As we’ve known for a number of weeks, the next Star Wars theatrical release, The Mandalorian and Grogu, is looking to begin filming on June 17th, 2024. With this is mind, more news on the production will likely arise, just last week I reported that the film would shoot until October and it was just earlier this week that it was revealed that the production would receive $21.7 Million in California tax credits (you can read about it here). Now, a new report has possibly revealed the working title/codename of the upcoming movie.
Readers of mine would know that Lucasfilm using working titles/codename’s for their Star Wars productions is common practice. Some past examples include The Mandalorian season one having the codename/working title of Huckleberry, Ahsoka was Stormcrow, Obi-Wan Kenobi was Joshua Tree and The Acolyte was Paradox to name a small handful. Today CosmicCircus are reporting that the working title for The Mandalorian and Grogu is Thunder Alley.
I’ve followed CosmicCircus for a few years, and two of their writers, Lizzie Hill and Alex Perez, are fantastic when it comes to releasing Marvel Studios reports. The CC report doesn’t have either of those writers attached to the report, instead it’s labeled as written by the site’s entertainment team. I’ll try and get confirmation on this myself and will share with readers if I hear the same or different. (Update @ 21:30pm GMT – I can now corroborate the working title Thunder Alley).
As mentioned in the CosmicCircus report, Thunder Alley has been mentioned in the Star Wars universe before, specifically in the Legends novel, Before the Storm, “Thunder Alley was a region of space along New Republic borders that several fleets rotated to patrol. In 16 ABY just before the Black Fleet Crisis, the second fleet had been patrolling Thunder Alley the longest of the fleets without home service and shipyard services. Admiral Gial Ackbar convinced Chief of State Leia Organa to pull the Second Fleet out and replace it with the first fleet, which had been serving as Coruscant’s defense force during the same time.”
There’s no indication that the working title has been inspired by the Star Wars Legends material, though it’ll likely be the more common assumption among fans. Elsewhere, Thunder Alley is often discussed regarding stock car racing. The stock cars would run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately 0.25 to 2.66 miles. It originally used production-model cars, hence the name “stock car”, but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. As we know, George Lucas had an affinity for cars and racing (hello American Graffiti). There’s also a film titled Thunder Alley from 1967 directed by Richard Rush which centres on two stock car racers. There’s also a film from 1985 that sports the name Thunder Alley, but the plot of the film revolves around a rock band that are rising in the music industry and their mix up with drugs, this seems a little dark to have inspired the Disney produced film.
CosmicCircus are also reporting that the title for the untitled Rey Skywalker film set to be directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is Star Wars: A New Beginning. This title has been rumoured for many, many months and hasn’t come from anybody reliable. My sources say that this is not the case and I’ve seen other outlets on social media share that Lucasfilm themselves have denied this title.
The Mandalorian and Grogu is set to be directed by The Mandalorian series creator, Jon Favreau, who is also writing the effort alongside The Mandalorian executive producer, Dave Filoni. Currently the film has not received an official release date from Lucasfilm and Disney, though both have touted The Mandalorian and Grogu to be leading their Star Wars theatrical slate – there’s an untitled Star Wars film slated to release on May 22nd, 2026
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