As we speak in information we weren’t anticipating within the second week of 2024: The Mandalorian is getting a film. Titled The Mandalorian & Grogu, the film, according to Lucasfilm, will start manufacturing this yr with Jon Favreau, who created the TV collection and served as showrunner, set to direct.
That is the way in which, and possibly indicative of what The Mandalorian ought to have been from the start. At the same time as Disney tried to capitalize on its acquisition of the Star Wars franchise—and bolster Disney+ subscriptions—by churning out a lot of street-level collection, an incredible lots of them have felt like motion pictures already. Excluding, maybe, Andor, which is as a lot a political drama as it’s a Star Wars present, lots of the Star Wars collection have misplaced steam mid-season. If a present like, say, Guide of Boba Fett or Obi-Wan Kenobi had been trimmed all the way down to a 2.5-hour house opera, they could have struck a greater chord.
Bringing The Mandalorian & Grogu to theaters additionally looks like one thing of a hat tip to the place Lucasfilm desires to take the franchise sooner or later. Final summer time, Disney CEO Bob Iger indicated the corporate is perhaps trying to spend much less on its mega-franchises. Making a film that includes one in all a Star Wars present’s most beloved characters achieves that with out ramping up a complete galaxy-spanning movie—or trilogy of them—full of huge names. (One notice on that: Lucasfilm’s announcement didn’t say whether or not or not Pedro Pascal can be reprising his function as Mando.) Add in the truth that lots of The Mandalorian to date has been shot on Lucasfilm’s digital set, StageCraft, and it’s a no brainer.
The give attention to one character’s journey (or one character and his Child Yoda sidekick) additionally appears of a chunk with the forthcoming Rey-focused feature being directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (Ms. Marvel).
The films from Mandalorian author Dave Filoni and James Mangold (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Future) appear to be broader in scope, however Filoni’s, no less than, is meant to deliver the plotlines of Ahsoka, The Guide of Boba Fett, and The Mandalorian collectively. Whereas somebody like Luke or Rey has typically been the hero on a journey in a Star Wars film, they’ve all the time been joined by Hans, Leias, Finns, and Poes. Making a Mando movie, then, is a sign not all of them can be ensemble affairs on the identical stage. (It additionally provides this author hope that Shawn Levy’s forthcoming Star Wars movie might simply be a buddy comedy that includes Jabba the Hutt and Salacious B. Crumb.)
In accordance with the movie’s announcement, The Mandalorian & Grogu “will lead Lucasfilm’s feature-development slate,” which incorporates Filoni, Mangold, and Obaid-Chinoy’s motion pictures. No launch date has been set, however, as The Hollywood Reporter points out, the studio does have a Star Wars function on the calendar for December 19, 2025.