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‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ is a prime example that Disney’s Star Wars is on life support
Ever since Disney took over Star Wars, one of America’s most well-known and cherished franchises, it has been eroding.
Is it dead? Not quite, but I’d say it’s on life support. To be charitable, I could say that it’s a shell of its former self.
It used to have one of the most, if not the most dedicated fanbases in all of film and television, but then, Disney took over. The new trilogy bastardized the established canon and disrespected the original characters. Former President of Lucasfilm Kathleen Kennedy decided to go the woke route by staking the claim that “The Force is Female,” putting an emphasis on female empowerment over proper storytelling and character development.
Disney also unjustifiably fired Gina Carano from The Mandalorian after season 2, Solo bombed, The Acolyte was an abomination that got cancelled after only one season, and the list goes on.
Sure, there have been some bright spots such as “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” “Andor,” though it’s been a costly show financially that is not watched nearly as much as it should because of Disney’s failure to keep fans interested, and “The Mandalorian” season 1 and parts of season 2.
There’s no better indication that Star Wars is cooked more than what is happening in the box office right now, though.
After a seven-year absence from the box office, where fans were booing in the theater as Rey was revealed to be a Skywalker in Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, Star Wars made its return on Memorial Day weekend with “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu.” The title within itself should tell you how far Disney’s Star Wars has fallen into creative bankruptcy. It’s a bloated title with the names of the main characters. Imagine Star Wars Episode VI being called “Luke Skywalker and His Father” instead of “Return of the Jedi”. It’s that bad.
Anyway, the film ended the holiday weekend at the top of the box office, but it performed worse than the massive Disney Star Wars flop, Solo, when you adjust for inflation. Solo actually defeated “The Mandalorian and Grogu” in both nominal dollars and inflation-adjusted dollars. Solo’s $84.4 million three-day opening in 2018 is equivalent to roughly $109–110 million today, about 33% higher than “The Mandalorian and Grogu’s” $82 million opening weekend.
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If you compare the four-day holiday openings (both were Memorial Day releases), the gap is even larger. “The Mandalorian and Grogu” earned about $102 million over the four-day holiday weekend, while inflation-adjusted estimates put Solo’s 2018 Memorial Day debut at roughly $136.6 million in 2026 dollars.
And even worse, an independent horror, “Obsession” just surpassed “The Mandalorian and Grogu” for the top spot at the box office on Wednesday. A film that had a budget reportedly around $750,000, directed by a YouTuber and TikToker, just took out a Star Wars film, which reportedly had a production and marketing budget of more than $300 million. If that’s not a clear indication that Star Wars is on life support, I don’t know what is. Word of mouth just trounced a cultural juggernaut brand.
Where “Mandalorian and Grogu,” and much of Star Wars has gone wrong, is best described in some of the responses to the movie from the media. The BBC said, “It’s felt like homework” to see Star Wars and try to somehow some way connect to stories and characters that aren’t worth loving or caring for at any significant level. Inverse said, “The Mandalorian and Grogu is Barely A Movie,” which is spot on because the movie feels more like a few episodes of a weak Disney+ show that has to be stretched into a movie like butter scraped over too much bread.
Star Wars can no longer print money, simply because of name recognition. The constant reliance on cheap callbacks and recycling characters through cheap imitations is leaving audiences feeling cheated and empty. For example, in this movie, Grogu is a baby version of Yoda, the Hutts are back, the Mandalorian plays a Luke Skywalker figure who falls in a pit to fight a giant monster while visiting the Hutts, there’s a battle on a snow planet calling back to “Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back,” and so on. Baby Yoda was fine for a season or two of the show, but now it just feels as if Disney cannot make compelling original characters, or find a way to properly care for the ones that established this franchise in the first place. Disney can’t even compel audiences to care enough to keep a Star Wars movie at the top of the box office for a whole week. It’s damning.
This is what modern-day Hollywood has done to beloved intellectual properties, though. It has desecrated them with woke nonsense, weak storytelling, uncompelling characters, and a belief that sticking to the source material and respecting established lore is old-fashioned. “Star Trek,” “Doctor Who,” “Marvel: Phase Five” (properly known as the M-She-U), “Lord of the Rings” (Rings of Power), you name it. Hollywood has again and again lit the fire and burned many franchises to the ground to the point they are unrecognizable.
The question is now, “What does Disney do next with Star Wars?” My guess is it tries a reboot of the original trilogy, and the fact that I’m even writing this makes me want to throw up. I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t see where else Disney goes, especially after the Starfighter movie featuring Ryan Gosling that’ll attract audiences because of the actor, not because they care about the Star Wars brand or story being told. Star Wars is a franchise that should have had a century’s-long staying power, yet its grave is already being dug, with the studio scrambling to find a way to salvage the spare parts like Jawas.
