It was recently reported that Lucasfilm is looking to turn The Mandalorian season 4 into a movie. Despite being an exciting prospect, it also seemed strange, particularly as Jon Favreau finished writing scripts for all eight episodes before the WGA strike began earlier this year.
Now, Bespin Bulletin and MakingStarWars (via SFFGazette.com) have weighed in, revealing that a source close to the production has confirmed the Disney+ series will remain a TV show and won't be the first Star Wars movie to hit theaters since 2019's The Rise of Skywalker.
It appears Jeff Sneider was working from outdated information, suggesting Lucasfilm did, at one stage, consider developing a movie revolving around Din Djarin and Grogu. As a result, the Daisy Ridley-led New Jedi Order movie is still on track to arrive in theaters a couple of years from now; when it comes to The Mandalorian season 4, that's still thought to be targeting a 2025 debut.
You'll recall that, in the wake of Gina Carano's firing, Rangers of the New Republic was scrapped and ideas from it were incorporated into The Mandalorian season 3 (which is why we spent an episode with Dr. Pershing and Elia Kane much to the chagrin of many fans).
As Ahsoka season 2 still hasn't been confirmed, there's been chatter online that ideas from that will be folded into The Mandalorian season 4 so it can lead directly into Dave Filoni's Star Wars movie (essentially turning it into Ahsoka season 1.5).
However, as Bespin Bulletin explains, "There are no plans for planned plot points of Ahsoka season two to be absorbed into the fourth season of The Mandalorian, amid worries amongst some fans that Ahsoka won’t receive a second season as one has yet to be announced."
The Acolyte and Skeleton Crew will both arrive on Disney+ in 2024 after Andor season 2 recently slipped into 2025. While Lucasfilm announced a slew of projects at Star Wars Celebration earlier this year, we got no definitive release dates and, with Kathleen Kennedy in charge, it's always hard to say what will and won't happen.
When Jon Favreau was asked about The Mandalorian's future at that event, he made it clear there are no plans to end the show after the next batch of episodes.
"No, I don’t – I think the beauty of this is that it’s a middle chapter of a much larger story. And though we’ll have resolution over time with these characters, I think that how these characters fit into the larger scope and scale, but it’s not like there’s a finale that we’re building to that I have in mind."
"Quite the contrary, I love for these stories to go on and on. And so these characters potentially could be with us for a while, and I really love telling stories in their voice, and I love the way the adventures unfold and I’m looking forward to doing much more."
Hopefully, we'll have more to share with you soon. In the meantime, stay tuned to SFFGazette.com for the latest Star Wars updates.