There was no mention of it during Lucasfilm's splashy Star Wars Celebration last year, but The Mandalorian and Grogu will be the first Star Wars movie released theatrically since 2019's The Rise of Skywalker.
Arriving in place of The Mandalorian season 4, the hope is that Din Djarin and The Child can restore the franchise to its former glory on the big screen (with the Rey-led movie next up for Lucasfilm and James Mangold and Dave Filoni's efforts somewhere on the twin-sunned horizon).
We recently learned that The Mandalorian and Grogu will be released on May 22, 2026, and a shooting update has been shared today by Making Star Wars (via SFFGazette.com).
"I talked to two different cats, both believe that filming is actually going on in May for 'The Mandalorian and Grogu," they explain. "In May there will be filming done. I’m not saying it’s May 1st, I’m not saying it’s May 31st, but it’s somewhere in there that things will be filmed for that specific movie."
We last heard that shooting would begin in mid-June, so it now appears as if work will begin sooner than expected. Yes, this Star Wars movie is actually happening unlike Rogue Squadron and all those scrapped trilogies (though Patty Jenkins has claimed to still be working on that long-delayed project).
Addressing Din Djarin double Brendan Wayne's past comments about shooting in June, the site added, "That was probably the initial start, the if we don’t meet our milestones start date. But it sounds like things are going swell is how it sounds. So we might have a Star Wars movie filming in the next couple of days so-to-speak."
It's previously been reported that Favreau's scripts for season 4 evolved into a movie after last year's WGA strikes. However, as The Mandalorian is such a big draw on Disney+, new episodes could still follow somewhere down the line. Only time will tell.
"I have loved telling stories set in the rich world that George Lucas created," Favreau said in a statement when news of these movie plans first broke. "The prospect of bringing the Mandalorian and his apprentice Grogu to the big screen is extremely exciting."
Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy added, "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."
Disney needs some guaranteed box office hits after a rough couple of years and The Mandalorian & Grogu is bound to succeed in that respect. Both characters are massively popular with hardcore and casual fans, and it will be interesting to see what sort of story this movie tells and whether it justifies the leap from streaming to theaters.