Star Wars Announces A Mandalorian & Grogu Live-Action Movie Coming Soon
"The Mandalorian" is making the jump to the big screen, bringing Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu to theaters in a new theatrical Star Wars film directed by Jon Favreau. An official announcement from Lucasfilm claims that the movie will "lead Lucasfilm's ongoing feature-development slate, including films helmed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, James Mangold, and Dave Filoni." Presumably, that means that "The Mandalorian & Grogu," as the upcoming film is called in the announcement, will be the first new Star Wars movie to hit cinemas since "The Rise of Skywalker" in 2019.
Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and chief creative officer Dave Filoni will produce alongside Favreau. The announcement makes no mention of a "Mandalorian" Season 4, which suggests the movie will take the place of a fourth Disney+ outing, as previously rumored. The statement from Lucasfilm also confirms that "Ahsoka" Season 2 is currently in development.
No story details have been released as of yet, but given how "The Mandalorian" Season 3 ends, there are a lot of possibilities. The last we saw of Din and Grogu, they were enjoying some rest and relaxation at their new homestead on Nevarro. However, since Grogu is officially Din's Mandalorian apprentice now, he'll have to go on some proper adventures to come of age, as is custom. "I have loved telling stories set in the rich world that George Lucas created," Favreau said in a statement on StarWars.com. "The prospect of bringing the Mandalorian and his apprentice Grogu to the big screen is extremely exciting."
What the Mandalorian movie means for the future of Star Wars
Though it wasn't always the plan, a "Mandalorian" movie makes a lot of sense for where Star Wars is right now. Since the mixed responses to "The Last Jedi," "Solo: A Star Wars Story," and "The Rise of Skywalker," which were accompanied by diminishing box office takes, Lucasfilm has been timid to bet big on another Star Wars movie. "The Mandalorian" has been the most successful and widely watched Disney+ project that the franchise has put out since 2019, making it the perfect choice to bring casual fans back to the theater. As Kathleen Kennedy put it in the official announcement, "Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni have ushered into Star Wars two new and beloved characters, and this new story is a perfect fit for the big screen."
The official statement from Lucasfilm also mentions that Filoni's Star Wars movie is still in development — a film meant to bring together storylines from "The Mandalorian," "The Book of Boba Fett," "Ahsoka," and the upcoming "Skeleton Crew" show. The popular theory is that Filoni's movie will feature Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) as the big bad. Hopefully, keeping these two movies separate will give "The Mandalorian & Grogu" more room to breathe. Given how tumultuous Star Wars has been in recent years, it seems prudent to return to theaters with a simple space adventure movie, rather than the climax to five years of assorted streaming storylines.
"The Mandalorian & Grogu" is currently slated to begin production later in 2024.