During CinemaCon, the film’s director and co-writer Jon Favreau took part in an interview with journalist Matt Belloni. The creative talked at length about his current filmmaking process and what he did for transitioning The Mandalorian from a Disney+ streaming series to big screen theaters on May 22nd. Plus, how he has not used generative AI for scenes just yet but did not speak out against future use.
Making Mando Into A Movie
In terms of what to expect from The Mandalorian and Grogu, Jon Favreau says they had to treat it like the first season and the first episode of The Mandalorian. Specifically not assuming anyone has seen anything. This is especially true with it being the first Star Wars film in nearly 7 years. In contrast, there does need to be a balance for fans of Star Wars
“There are audience members who were not old enough to know Star Wars in the theater. We have to invite those fans in.”
Jon Favreau once again confirms he wrote a fourth season of The Mandalorian before the 2023 writing and actors strikes. There had already been conversations about doing Mandalorian in cinemas with this “for a long time”. Back then, the director assumed it would be a mix of different media: “something for streaming and then having a theatrical component”. The he was asked if he wanted to bring Mando and Grogu onto the big screen.
We’ve known for some time that The Mandalorian and Grogu was shot on the Volume alongside real sets plus things like stop-motion and puppets were involved. However, the director teases there is a sequence in the film that is completely stop-motion. It was also made with Phil Tippett, one of the Original Trilogy VFX artists.
Favreau also notes how he is delving more into video game engines than before. For those unaware, Unreal Engine 4 and now 5 is used for the Volume’s backgrounds. It is also used in pre-visualisation and things the director is doing within Disney’s parks. He notes that filmmaking, visual effects, gaming, and animation are becoming close to one another in their production.
Iterating in the game engine and coming up with renders of pre-vis that you could evaluate editorially and get precise before you ever roll camera.”
Lucasfilm’s Path
When asked if Lucasfilm is going to be different under the new leadership of Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan, Favreau did not say too much. He did note that “exploration” is taking place among Lucasfilm and other creative studios. It’s mostly within the meeting audiences where they are department.
“Whether it’s for streaming, what’s that model, or is it in the theaters? I think this is part of why myself and a lot of filmmakers are here; is because this is: because this is such an important moment and important year.
When I get in there, I do the best I can. I just concentrate on the things I have understanding and control over.
I think they’re still exploring the model.”
Lastly, he addressed fans or others who had not liked some recent Star Wars projects.
“I think the people you’re talking about who don’t know about Star Wars… We need to address that. We need to show them what’s cool about it. We just have to present them with something that gets them excited about seeing it in a movie theater.”
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