Oscars campaign starts now.
Photo: Lucasfilm Ltd.
Save us, Baby Yoda feature film, you’re our only hope!
Star Wars HQ released a transmission January 9 announcing director Jon Favreau is working on a feature-film adaptation of The Mandalorian set to begin production later this year. The Mandalorian & Grogu will be the first Star Wars feature film since The Rise of Skywalker (Episode IX) closed out the sequel trilogy in 2019, a month after The Mandalorian debuted on Disney+. The series, starring Pedro Pascal as Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin, has been a hit, owing in no small part (because there are no small parts, just small little alien puppet actors) to the irresistibly cute Grogu, a.k.a. the Child, a.k.a. Baby Yoda.
Since then, Lucasfilm’s focus has primarily been on its Star Wars streaming-series offerings, including The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, and Ahsoka, which has a second season in development. This will be the first movie adaptation of a Disney+ series from this universe, and it seems like a great way to jumpstart the franchise’s next theatrical phase. There are also Star Wars films by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, James Mangold, and Dave Filoni in development, but none of them have a cute little green guy who eats frogs and moves merch. Think of the souvenir popcorn buckets!
In addition to directing, Favreau will produce the film alongside Filoni and Kathleen Kennedy. “I have loved telling stories set in the rich world that George Lucas created,” Favreau said in a statement. “The prospect of bringing the Mandalorian and his apprentice Grogu to the big screen is extremely exciting.” Kennedy added that these characters are “a perfect fit for the big screen.” This Mandalorian & Grogu comes after last year’s news that Donald Glover’s Lando Calrissian spinoff will now be a movie instead of a series. May the box-office numbers be with them all.