Kathleen Kennedy has made a big comparison — and yes, Star Wars fandom will almost certainly discuss it calmly, politely, and with no dramatic overreactions whatsoever. Speaking about Jon Favreau and The Mandalorian and Grogu, Kennedy compared Favreau’s approach to innovation with the way George Lucas pushed filmmaking technology forward. In a new GamesRadar+ report, Kennedy praised Favreau for taking technology and cinema “into the next level,” saying that spirit reminds her of what Lucas did. That is not a small compliment. In Star Wars terms, that is basically handing someone the keys to the digital toolbox and saying, “Try not to break cinema.” Favreau’s Star Wars Has Always Been Tech-Driven The comparison makes sense when you look at what The Mandalorian actually did for modern production. Favreau helped bring StageCraft and the Volume into the mainstream conversation, using large LED environments to blend real-time digital backgrounds with live-action filming….
The Mandalorian and Grogu
Pedro Pascal Wants to Keep Playing Din Djarin After The Mandalorian and Grogu
Pedro Pascal is not ready to hang up the helmet. Or, more accurately, he is not ready for everyone involved in wearing the helmet to hang it up. Speaking during a London Q&A attended by GamesRadar+, Pascal said he hopes to continue playing Din Djarin beyond The Mandalorian and Grogu, calling the role the longest creative relationship of his career. As he put it, he would like to keep going “for as long as my body, or as many bodies as we put into the suit, can take it,” according to GamesRadar+. That is a very Pedro Pascal way of saying: yes, the Mandalorian business may continue. Din Djarin Is No Short-Term Gig Anymore Pascal first stepped into the role when The Mandalorian premiered in 2019. Seven years later, Din Djarin has become one of modern Star Wars’ most recognizable characters — even though the show’s central joke remains that…
Grogu Café Is Opening in London, Because Star Wars Has Finally Weaponized Matcha
Grogu has already conquered toys, memes, Disney+ thumbnails, lunchboxes, plush shelves, and the emotional stability of anyone with functioning eyes. Now he is coming for London’s café scene. Disney UK has announced a limited-time Grogu Café pop-up in Shoreditch, opening from Friday, May 15 to Sunday, May 17, ahead of the cinema release of Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu on May 22, 2026. According to the official Disney UK press release, the pop-up will feature Grogu-inspired food, drinks, themed décor, photo moments, and merchandise. So yes, Star Wars has reached the “adorable alien matcha activation” phase. Honestly, it was only a matter of time. The Cutest Outpost in the Galaxy The café will be located at 1 Kingsland Road, Shoreditch, London, E2 8AA, with DisneyTickets describing it as a “matcha-fuelled experience” built around Grogu’s charm. Entry is free but ticketed, with food, drink, and products available to purchase on-site…
Star Wars Insider Is Over — And a Huge Piece of Fan History Goes With It
Before Star Wars news lived on YouTube thumbnails, Reddit threads, Discord servers, leaks accounts, and algorithmic chaos, there was Star Wars Insider. Now, after nearly four decades of official magazine history, that run has come to an end. The final issue, Star Wars Insider #237, is out now, closing a publication lineage that stretches back through Star Wars Insider, The Lucasfilm Fan Club Magazine, and the old-school fan-club era when getting official Star Wars news meant waiting for paper to arrive like some kind of ancient Jedi ritual. It sounds dramatic because it is dramatic. For a lot of readers, Insider was not just a magazine. It was the magazine. The Final Issue Has Arrived Lucasfilm announced last year that Star Wars Insider would launch its final issue in 2026, with issue #237 marking the end of the magazine’s current run with Titan. At the time, editor Christopher Cooper described…
