Real Cinema Is Back As Mandalorian Drops To Third Behind Backrooms And Obsession

Disney executives might be starting to get a little uncomfortable looking at The Mandalorian and Grogu's box office numbers. While they're not terrible, the new Star Wars movie dropped to third in the rankings during its second weekend thanks to two films that the minds behind the Mando movie likely didn't consider strong competition.

The Mandalorian and Grogu was comfortably the number one movie at the box office during its opening weekend, more than tripling its next closest competitor, Obsession. New movies typically experience a steep drop-off during their second weekend, which is exactly what happened to Mando. What Disney wouldn't have expected is Obsession, the movie that settled for a distant second during the Star Wars movie's box office debut, holding firm and outperforming the blockbuster in week two.

Mando And Grogu Slip Behind Backrooms And Obsession At The Box Office

This was Obsession's third weekend in theaters, and it has pulled off the rare feat of seeing its numbers go up in subsequent weekends. A massive uptick from weeks one to two, and only the slightest drop during its third weekend, which is how it managed to outdo Mando. It had to settle for second once again, though, as this past weekend belonged to Backrooms.

Turns out A24's latest film has been an even bigger hit than anyone anticipated. Not only did the $81.4 million it drew at the US box office make it the biggest movie of this past weekend, but that's almost identical to the $81.6 million Mandalorian and Grogu made during its own opening.

Backrooms Has Already Beaten Its Budget

That's impressive when isolated, but even more so when you account for the movies' respective budgets. Backrooms is estimated to have cost A24 around $10 million. A figure that, if accurate, means the indie flick has already breezed past what it needed to make and is now generating a ton of profit. Mando and Grogu, on the other hand, is believed to have cost Disney somewhere in the region of $165 million. The silver lining is that it has broken even worldwide with a box office of $246 million and counting.

US Box Office Numbers For The Weekend Of May 31, 2026

1. Backrooms - $81.4 million
2. Obsession - $26.4 million
3. The Mandalorian and Grogu - $25 million

It will likely need to keep selling tickets if it wants to cover what I can only imagine was a very sizable marketing budget.

Obsession having three great weekends at the box office consecutively and Backrooms pulling the same opening numbers as a new Star Wars movie is evidence that, for the first time in a long time, there's a real hunger for projects outside of the biggest blockbusters. Not just outside of them, but even instead of them, as people clearly chose to see Backrooms and Obsession over the weekend instead of The Mandalorian and Grogu.

How smaller films compare to blockbuster movies throughout the rest of 2026 will determine just how hungry moviegoers are for smaller projects over money-spinning blockbusters. The latest Star Wars movie was always one that was going to struggle in the grand scheme of things, as people seemed largely uninterested. The new Spider-Man and Supergirl movies on the horizon aren't likely to suffer quite as much, nor fall behind smaller projects releasing around the same time.