Star wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu In Theaters Now

Just a quick reminder that Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu is now in theaters. Below is clip from the movie.

May the 4th The Mandalorian and Grogu TV Spot

For May the 4th, here is a new TV spot for Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu movie that is hitting theaters on May 22 that looks back at the mentor, mentee relationship of the franchise. After that is a new clip from the movie. 

The Mandalorian and Grogu TV Spot

Here is a new TV spot for Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu movie hitting theaters on May 22. Unlike previous, this one isn't a mish mash of quick cuts.

Chase Clip for The Mandalorian and Grogu

Below is a new clip for Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu that was first shown on Jimmy Kimmel Live! when he interviewed director Jon Favreau. It shows a portion of the chase sequence where Grogu attempts to be helpful but the ship design doesn't make it easy.

Final Trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu

Disney has released the final trailer for Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu that will hit theaters on May 22 with tickets now on sale. Meanwhile 18 minutes of movie footage was screened at CinemaCon, a convention for theater owners. If interested in a description, go here.

The Mandalorian and Grogu Official Trailer

Disney and Lucasfilm have finally release the first official trailer for The Mandlorian and Grogu movie that will theaters on May 22. Fun trailer worth checking out.

Super Bowl The Mandalorian & Grogu TV Spot

The Super Bowl was held Sunday and part of that included a few movie trailers. Far less than there use to be. One them was an unusual TV spot with voice over from Sam Elliot for The Mandalorian & Grogu movie that will hit theaters on May 22nd.

The Mandalorian and Grogu Official Trailer and Poster

Out of the blue, here is the first official trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu movie coming out on May 22, 2026.

D23 Expo Reveals Skeleton Crew, Lego Trailers and Other News

D23 Expo brought news of various Disney plans for the remainder of the year and next year. D23 stands for Disney 1923, the year of the companies founding. At their Disney Showcase, the Star Wars section brought news on Andor, The Mandalorian & Grogu movie and triailers for Skeleton Crew and Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy.

Starting with Andor, a quick behind the scenes video was shown for those at the Expo that including confirmation three Star Wars: Rogue One actors will appear in the season with Ben Mendelsohn as Director Krennic, Forest Whitaker as Saw Gerrera and Alan Tudyk voicing K-2SO. The second and last season "will follow Cassian over the period of four years as he grows into the hero we see make the ultimate sacrifice in Rogue One." No specific release date but assumed at some point in 2025.

New on The Mandalorian & Grogu was also light with director Jon Favreau and producer Dave Filoni introducing a quick video about the movie. Main news is filming has begun on the movie with goal of a 2026 release date, the Razorcrest returns, and Zeb Orrelios from Star Wars: Rebels will appear.

Below is the new trailer for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew that has a very Goonies feel to it, complete with first ever look at what the suburbs of a planet. First two episodes will premiere on Disney+ on December 3rd.

Last bit of news is a four-part animated special "Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy" where a nerf-herder Sig Greebling accidently triggers an ancient Jedi artifact that reorders in the galaxy in weird ways. Multiple Star Wars alumni voice characters including Mark Hamill, Ahmed Best, Anthony Daniels and more. The mini-series will debut on September 13th on Disney+.

Phantom Menace Returns To Theaters, Acolyte Release and Mandalorian Movie Sets Production Start

Just some quick news on the Star Wars front.

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menance will return to theaters for May the 4th weekend for its 25th Anniversary. The length of time in theaters is "limited" so probably based on ticket sales. No other details were provided.

The Acolyte series will hit Disney+ sometime this summer. The series is set 50 years before the Phantom Menace and will focus on a Padawan and her Master as they investigate crimes.

The Mandalorian and Grogu movie will begin production in June 2024. The film is written and directed by Jon Favreau (Iron Man) who, along with Dave Filoni, is a driving force between the various Star Wars TV series for the last 5 years. Season 4 of The Mandalorian remains a possiblility as its not been cancelled but future plans remain murky.

New Star Wars Movie, Ahsoka Season 2 Announced

In a bit of unexpected news, Lucasfilm has announced that a new Star Wars film has joined the production slate. Called "The Mandalorian & Grogu", it will be directed by Jon Favreau who created and prolific writer on The Mandalorian TV series. Unlike other announcements, this one actual sounds like a plan is in place with filming expected to start later this year. No release date has been announced but Disney has had an untitled Star Wars film penciled in for December 19, 2025 that this film could take over.

