BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgian authorities are mystified over a brazen theft over the weekend from a Christmas Nativity scene of an icon of infant Jesus Christ that had been widely scorned online.
Snatched from his crib on the Grand Place in historic old Brussels between late Friday night or early Saturday morning, this specific version of infant Jesus is part of a nativity scene which has been at the center of a maelstrom on social media because the faces of the characters lack eyes, noses and mouths.
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A Nativity scene containing characters with cloth faces, by Belgian artist Victoria-Maria Geyer, is displayed in a white tent in Brussels, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Sylvain Plazy)
A Nativity scene containing characters with cloth faces, by Belgian artist Victoria-Maria Geyer, is displayed in a white tent in Brussels, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Sylvain Plazy)
A Nativity scene containing characters with cloth faces, by Belgian artist Victoria-Maria Geyer, is displayed in a white tent in Brussels, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Sylvain Plazy)
A Nativity scene containing characters with cloth faces, by Belgian artist Victoria-Maria Geyer, is displayed in a white tent in Brussels, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Sylvain Plazy)
Artist Victoria-Maria Geyer crafted the nativity figure out of cloth in hopes the faithful from Japan to Namibia would see themselves in the soft fabrics lacking any identifying features, so that “every Catholic, regardless of their background or origins can identify themselves” in the biblical story of the birth of Christ, she said.
Georges-Louis Bouchez, the head of the center-right MR party, which is part of Belgium's ruling coalition, said a post on X that Geyers’ cloth Christ “in no way represent the spirit of Christmas.” He compared the figures to what he called “zombie-like” people found at train stations.
Last year more than 4 million people visited the Christmas market in the center of Brussels’ historic old city to sip mulled wine and hot chocolate and shop at 238 vendors of toys, clothes and ornaments.
The center of the square is an enormous Christmas tree looming over a simple white tent holding the manger scene with the figures made by Geyer, a self-professed devout Catholic.
Her work was selected by both the local Catholic church and the City of Brussels in an annual tradition, said Delphine Romanus, deputy director of Brussels Major Events, which manages the manger and market.
Early reports that the infant Jesus had been beheaded are false, but Romanus said that in the past other baby Jesus figurines have been broken or stolen.
An initial deluge of negative comments on social media has turned positive, Geyer said.
Authorities have already replaced the baby Jesus in the crib. Organizers and security say they will keep a closer eye on the manger, but they have not taken any additional precautions.
Staring at the new baby Jesus, Brussels resident Francis De Laveleye shook his head and said that arguments of artistic merit should never descend into such a sordid affair.
“What is intolerable is that people attack the work of an artist to damage it and to turn it into a kind of stupid little controversy that ridicules Brussels.”
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Associated Press writer Sam McNeil contributed to this report.
A Nativity scene containing characters with cloth faces, by Belgian artist Victoria-Maria Geyer, is displayed in a white tent in Brussels, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Sylvain Plazy)
A Nativity scene containing characters with cloth faces, by Belgian artist Victoria-Maria Geyer, is displayed in a white tent in Brussels, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Sylvain Plazy)
A Nativity scene containing characters with cloth faces, by Belgian artist Victoria-Maria Geyer, is displayed in a white tent in Brussels, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Sylvain Plazy)
A Nativity scene containing characters with cloth faces, by Belgian artist Victoria-Maria Geyer, is displayed in a white tent in Brussels, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Sylvain Plazy)
After nearly seven years away from the big screen, a new Star Wars movie drew healthy but not record-breaking crowds to global theaters this weekend. According to studio estimates on Sunday, “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” made $82 million in ticket sales from 4,300 theaters in the U.S. and Canada. By the end of Monday’s Memorial Day holiday, it’s expected to have earned $102 million domestically and $165 million globally.
It exceeded opening weekend expectations for the movie, a continuation of Disney+ spinoff series “The Mandalorian,” but it’s also on the low end of Disney-era Star Wars releases, closer to “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” which made $103 million over the four-day Memorial Day frame in 2018. While “Solo” was considered a disaster, the metrics around “The Mandalorian and Grogu” are a little different.
