By Chad W. Shreeves

Star Wars’ future in the theaters has seemed murky lately, with 2024 marking a full five years since Lucasfilm’s The Rise of Skywalker. Despite announcements and plenty of rumors over this five year span, fans of the sci-fi/fantasy saga have been left with very little to get excited for as far as theatrical releases.

That may be coming to an end. Last year, Lucasfilm announced three new film projects in development. The first, a return of Daisy Ridley’s Rey leading a new era for the franchise. Second, a distant prequel directed by James Mangold (Logan, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny) that is meant to explore the origins of the Jedi. The third, which seems to have gotten the most attention, was a giant finale of the “Mandoverse” (as the fans have called it) that began in 2019 with the Disney+ hit series The Mandalorian.

There have been updates and small bits of information about all three of these movies, but Lucasfilm has remained tight lipped. Until today.

Lucasfilm officially announced The Mandalorian and Grogu, a feature film taking place shortly after 2023’s The Mandalorian Season 3 and Ahsoka (recently picked up for a second season itself). The film will be directed by Jon Favreau, who has been instrumental in spearheading the Mandalorian series as a whole. It will also be produced by Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy and newly promoted Chief Creative Office Dave Filoni.

The Mandalorian proved to be a high point for Disney’s era of the Star Wars saga, one that has been met with divisiveness and wildly differing reviews. But the Jon Favreau/Dave Filoni led series has garnered near universal acclaim for recapturing that classic Star Wars feel.

No casting announcements have been made, but it’s highly expected Pedro Pascal will return as the titular bounty hunter amid other franchise stars like Katee Sackhoff and Rosario Dawson.

There is also no release date, but Lucasfilm confirmed filming begins this year. Depending on the development timeline, this could allow The Mandalorian and Grogu to hit theaters on the December 19,2025 release date Lucasfilm has been holding.

This does leave with some questions that haven’t quite been answered yet. Is this the same as the originally announced Filoni directed project and they just replaced directors? What does this mean for the Daisy Ridley film that was also rumored to begin production later this year? Does this film replace the already announced Mandalorian season 4? We’ll get these answers soon.

While not much, Lucasfilm seems to be picking up speed on getting Star Wars back on the big screen. More information will likely be coming as the Disney-owned studio begins to staff up for production later this year.

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