“I have loved telling stories set in the rich world that George Lucas created,” said Favreau. “The prospect of bringing the Mandalorian and his apprentice Grogu to the big screen is extremely exciting.” Lucasfilm leader Katheleen Kennedy said “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.”

What this mean for The Mandalorian season 4 is unknown. In theory they could film a season four and the movie this year and hit that year end 2025 release date but really no information was given. My assumption is they will film the movie and decide on continuation of the series after. The other Star Wars movie technically still in the works is New Jedi Order with Daisy Ridley reprising her role of Rey but honestly I will be surprised if that doesn't end up being abandoned considering how poorly setup the post Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker world was setup due to JJ Abrams inability to world build.

In addition to the film, Ahsoka season 2 has begun development so good news for those worried about a renewal. As for when get a chance to watch it, just assume at some point in 2025.

The Mandalorian To Get 4K and Blu-Ray Release

Disney has announced that The Mandalorian season 1 and 2 will get released in 4K UHD and Blu-ray on December 12 in Steelcase form with cover art by Attila Szarka and three concept art cards. Loki season 1 (out September 26) and WandaVision (out November 28) are getting the same treatment. All four season sets will become available for pre-order starting December 12.

The news just indicates steelbook releases so no idea with a normal case will be part of the release schedule. Currently no information on what bonus features will be part of the Mando season sets. No info on seasson 3 but with it just released last year, Disney is likely going to wait and see how these sales do and make sure any home video release isn't going to canniblize Disney+ subscriptions. If hoping for season 4 news, that is probably a ways off as Hollywood still has two strikes to deal with. Even if strikes magically ended tomorrow, still a whole lot of work before can start filming so at this point just assume at least a 2025 release date.

The Mandalorian Season 3 Has Begun on Disney+

Just a friendly reminder that The Mandalorian season 3 has begun its weekly run on Disney+ with the first episode available now.

The Mandalorian Season 3 Trailer, Release Date

 Last night Disney+ dropped the first trailer for season 3 of The Mandalorian. The eight episode season will begin on March 1, 2023.

Disney Convention Brings New Star Wars Trailers, News

Over the weekend, the D23 Expo was held that is essentially an official convention for all things Disney. The company used the occasion to show off upcoming film and TV projects across their entire slate including Star Wars, MCU and more.

The first video below is the final trailer for Star Wars: Andor that will start streaming on Disney+ starting September 21.  The second video is a teaser for season three of The Mandalorian that does not have a release date beyond being sometime in 2023. The last video is for Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi that are six shorts involving many known Jedi's at certain points in their history. No trailer yet but Star Wars: The Bad Batch season two will begin on January 4, 2023 for a 16 episode run.

On the news front, another member of Star Wars: Rebels is getting the live action treatment with Eman Esfandi (King Richard) joining the cast of Star Wars: Ahsoka as Ezra Bridger.  If interested in the MCU news click here. For MCU trailers, click here. Other Disney projects like Willow, click here. 

Vanity Fair Article Outlines Future of Star Wars for TV and Film

Vanity Fair is providing a pretty good look Disney+ every expanding Star Wars TV universe. The article is worth reading for fans. Below if a a few highlights of note. 

TV Shows: 

- Obi-Wan Kenobi is out May 27 as Ewan McGregor reprises the role to protect Luke from an Inquistor that hunts down the Jedi and potential force users. 

- Andor, coming out late summer, will focus on the character from Star Wars: Rogue One along with Senator Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly) who becomes the leader of the Rebels. 

 - The Mandalorian season 3 is aiming for late 2022 to early 2023 release date. 

 - Ahsoka is still in the works, no release date set but aiming for 2023 release. 

- The Acolyte is also planned, set about 100 years before The Phantom Menace. Set in the time of a "prosperous and seemingly peaceful era" at least on the surface. 

- "Grammar Rodeo", code name for untitled Star Wars series set in same period as The Mandalorian from director Jon Watts (Spider-Man: No Way Home) and writer Chris Ford (Spider-Man: Homecoming), is described as "galactic version of classic Amblin coming-of-age adventure films of the ’80s." 

