The Mandalorian and Grogu got outstreamed by Masters of the Universe

Nielsen says Star Wars pulled 5.5 million complete views in five days on Disney+. A movie that made a third as much in theaters pulled nearly double the watch time in the same week.

“The Mandalorian and Grogu” landed on Disney+ on Sept. 2, about three and a half months after its May 22 theatrical run.

Nielsen has now measured both the first week and the first five days, and the two numbers tell slightly different stories about the same movie.

The watch-time number looks fine. The head-to-head comparison is where it gets interesting.

The Mandalorian and Grogu | Official Trailer | In Theaters May 22, 2026

How many people watched The Mandalorian and Grogu on Disney+?

About 5.5 million complete views in its first five days in the U.S., under Nielsen’s tracking of theatrical releases in their first streaming window.

That ties “Thunderbolts*” exactly. It sits ahead of “Snow White” and “The Marvels” at 5.3 million each, ahead of “Avatar: Fire and Ash” at 5.2 million, and ahead of “Black Widow” at 5.1 million.

It sits a long way behind the top of that same list. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” did 14.1 million. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” did 10.9 million. The live-action “The Little Mermaid” did 10.2 million, and “Lilo & Stitch” did 7.4 million.

Some coverage has called this the weakest Disney+ debut of the franchise era. The full list does not support that. “Freakier Friday” came in at 3.4 million and “Tron: Ares” at 2.2 million, both below Star Wars.

“Middling” is probably a more accurate word.

Did The Mandalorian and Grogu beat other movies on streaming that week?

By total minutes, it finished second among streaming movies and tenth overall, with roughly 727 million minutes watched in week one.

Netflix’s “The Whisper Man” beat it with 863 million minutes.

In comes “Masters of the Universe” which pulled 1.17 billion minutes in its own first week, which is roughly 60 percent more watch time.

“Masters of the Universe” made about $65 million at the domestic box office. “The Mandalorian and Grogu” made about $178 million.

So the Star Wars movie brought in nearly three times the theatrical money and lost the streaming week to it by a wide margin.

For one more point of reference inside Lucasfilm’s own catalog, the “Andor” season two finale did 931 million minutes. A single episode of a television show outperformed a feature film’s entire opening week.

Why the numbers don’t line up the way you’d expect

Nielsen is measuring two different things.

Total minutes rewards length and rewatching. A long movie that families leave running racks up minutes. “Complete views” counts finished viewings, which is a stricter bar.

The theatrical window matters too. A movie that waits three and a half months to reach streaming has already been seen by the people most eager to see it. “Avatar: Fire and Ash” sitting at 5.2 million complete views is the tell there, because nobody thinks that movie lacked an audience.

None of which changes the comparison that matters. Both Star Wars and Masters of the Universe were 2026 theatrical releases arriving on streaming in the same stretch, and the smaller one won.

A footnote on the novelization

Separately, the junior novelization of “The Mandalorian and Grogu” appears to have been canceled.

The Penguin Random House book, 144 pages with 16 color images and a poster, aimed at ages 6 to 9 and priced at $12.99, was set for Nov. 17. Publishing catalogs now list it as canceled, the publisher’s page for it is gone, and the Amazon hardcover listing shows a placeholder date of January 2079. Audiobook listings are still up.

No announcement has come from Disney, Lucasfilm, or Random House, so it is an unconfirmed rumor.

If it holds, it would be the first theatrically released Star Wars film without an official book adaptation. Every Skywalker Saga film got one, as did “Rogue One,” “Solo” and the animated “Clone Wars.” The tradition goes back to Alan Dean Foster’s 1976 novelization, which reached shelves before the first movie did.

Nielsen’s second-week numbers are the ones to watch. A film that holds its audience in week two is in better shape than one that front-loads.

Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.

Pirates and Princesses is your destination for Disney news, theme park updates, and the pop culture you love. From Disney cruises and travel tips to Disney fashion, food, collectibles, and movie news, PNP covers it all. Visit us at piratesandprincesses.net for daily coverage. Follow PNP on Facebook and Instagram, and listen to the Pirates & Princesses podcast on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

Hat Tips:

• Nielsen streaming measurement, first-week minutes and first-five-day complete views for theatrical releases

• Gizmodo (Sept. 18, 2026), the Masters of the Universe and Andor minutes comparison and the box office figures

• Comic Basics (Sept. 18, 2026), the complete-views table across recent Disney theatrical releases

• WDW News Today (Sept. 19, 2026), the canceled junior novelization listing and its specifications

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