Star Wars is heading in an all new (but familiar) direction in the coming years. While Walt Disney has been fleshing out the galaxy far, far away with ample television offerings, its finally redirecting and sending The Mandalorian’s Din Djarin and Grogu to the big screen.
Disney officially announced that the film — aptly named The Mandalorian & Grogu — will go into production sometime in the Summer of 2024. Despite a 2026 release date, it’s still generating plenty of buzz.
The Mandalorian & Grogu release date
It’s official, The Mandalorian movie will hit theaters May 22, 2026. The coveted Memorial Day release should mean that Disney gets some good numbers for the Jon Favreau helmed project. Favreau has shined as one of the fandom’s penultimate contributors over the last decade alongside Dave Filoni, and the duo is teaming up yet again for Mando. Kathleen Kennedy is producing the film along side Filoni and Favreau.
While Filoni is helping Favreau to further the best father-son relationship in the galaxy, the director will be working on his own pet project, Ahsoka season 2.
Kennedy’s name gives many Star Wars diehards a lingering sense of dread after the widely unpopular sequel trilogy. Despite the slew of negative backlash from recent Disney Plus offerings, the producer is still going strong within the company. The Summer of 2023 saw fake reports that the producer was being let go, but with her name still heavily attached to any and all things Star Wars, those rumors are all but debunked.
For her part, Kennedy seems to be taking a back seat, saying,
“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.”
The film is expected to begin production summer 2024 in Los Angeles.
The Mandalorian & Grogu cast
It goes without saying that Pedro Pascal will be returning as the iconic Din Djarin, at least in voice. Fresh off an excellent year with The Last of Us and rumored to be the next Reed Richards in the Fantastic Four reboot, Pascal might be too busy to don his iconic armor. Not to worry, the actor has been using a body double for years. Though fans have learned to spot the difference, it doesn’t mean that Din has lost any of his panache.
So far, the series has seen Grogu stay relatively silent. Unless Disney decides to do something incredibly drastic and give our boy some actual lines, voice actor David Acord will likely return for those adorable baby-like vocalizations.
The series is still incredibly under wraps, but we’re hoping to see a return from some Mandalorian favorites like Bo Katan Kryze (Katee Sackoff), Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris), and The Armorer (Emily Swallow).
The Mandalorian & Grogu‘s potential place in the galaxy
Per ScreenRant the Mandalorian movie was announced at Star Wars Celebration 2023. The original announcement said the film would follow a fourth season of The Mandalorian and put Dave Filoni in the director’s chair. The Project is meant to tie Disney Plus series like Ahsoka, The Book of Boba Fett, and potentially even the upcoming Star Wars: Skeleton Crew together. Though the project aims to kick off this year, Disney has plenty of leg work before The Mandalorian & Grogu can take off.
This is a developing story and will be updated.