The next Star Wars film represents a major change for the star saga in more ways than one. Now the first details about the filming of The Mandalorian & Grogu are known.
After much uncertainty about the future of Star Wars in the cinema in recent years, the next film is becoming concrete. The Mandalorian & Grogu, a spin-off of the Star Wars series The Mandalorian on Disney+, is expected to hit the big screen in 2026 and turn the galaxy far, far away on its head.
Until now, the series have been influenced by the movies. Now a series is turning out to be the source of inspiration for a big-screen adventure. It remains to be seen whether the Mando concept will also work in the cinema. But it is already clear that director Jon Favreau is breaking with one of the oldest Star Wars traditions
New Star Wars film: The Mandalorian & Grogu takes a different path to all previous films in the saga
The Mandalorian & Grogu is the first Star Wars film to be shot entirely in California. As Deadline and Variety both report, the California Film Commission has pledged a considerable sum of almost 21.8 million US dollars to support the production. Only one movie has received more.
Bumblebee, the Transformers spin-off from 2018, received 22.4 million US dollars from the California Film Commission. There is a reason why the US state is putting so much money into The Mandalorian & Grogu. It is expected that over 166 million US dollars will flow into local businesses as a result of the filming.
The film is currently scheduled to take 92 days to shoot. To shoot the new Star Wars film, 500 crew members are needed, not to mention numerous extras. Deadline and Variety have reported a figure of 3500. In addition, there are 54 actors with speaking roles, which gives us an initial sense of the size of the film
USA instead of the UK and Australia: The Mandalorian & Grogu turns its back on the familiar Star Wars studios
Until now, the Star Wars films were mainly based in the UK. George Lucas shot Star Wars at Elstree Studios and Shepperton Studios. Later, Ealing Studios, Leavesden Studios and Pinewood Studios were added. The biggest detour took place in the course of the prequel trilogy.
After the Harry Potter films laid siege to Leavesden Studios in London, Lucas set up the main production hub for the prequels at Fox Studios in Sydney, Australia. Up until now, the USA has only been used for exterior shots, but no studio shoots. This is now changing in the course of The Mandalorian & Grogu.
The reason for this is probably a simple one: While the Star Wars films were mostly UK-exclusive, the live-action series are anchored in the US, most notably The Mandalorian. In California, there is an experienced team working with the pioneering volume technology that made The Mandalorian possible in the first place.
Favreau probably doesn’t want to do without this infrastructure when he shoots his first Star Wars film. It is questionable whether The Mandalorian & Grogu will also make a detour to real locations for individual scenes. Lucas used Tunisia as a Tatooine backdrop, for example, before the sequels plunged into the desert landscape of Jordan.
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