The Mandalorian & Grogu (May 22, 2026)

Lucasfilm on Tuesday broke the news of a new Star Wars film, The Mandalorian & Grogu, to be directed and produced by The Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau.

Details as to the plot of the film are under wraps, but it will commence production sometime this year. In addition to Favreau, producers of the project include Kathleen Kennedy and Dave Filoni.

First introduced in 2019 with the launch of Disney+, the Mandalorian (aka Din Djarin) is a lone bounty hunter played by Pedro Pascal, who operates in the outer reaches of the galaxy. His life takes a dramatic turn when he is tasked with capturing a mysterious and adorable creature called Grogu — a fan-favorite character otherwise known as “The Child” or “Baby Yoda.” Instead of delivering Grogu to his clients, the Mandalorian develops a strong bond with the little one and becomes determined to protect him from various threats. Their journey forms the heart of the series, exploring the Mandalorian’s evolving sense of purpose and responsibility as he navigates the challenges of a post-Empire galaxy.

It’s not yet been confirmed whether Pascal will reprise his role as the Mandalorian for the new film. At present, a fourth season of his hit series is also in development.

“I have loved telling stories set in the rich world that George Lucas created,” stated Favreau on the new project. “The prospect of bringing the Mandalorian and his apprentice Grogu to the big screen is extremely exciting.”

Lucasfilm’s President, 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.”

The Mandalorian & Grogu leads an ongoing feature development slate at Lucasfilm that also includes films helmed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, James Mangold and Dave Filoni, as previously announced. This would set the film up as the first from the Star Wars universe to hit theaters since since Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker back in 2019.

The Star Wars franchise is coming to shoot a film entirely in California for the first time with The Mandalorian & Grogu movie, and the Golden State is paying out its weight in tax incentive gold to have the bounty hunter saga made within state lines.

To be specific, that is a total tonnage of $21,755,000 in conditional tax credits for the Jon Favreau directed film. With a new Fantastic Four, Gladiator 2 and a new season of The Last of Us on his dance card, it is unclear right now if SAG Award winner Pedro Pascal will be resuming his role of Din Djarin and teaming back up with the charming Baby Yoda for the Mandalorian movie.

What is known is that $21,755,000 in tax credits is one of the biggest allocations in the California Film Commission run program’s history.

Put another way, Mandalorian & Grogu won’t be getting the $22.4 million that Transformers spinoff Bumblebee scored back in 2017, but it tops the more than $20.8 million that Captain Marvel was awarded seven years ago, and the $20.2 million that Quentin Tarantino’s supposed last film #10 received last September.

Estimated to be hiring 500 crew members, 54 cast members, and 3500 background players for 92 filming days in California this year, The Mandalorian & Grogu is expected to generate a record-breaking $166,438,000 in qualified expenditures and below-the-line wages. As fans of the Force know, while Mandalorian is aiming to be the first Star Wars movie to be 100% made in California, Return of the Jedi exteriors were filmed in the state back in the early 1980s.

Still, for a state looking at a bulging $73 billion deficit and an entertainment industry going through its painful Great Contraction, the Mandalorian movie is looking like the greatest job creator out of any movie awarded a tax incentive out of California’s program.  For a more than $330 million per year program revitalized in 2014 as job creation centric and seeking to attract big budget movies back to the home of Hollywood, that’s a pretty big number — even more so in the currently anemic state of the industry post-strikes.

The Disney/Lucasfilm production also knocks Disney/Marvel’s Captain Marvel off its perch as the previous top dog in qualified expenditures and below-the-line wages that mainlined into California’s economy. Partially filmed in Louisiana, the Brie Larson-led MCU picture generated $137 million into the California economy out of its production back in 2018.

Along with Amazon MGM’s recently acquired Chris Pratt-led Mercy, The Mandalorian movie and the 13 other films were awarded conditional tax incentives out of this most recent round of applications, The results of that round, which ran from January 22–29, are estimated by the CFC to eventually inject $408 million into California’s economy through qualified in-state expenditures.

“We are thrilled to be able to shoot in Los Angeles thanks to the tax credit,” said Mercy producer Charles Roven of today’s announcement, which will see the Timur Bekmambetov directed film get just under $4.4 million in incentives. “We get to work with terrific talent that lives here and utilize the wonderful locations. And almost everyone gets to go home to their own bed at the end of day!,” Oscar nominated Roven added.

From the 35,000 feet perspective, the 15 films will hire a total of 2,252 crew members, 598 cast, and 16,800 background performers that will equal a combination of 579 filming days. In the belt tightening that Gov. Gavin Newsom and the legislature in Sacramento have had to do for this year’s state budget, the Tax Incentive program has been left untouched so far because of the jobs, expenditures and cash positive revenues it results in.

The next round of tax incentives allocation will be for the small screen, with applications being accepted February 26-28 for Recurring and Relocating Television Series, and from March 4-6 for New Television Series. The successful applicants for the $200 million in incentives available for that round will be announced on April 8. For the big screen, the next application period for the $80 million in tax incentives available will start in August.

As bounty hunter Din Djarin said in his first lines in the first episode of The Mandalorian TV series back in late 2019: “I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold.” Yes, but in the competitive arena of lucrative tax credits and incentives around North America and the globe, everyone loves the warmth of big checks, don’t they?

Take a look at the 15 films conditionally allocated about $61 million in tax credits below:

The Mandalorian & Grogu will arrive in theaters around Memorial Day… a few years from now.

The big-screen film based on Disney+’s The Mandalorian series will be released on Wednesday, May 22, 2026, our sister site Deadline reports.

Jon Favreau, showrunner of Disney+’s The Mandalorian, will direct. He’ll also produce alongside Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and Dave Filoni.

“I have loved telling stories set in the rich world that George Lucas created,” Favreau said via statement when the movie was announced in January. “The prospect of bringing the Mandalorian and his apprentice Grogu to the big screen is extremely exciting.”

In related, not as cute-and-cuddly Mandalorian news, the cast and crew recently mourned the loss of series star Carl Weathers, who played Greef Karga. Weathers died in February.

“I am heartbroken by this devastating loss,” said Favreau. “He was a hero from my childhood who I was lucky enough to meet and then had the amazing good fortune to work with. He had the energy and curiosity of a young man paired with the wisdom that his rich life and career afforded him. My heart goes out to his family and countless admirers.”