this size generally need to gross twice their combined budgets to break even, and The Mandalorian and Grogu has crucial factors going for it. For instance, the movie holds an 89% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and an A- CinemaScore grade, which counters its lukewarm critical response. It’s also generating interest among the children drawn to Grogu, and the older males who enjoy Western-style action. More importantly, it’s the cheapest Disney-era Star Wars movie. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
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