SWTOR’s May 4th Rewards Are Still Live — Free Droid, Double XP, and a Razor Crest-Inspired Moun
May the 4th may be over, but Star Wars: The Old Republic is still handing out the good stuff like a vendor who forgot to close shop. Broadsword has launched its SWTOR May 4th celebration, running from May 1 through May 22, with free rewards, Cartel Market discounts, Double XP, and a subscriber mount inspired by Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu. In other words: log in now, ask questions later, and try not to spend your entire Cartel Coin reserve in one heroic mistake. Free BX-RC Probe Droid Minipet for All Players The easiest reward is also the one nobody should miss. According to the official SWTOR May 4th celebration post, all players who log in during the event window can receive the BX-RC Probe Droid Minipet. It is small, floaty, mechanical, and exactly the kind of companion you claim you do not need until it starts hovering behind…
Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni Are About to Talk MandoVerse Future
The future of the MandoVerse is apparently about to become a very real conversation. Jon Favreau says he plans to sit down with Dave Filoni next week to discuss what comes after Star Wars: The Mandalorian & Grogu. That does not mean a new movie, show, or fourth season has been announced. But it does mean the two main architects of this corner of Star Wars are preparing to talk next steps — and that is enough to make the rumor engines start coughing smoke. Speaking during a roundtable attended by MeriStation, Favreau said he is currently focused on promoting The Mandalorian & Grogu, while Filoni is busy working on Ahsoka. But once they are both back in the United States, the two will reconnect and discuss the future. MeriStation quotes Favreau as saying that after they meet next week, “we’ll sit down and talk.” The Movie Was Not Always…
Guillermo del Toro Quietly Helped Shape the Hutts in The Mandalorian & Grogu
Guillermo del Toro did not direct a Star Wars movie. He did not get to make his long-rumored Jabba the Hutt film. But somehow, beautifully, he still ended up near the Hutts. Jon Favreau has revealed that del Toro receives an acknowledgment credit in The Mandalorian & Grogu after giving creative suggestions about the Hutts featured in the film. In an interview with Vandal, Favreau explained that del Toro had spent a lot of time thinking about Hutts because of his own abandoned Jabba project, and that he shared ideas with the Mandalorian & Grogu team. The Hutt Expert Star Wars Almost Used This is one of those behind-the-scenes details that feels small at first, then immediately gets more interesting the longer you stare at it. Del Toro has history with Hutt material. Back in 2023, The Hollywood Reporter reported that the filmmaker confirmed he had worked on a now-scrapped…
Fortnite Is Hosting a Mandalorian & Grogu Watch Party Island
Fortnite is no longer just the place where Star Wars characters show up, swing lightsabers, and make Darth Vader do things no Sith Lord should ever do in public. Now it is becoming a movie preview venue. Epic Games and Lucasfilm are launching The Mandalorian and Grogu Watch Party Island inside Fortnite on May 19 at 10 a.m. ET, giving players an exclusive early look at 10 minutes of footage from Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu before the film hits theaters on May 22, 2026. The island will also include a special message from director Jon Favreau. Welcome to Nevarro, Fortnite Edition The Watch Party Island is set on Nevarro, which is exactly the right choice. It is already one of The Mandalorian’s most recognizable hubs: dusty streets, bounty jobs, shady corners, and the kind of town where someone is always either asking for help or making things worse….
