Credit: LucasfilmIn the last 12 months, The Walt Disney Company has been the most fluid and malleable than, perhaps, it has ever been. The stronghold of entertainment took massive blows in its centennial year, and with a mission to recoup costs across the business, returning Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger proved that nothing in the House of Mouse was safe. By extension, Disney’s subsidiaries also took blows and continue to endure a heavy dose of creative course correction.
One of the more surprising moves came earlier this week as Lucasfilm, the home of Star Wars, revealed that a Mandalorian movie was in the works from Jon Favreau, and, yes, this is different from the “Mando-Verse” film announced at last year’s Star Wars Celebration. So, with Favreau and Filoni taking on different parts of the New Republic era and a fourth season of the bounty hunter epic currently lost in the noise, it seems Lucasfilm is casting its lucrative Mando net as wide as it can go. As many try to wrangle with the news of this upcoming movie, new information has been reported about the mysterious The Mandalorian & Grogu (TBD) project.
At the end of 2024, it will have been five years since a beskar-clad Pedro Pascal stepped into the Star Wars galaxy and offered a lifeline to fans burned by the divisive Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi (2017). Rian Johnson may have directed one of the most critically acclaimed Star Wars movies, but for the fandom, it proved to be a polarizing affair. Then came Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni and the world of bounty hunters and mystical green children. Star Wars was saved! At least for some.
Now, three seasons deep and with two spinoffs to boot (The Book of Boba Fett, Star Wars: Ahsoka), The Mandalorian is officially heading to the big screen. For clarity (because Disney is becoming increasingly less synergetic with their projects–they did call their centennial movie the same name as the new cruise ship launched just a year previous, after all), the newly announced The Mandalorian & Grogu is different from the Dave Filoni-helmed “Mando-Verse” movie revealed at last year’s Star Wars Celebration.
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Per the announcement, Star Wars.com shared that The Mandalorian & Grogu will go into production this year and will be directed by Jon Favreau, with Dave Filoni and Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy producing. At the time, Favreau told StarWars.com: “I have loved telling stories set in the rich world that George Lucas created […] [t]he prospect of bringing the Mandalorian and his apprentice Grogu to the big screen is extremely exciting.”
The Mandalorian & Grogu will now join Lucasfilm’s ongoing development slate, which includes James Mangold’s Dawn of the Jedi era movie, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s Rey Skywalker movie, and the “Mando-Verse” crossover movie from Dave Filoni. The latter is also developing the second season of Ahsoka, starring Rosario Dawson.
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Following this major change to the story of The Mandalorian, The Hollywood Reporter has shared that, according to sources, Jon Favreau will also pen the script for the movie as well as direct it. In addition, THR reports that Filoni’s “Mando-Verse” film is “on track,” but is expected after the second season of Ahsoka.
There is no confirmed timeframe for Ahsoka Season 2 or Filoni’s feature film. Judging by the language on the official announcement that The Mandalorian & Grogu will “lead” the development slate, it seems likely that this will be the first new Star Wars movie since Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker (2019), almost five years ago.
What Favreau’s movie means for The Mandalorian Season 4 is yet to be determined. The likeability of Mando and Grogu is what ensnared audiences and still does to this day. It is perhaps why the green-skinned Force user quickly made his way back to Pascal’s Din Djarin after they parted ways in the second season finale.
Pascal will most likely return to play–voice–Din Djarin in the upcoming movie event, but with a stacked list of projects, including this year’s Gladiator 2 (2024) from Ridley Scott, it seems that the movie may enter production without the beloved actor at least in the initial weeks.
What do you think about these major changes to The Mandalorian? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!
All three seasons of The Mandalorian are currently streaming on Disney+. The series includes Pedro Pascal as Din Djarin, Katee Sakhoff as Bo-Katan Kryze, Giancarlo Esposito as Moff Gideon, Carl Weathers as Greef Karga, Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano, Ming-Na Wen as Fennec Shand, Amy Sedaris as Peli Motto, Temuera Morrison as Bob Fett, Timothy Olyphant as Cobb Vanth, and Gina Carano as Cara Dune.