Last month, Lucasfilm officially announced a brand new Star Wars movie in the form of The Mandalorian and Grogu, a theatrical feature film that follows the events of the hit Disney+ series, The Mandalorian. At the time time, Lucasfilm shared that the movie being written by The Mandalorian series creator, Jon Favreau, and Dave Filoni, will begin production later this year, with Favreau also taking up directing duties. Now, new reports point towards a June start for filming on the flick.
Earlier this month, Production Weekly listed The Mandalorian and Grogu to begin filming on June 17th, 2024. Today, that report from Production Weekly has been followed up with a post on the Film and Television Industry Alliance website, which also dates The Mandalorian and Grogu to begin filming on June 17th, 2024. In addition, the FTIA post also sports a summary of the film, which reads, “The Mandalorian, a lone bounty hunter, is tasked with capturing Grogu, a mysterious and adorable creature. Instead, he forms a strong bond with Grogu and strives to protect him from various threats, exploring his purpose in a post-Empire galaxy.”
Since the announcement of The Mandalorian and Grogu last month, questions remain in regards to the status of the fourth season of The Mandalorian. In the Spring of last year, Jon Favreau, the series creator, shared that he had completed work on the scripts for season four, with production slated to begin toward the end of September 2023. However, filming was delayed indefinitely when the Writers Guild of America began striking on May 2nd, 2023 and didn’t conclude until September 2023. Shortly after the start of the WGA strike, the Screen Actors Guild began striking in July and with the strike ending in November. There’s been no update on the status of the series from Lucasfilm since, with season four getting no mention in their announcement of The Mandalorian and Grogu.
Some outlets have mentioned that the fourth season of the Disney+ series remains in development alongside the planned theatrical film. While others such as The Hollywood Reporter have shared that the status of season four is unclear and no longer a given to get made. MakingStarWars previously shared that he’d heard that something being considered was a shorter fourth season, with season four of The Mandalorian featuring six episodes instead of the usual eight, with The Mandalorian and Grogu acting as the finale to the season. However, it’s worth noting again that there has been no update from Lucasfilm in regards to the status of season four.
If The Mandalorian and Grogu is looking to begin shooting in June, and there’s no mention of production on season four, you can’t help but wonder if plans have changed at Lucasfilm and we won’t be getting a fourth season and the feature film, just the latter. Personally I’m fine with this – I like the idea of a streamlined Mando season four. I think most fans could agree that the third season of The Mandalorian is the weakest of the three seasons released, but it had a lot of good material within it, and I can’t help but think that a streamlined third season could’ve been great, and that bolsters my excitement for The Mandalorian and Grogu.
Within Lucasfilm’s announcement of The Mandalorian and Grogu, they mentioned that the film would lead their theatrical slate which includes an untitled Rey Skywalker movie from Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, a Mandalorian crossover event film from Dave Filoni, and a James Mangold directed effort that would explore the origins of the Jedi. The next Star Wars film is dated for May 2026, and with Lucasfilm claiming that The Mandalorian and Grogu will lead their theatrical releases, it’s more than likely we could see the film release on May 22nd, 2026.
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