The production budget for “Solo” was in the $300 million range, while “The Mandalorian and Grogu” was made for significantly less — a reported $165 million, not accounting for marketing and promotion costs. It makes the journey to profitability more likely, especially when factoring in positive audience scores. Although critics were mixed to negative on the movie (it currently carries a 63% on Rotten Tomatoes), ticket buyers overall gave it an A- CinemaScore. Boys under the age of 13 are especially high on the movie: They gave it an A CinemaScore and a perfect five on PostTrak. Parents also gave it a five out of five.
The Jon Favreau-directed movie stars Pedro Pascal as the titular bounty hunter and puts him and his tiny green companion on a mission to save Jabba’s son Rotta the Hutt, who is voiced by Jeremy Allen White.
“Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” could also be graded on a bit of a curve because of the streaming component, both that it started as a series, and that it will eventually end up as a value add on Disney+, which was only about a month old when the last Star Wars movie, “The Rise of Skywalker,” debuted in December 2019.
Star Wars as a brand is in a time of transition under its new leadership team of Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan; Earlier this year it was announced that Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, who produced “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu,” was stepping down after 13 years. The question for the industry is whether audience interest in Star Wars on the big screen might have cooled slightly, and if next year’s “Star Wars: Starfighter,” starring Ryan Gosling, will provide a definitive answer. Until then, the hope is that strong audience and exit scores will propel word-of-mouth generated enthusiasm in the coming weeks.
“The moviegoers rule," said Paul Dergarabedian, the head of marketplace trends for Comscore. "I think given the audience reaction and the scores that are coming from parents and kids, this is going to be in it for the long haul."
Word-of-mouth certainly helped Curry Barker’s relationship horror movie “Obsession” defy the standard box office trajectory and do better business in its second weekend. The Focus Features had an astonishing 30% uptick in ticket sales, earning $22.4 million from 2,655 theaters.
“That’s really unheard of,” Dergarabedian said. “And it is a testament to how this social media buzz from younger viewers is fueling the FOMO factor."
The studio, which acquired the microbudget movie for some $15 million, is projecting that it will have made $28.2 million by the end of Monday, bringing its running total to $58.5 million. It snagged the second-place spot, while “Michael” landed in third place with $20 million for the three-day weekend. The Michael Jackson biopic has now earned $782.4 million.
“Obsession” also did better than the new horror movie “Passenger,” a Paramount Pictures release with Melissa Leo, which grossed an estimated $8.7 million from 2,534 locations. It’s expected to earn $10.5 million over its first four days. The movie received poor reviews from both critics (44% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences (B- Cinema Score).
Boots Riley's colorful shoplifting caper meets surreal social satire “I Love Boosters” also opened this weekend to $3.7 million. The Neon release stars Keke Palmer and Demi Moore.
The mix of movies this year didn’t hold a candle to last year’s record Memorial Day weekend, which was led by Disney’s live-action “Lilo & Stitch” and “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning.” The overall four-day frame this year will net out around $211 million, down about 36% from last year’s $330 million. It’s also far from the disastrous 2024 Memorial Day weekend box office, a 30-year low, when “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” opened.
With final domestic figures being released Tuesday, this list factors in estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:
1. “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu,” $82 million.
2. “Obsession,” $22.4 million.
3. “Michael,” $20 million.
4. “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” $12.6 million.
5. “The Sheep Detectives,” $9 million.
6. “Passenger,” $8.7 million.
7. “Mortal Kombat II,” $6.2 million.
8. “I Love Boosters,” $3.7 million.
9. “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” $3.2 million.
10. “Project Hail Mary,” $2.7 million.
Jon Favreau arrives at the premiere of "Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu" on Thursday, May 14, 2026, at TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
The character Grogu arrives at the premiere of "Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu" on Thursday, May 14, 2026, at TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