TV Shows Highlights: 

- Mary Elizabeth Winstead has been cast in Ahsoka in unnamed role. 

- Andor is described by lead Diego Luna as "a refugee story, with desperate people fleeing the Empire at the full force of its power." 

- Dave Filoni, who worked along side George Lucas and worked on all Star Wars cartoons, had added to the Mandalorian people that was different then The Mandalorian creator Jon Farveau was planning. The two worked together to merge their visions of the culture. 

- “I think people now look back and think it was like a slam dunk, but we were very cautious,” Filoni says of the Child. “The amount of measuring, especially in the first season, for how we were framing this kid took a lot of effort.” 

- Star Wars TV shows are filmed in studio space called The Volume (also called StageCraft), where large curved LED wall allows them to create whatever environment they need to create look as if filmed on location. Four Volumes now exist, three in LA, one in London and one in Vancouver. 

- Decision to add Darth Vader, played by Hayden Christensen, to Obi-Wan Kenobi wasn't decided until March 2020. Initial drafts of the show concept did not include him in large part because of their final confrontation in A New Hope. 

- The decision to cast Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka was influenced by fan art of her as the character. - Kathleen Kennedy on re-casting the core Star Wars cast, "There should be moments along the way when you learn things. Now it does seem so abundantly clear that we can’t do that." (Stupid lesson to take from the Solo film not doing well instead of recognizing it was a weak story that came out just a few months after audience divisive The Last Jedi.) 

Movies: 

- Untitled movie from director Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnorok) and writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns (1917) is first in new pipeline. No release date or other story details. 

- Rogue Squadron, from director Patty Jenkins, is still planned but that could be many years away. 

- Rian Johnson (The Last Jedi) was going to do a new trilogy but that is on hold due to his Netflix deal for the Knives Out franchise. (It is likely dead.) “I hesitate to use the word trilogies anymore because Star Wars is much more about persistent storytelling,” Kennedy says.

Star Wars TV Shows Filming Update, Virtual Production Video

It looks like the wait for The Mandalorian Season 3 will be a longer one as the series is not expected to start filming until late into the year. The reason why is due to special "Virtual Production" stage built specifically for filming Star Wars television shows and pioneered by The Mandalorian Season 2. Video below gets into the details of the stage.  

So with one virtual stage to film on and three Star Wars shows in the works, that means coordinating when what can film when.  As of right now, The Book of Boba Fett has wrapped with goal of a December release date.  Next to use the space will be Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series that will likely take 3 or so months to film.  Once that completes work, that will allow The Mandalorian to take over and begin filming.  The order of the television filming slate was likely also impacted by Padro Pascal's schedule as he is spending the summer filming "The Last of Us" for HBO.  

The video below is worth checking out as likely more and more television shows and movies will use the technology once more virtual stages are built using it.

 

Disney Reveals 10 Star Wars Series in the Works, Rogue Squadron Movie

Today Disney held its annual investor conference. With the company as a whole shifting to a streaming model, that meant revealing their plans for 2021 and beyond across all their brands including Lucasfilm with Star Wars. The biggest bit of news is they have 10 Star Wars series that plan on creating over the next year or so. The release dates, what few there are, are pretty vague but plans are to start rolling things out likely in late 2021 and throughout 2022. 

Star Wars: 

Rogue Squadron 

Andor 

The Mandalorian Season 3 

Ahsoka

Rangers of the New Republic

Obi-Wan Kenobi

Lando

The Acolyte

The Bad Batch

Visions

Lucasfilm:

Indiana Jones 5

Willow

Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman 84) has been tapped to direct Star Wars: Rogue Squadron. In a tweet the director expressed the project is personal as she wants it to reflect her loss and love of her fighter pilot father by making the "greatest fighter pilot movie of all time." Rogue Squadron is the designation of the pilots that attacked the Death Star in The Battle of Yavin in Star Wars: A New Hope. Luke Skywalker is a founding member, first flight leader and the one who named the squadron using Jyd Erso from Star Wars: Rogue One as inspiration for their call sign (as depicted in Star Wars comics). In the now defunct Legacies/Extended Universe stories, Rogue Squadron continued on, members coming and going as the Resistence fought the Empire on multiple fronts. It later reformed during the age of the New Republic to fight new enemies. End result is the movie could pretty much be set at any time in Star Wars canon and use any old or new characters as it sees fit to tell its story. 