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Former California mayor admits secretly working for China, spreading Beijing propaganda in US
The former mayor of a Southern California city admitted in federal court Friday that she acted as an illegal agent of the Chinese government, formally pleading guilty in a case prosecutors have described as a brazen effort to spread Beijing-backed propaganda inside the United States.
Eileen Li Wang, the former mayor of Arcadia, California, pleaded guilty to acting as an agent of a foreign government without notifying U.S. authorities, a felony offense carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison, three years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine and a $100 special assessment fee.
Federal prosecutors allege Wang acted “at the direction and control” of Chinese government officials between 2020 and 2022, coordinating with individuals in the United States to distribute pro-Beijing messaging without registering with the U.S. attorney general as required by law. The conduct described in the case occurred before Wang was elected to the Arcadia City Council in 2022 and later became mayor through the city’s rotating system.
Wang appeared in court Friday wearing a navy suit with gold buttons and was accompanied by her attorneys. Although the court provided a Mandarin interpreter, Wang chose to proceed in English throughout the hearing.
CALIFORNIA MAYOR ACCUSED OF SECRETLY WORKING FOR CHINA, SPREADING PROPAGANDA WHILE IN OFFICE: FEDS
Before accepting the plea, the judge placed Wang under oath and questioned her extensively about her state of mind and understanding of the proceedings. Wang then waived her right to a grand jury indictment and her right to a jury trial.
A Justice Department attorney reviewed the charge against Wang, knowingly acting as an agent of a foreign government without notifying U.S. authorities, and outlined the maximum penalties she faces. Wang told the court she understood she was pleading guilty to a felony offense and understood the potential consequences, including the conditions of supervised release.
Prosecutors also reviewed the constitutional rights Wang would be giving up by entering the plea, including certain appeal rights. The judge then asked Wang a series of questions to verify she understood those waivers.
At one point, defense attorneys attempted to waive the government’s reading of the factual basis supporting the charge, but prosecutors insisted the facts be read aloud in open court.
When the judge asked how she pleaded, Wang responded: “Yes, guilty.”
The judge accepted the plea and scheduled sentencing for Oct. 6, 2026, at 9 a.m. local time. Wang was released on bond pending sentencing and will have an opportunity to address the court before her sentence is imposed.
The guilty plea marks the latest development in a case federal officials have pointed to as a warning about Chinese government efforts to influence American institutions and public discourse through covert operations inside the United States.
According to court documents, Wang worked alongside Yaoning “Mike” Sun, a convicted Chinese agent already serving a four-year federal prison sentence, to operate a website posing as a local Chinese-American news outlet.
Prosecutors described the website as a propaganda arm for the Chinese Communist Party that published content supplied directly by Chinese government officials.
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In one exchange detailed in court filings, a Chinese government official sent Wang a pre-written article denying allegations of forced labor and genocide in China’s Xinjiang region. Prosecutors said Wang posted the article online within minutes and sent the official a link to the published piece. The official allegedly responded: “So fast, thank you everyone.”
In another instance, prosecutors said Wang made edits to content at Beijing’s request and later responded, “Thank you leader.”
Authorities also allege Wang communicated with convicted Chinese operative John Chen, a figure prosecutors say has ties to China’s intelligence apparatus and connections to Chinese President Xi Jinping. According to court documents, Wang asked Chen to distribute messaging and wrote, “This is what the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wants to send.”
CHINA SKIRTS US EFFORTS TO STIFF-ARM CCP INTERFERENCE BY BOLSTERING STATE, LOCAL RELATIONS
“Individuals elected to public office in the United States should act only for the people of the United States that they represent,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said when the charges were announced.
“It is deeply concerning that someone who previously received and executed directives from PRC government officials is now in a position of public trust at all.”
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli called the case part of an ongoing effort to counter Chinese influence operations in the United States.
“Individuals in our country who covertly do the bidding of foreign governments undermine our democracy,” Essayli said. “This plea agreement is the latest success in our determination to defend the homeland against China’s efforts to corrupt our institutions.”
FBI Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky said Wang’s conduct should serve as a warning to others who seek to influence American politics on behalf of foreign governments.
“By her own admission, Eileen Wang secretly served the interests of the Chinese government,” Rozhavsky said. “Let this serve as a clear warning individuals who act on behalf of foreign governments to influence our democracy will be identified, investigated, and brought to justice.”
Wang resigned from the Arcadia City Council and mayor’s office after federal charges were announced. City officials have maintained that the conduct described by prosecutors occurred before Wang took office and said an internal review found no city finances, staff or decision-making processes were involved.
“The allegations at the center of this case, that a foreign government sought to exert influence over a local elected official, are deeply troubling,” the city previously said in a statement. “We take them seriously.”
Fox News’ Alex Rego and Matt Finn contributed to this report.
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