Gina Carano Says She Spoke With Favreau and Filoni After Lawsuit Settlement
Gina Carano is back in the Star Wars conversation — though not, at least officially, back in Star Wars. The former The Mandalorian actor has revealed that she spoke with Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni after her lawsuit with Disney and Lucasfilm was settled. In a new Entertainment Weekly report on Carano’s Mandalorian comments, she described the January Zoom call as a “let’s touch base” conversation and said it was important for her to “mend whatever” and make sure everyone was good. Cara Dune Is Not Confirmed to Return Before anyone fires up the rumor engines at full power: there is no official announcement that Cara Dune is returning. Carano played Cara Dune in the first two seasons of The Mandalorian, before Lucasfilm cut ties with her in 2021 after controversial social media posts. Disney and Lucasfilm later settled her lawsuit, and Entertainment Weekly notes that Lucasfilm’s settlement statement said…
The Mandalorian & Grogu Finally Lets Pedro Pascal Fight Helmet-Off
Din Djarin taking his helmet off is not exactly a casual Tuesday in The Mandalorian. It usually means vows, trauma, emotional breakthroughs, or Grogu looking at him with those enormous “please ruin the internet” eyes. But in The Mandalorian & Grogu, it sounds like Pedro Pascal is not just getting helmet-off drama. He is getting helmet-off action. During recent press for the movie, Jon Favreau revealed that Pascal filmed “great set-pieces” with his helmet off, adding that the team leaned into Pascal’s physicality for some very specific reasons. As Favreau put it, Pascal was a competitive swimmer, so they got him in the water — and after seeing his combat work in Gladiator II, they also had him fighting without the helmet. Vis dette opslag på Instagram Et opslag delt af Omelete (@omelete) Din Djarin, But More Pedro This Time That is a pretty big shift for a character built…
Shakari Gives The Mandalorian & Grogu a Gangster Planet
Star Wars has always loved stealing from the best genres, giving them a blaster, and pretending everything was invented somewhere near the Outer Rim. Western? That became The Mandalorian. Samurai cinema? That has been in Star Wars’ bones since 1977. World War II dogfights? Just add X-wings. Now The Mandalorian & Grogu appears to be reaching for another very tasty influence: Prohibition-era gangster cinema. According to Polygon’s report on the new Star Wars planet Shakari, the upcoming movie will introduce a new world inspired by 1920s Chicago. Yes, Star Wars is getting a mobster planet. Somewhere, a Hutt is absolutely considering a pinstripe suit. Welcome to Shakari The new planet is called Shakari, and production designer Andrew L. Jones reportedly described it as being influenced by Prohibition-era Chicago. That is a wonderfully odd direction for a Star Wars location — and exactly the kind of thing the galaxy could use…
The Mandalorian & Grogu Is Now Tracking for a Potential $100M Opening
The box office story around The Mandalorian & Grogu just got a little more interesting. After some earlier softer-looking chatter around the film’s commercial prospects, Boxoffice Pro’s latest long-range forecast now says the movie could open in the $90 million to $100 million range domestically when it hits theaters on May 22, 2026. That would be a meaningful shift in tone around the film’s launch outlook, even if the upper end still would not put it near the biggest modern Star Wars openings. That is the key thing here: this is better, but it is not suddenly a “Star Wars is back to automatic $150M openings” story. Better than the gloomier narrative According to Boxoffice Pro’s long-range forecast, a $100 million opening would still rank as the lowest Star Wars debut since Solo: A Star Wars Story, which opened to $84.4 million in 2018. The same report notes that The…
The Mandalorian & Grogu May the 4th IMAX Previews Have Already Sold Out
That did not take long. The special-look IMAX fan events for The Mandalorian & Grogu on May the 4th are now officially sold out, according to Star Wars’ own social posts announcing the sellout. The events were set up as free advance screenings at select IMAX theaters around the world, giving fans an early look at more than 25 minutes of footage from the movie ahead of its full theatrical release. And honestly, that is a pretty strong signal. Fans moved fast on this one Lucasfilm and IMAX only just started pushing the event publicly, with trade coverage confirming that the May 4 screenings would include more than 25 minutes of exclusive footage, special fan giveaways, and a new poster at select locations. Boxoffice Pro reported the event on April 23, framing it as a global May the 4th fan push tied directly to the movie’s theatrical rollout. Now the…