Speaking of Rogue One, the prequel movie will get its own prequel series of sorts with Andor. Diego Luna will reprise his character of Cassian Andor. The series will show the Rebellion spy doing his work before his job at some point before the movie as it will likely depict origins of the Rebellion. Below is a brief a "sizzle reel" for the series. 

The Mandalorian season 3 is expected to drop around Christmas time in 2021. It will also spin off two series Ahsoka and Rangers of the New Republic. Ahsoka will have Rosario Dawson return to the role with Disney saying its set "within the timeline of The Mandalorian." The assumption is it will continue to explore the characters search for Admiral Thrawn from Star Wars: Rebels.  Rangers of the New Republic will follow some of the "sheriff" type characters that have periodically helped The Mandalorian. Exactly who will be in the series was not revealed.

For years it was rumored that next non trilogy movie would be Obi-Wan. After Solo failed to perform, the movie was cancelled. But not the idea as Disney decided to shift to a series. That remains the case but now its been revealed that Hayden Christensen will return as Darth Vader for the series. The series itself will take place 10 years after the events of Star Wars: The Revenge of the Sith. 

The details are light on Lando but Donald Glover reprise the role from Solo and likely will be set somewhere around that time period which is also after The Revenge of the Sith. Justin Simien (Dear White People) is set to create the series. 

According to Disney's tweet, "The Acolyte is a mystery-thriller that will take viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic Era." The end of the High Republic era was depicted in Star Wars Episodes I to III but that era was around 1000 or so years old in time frame. Probably to give viewers landmarks, I wouldn't be surprised if the series is set a little bit before The Phantom Menace. 

With all the live action announcements, Disney has not forgotten the cartoon side of things that kept the Star Wars flame going for years between movies with Star Wars: The Bad Batch and Visions. Bad Batch is set after end of Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV series. The Batch is a reference to the fact that during this time all soldiers were clones of Jango Fett, father of Boba Fett. From Disney: "Star Wars: The Bad Batch follows the elite and experimental clones of the Bad Batch (first introduced in “The Clone Wars”) as they find their way in a rapidly changing galaxy in the immediate aftermath of the Clone War. Members of Bad Batch—a unique squad of clones who vary genetically from their brothers in the Clone Army—each possess a singular exceptional skill that makes them extraordinarily effective soldiers and a formidable crew. In the post-Clone War era, they will take on daring mercenary missions as they struggle to stay afloat and find new purpose. This animated series will arrive exclusively on Disney+." Trailer for Bad Batch is below. 

Star Wars: Visions will be a series of "animated short films, celebrates Star Wars galaxy through the lends of the world's best Japanese anime creators. Coming in 2021 to Disney+" 

On a related note, Lucasfilm has other plans beyond Star Wars with Indiana Jones 5 going into production in 2021 for a July 2022 release date with James Mangold (Ford v Ferrari) directing. Harrison Ford will return to the role, likely for the last time in what many are assuming will be one more attempt to hand the role off to another. The current rumor is Chris Pratt. The Willow TV series is coming in 2022 with Jon Chu (Crazy Rich Asians) directing the pilot. Warwick Davis will reprise the role of Willow Ufgood from the 1988 film.

The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 1 Streaming Now

Friendly reminder that The Mandlorian season 2 has begun its streaming run on Disney+. The episode goes right into some classic trilogy lore that fans should have fun with. New episodes will hit the streaming service each Friday morning.

The Mandalorian Season 2 Official Trailer

On October 30, the Child return in The Mandalorian season 2. Below is the official trailer that comes with the description:

The Mandalorian and the Child continue their journey, facing enemies and rallying allies as they make their way through a dangerous galaxy in the tumultuous era after the collapse of the Galactic Empire. “The Mandalorian” stars Pedro Pascal, Gina Carano, Carl Weathers and Giancarlo Esposito. Directors for the new season include Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rick Famuyiwa, Carl Weathers, Peyton Reed and Robert Rodriguez. Showrunner Jon Favreau serves as executive producer along with Dave Filoni, Kathleen Kennedy and Colin Wilson, with Karen Gilchrist serving as co-executive producer.