Lucasfilm and IMAX Are Letting Fans Watch the First 30 Minutes of The Mandalorian & Grogu on May the 4th
Lucasfilm and IMAX are doing something very smart with The Mandalorian & Grogu: they are letting fans sample the movie early, on the most Star Wars date imaginable. A special May the 4th IMAX event is giving fans the chance to watch the first 30 minutes of The Mandalorian & Grogu at select theaters before the film’s full release. Fandango’s event listing says the screening will preview more than 25 minutes of never-before-seen footage, and the RSVP sign-up is being handled through a theater registration form for local participating locations. That is not a small teaser. This is Lucasfilm effectively treating the opening half-hour like a theatrical sales pitch, which makes a lot of sense for a movie that has been pushed hard as an IMAX event. The official IMAX movie page lists The Mandalorian and Grogu as a Filmed For IMAX release and confirms the full theatrical release date…
Burger King Is Getting a Mandalorian & Grogu Menu on May the 4th
Fast-food Star Wars promotions are usually a little chaotic by design, but Burger King’s new The Mandalorian & Grogu tie-in actually sounds like it knows exactly what kind of chaos it wants. Burger King has officially announced a limited-time menu launching May 4 at participating U.S. locations to celebrate the upcoming movie, which hits theaters on May 22, 2026. And yes, the menu names are doing a lot. According to Burger King’s official announcement, the lineup includes the BBQ Bounty Whopper, Grogu’s Blue Cookie Shake, Grogu’s Garlic Chicken Fries, and Imperial Cheddar Ranch Tots. The chain is also rolling out four collectible cups, available with select purchases including the Bounty Bundle, the BBQ Bounty Whopper Combo, and the 12-piece Grogu’s Garlic Chicken Fry Combo. The actual menu is very Star Wars-branded in the best possible way The most obvious headliner is the BBQ Bounty Whopper, which Burger King says comes…
Jon Favreau Used Apple Vision Pro to Build Mandalorian & Grogu for IMAX
Jon Favreau has revealed one of the stranger and more interesting bits of tech behind The Mandalorian & Grogu: he used Apple Vision Pro to preview how the movie’s IMAX shots would actually look in a theater-sized frame. In an interview clip highlighted by multiple outlets, Favreau said they built software so he could put on the headset, sit in a virtual IMAX auditorium, and view the full aspect ratio while lining up shots. That is a pretty smart solution to a very real movie problem. Favreau’s explanation was simple: if you are making an IMAX movie, watching footage on a normal monitor is not the same thing as seeing what audiences will actually get on a giant screen. He said the team layered custom software on top of Apple Vision Pro so he could review takes as if he were already in an IMAX theater, then judge framing based…
Martin Scorsese’s Mandalorian & Grogu Cameo Is Very Real
Of all the names you might expect to pop up in a Star Wars movie, Martin Scorsese was probably not near the top of the list. But according to SFX magazine, via comments from director Jon Favreau, the legendary filmmaker really does have a cameo in The Mandalorian & Grogu, where he voices an alien shopkeeper seen in the film’s trailer. And honestly, that is already one of the strangest and best little details attached to this movie so far. Kathleen Kennedy made it happen Favreau says the cameo came together thanks to Kathleen Kennedy, who knew Scorsese personally and was able to reach out directly. According to Favreau, Kennedy “called him up,” Scorsese said yes, and Favreau then got to direct him himself. That alone is a pretty wild sentence in Star Wars terms. It is not every day you get one of cinema’s most famous directors stepping into…
The Mandalorian & Grogu Score Is Up for Pre-Order — and Yes, Fans Will Want This One
If The Mandalorian & Grogu was already draining enough wallets with tickets, collectibles, and general Star Wars temptation, here comes the soundtrack to finish the job. The film’s original score by Ludwig Göransson is now available to pre-order, with the main 12-inch vinyl release set for June 5, 2026. Official Star Wars coverage says the album features 13 score cues, while the soundtrack also arrives digitally earlier on May 15, 2026 via Walt Disney Records. That alone is enough to make this more than just background merch news. Göransson’s music has been one of the strongest identity markers in this corner of Star Wars from the start, and Lucasfilm has already confirmed he returned to score The Mandalorian & Grogu. So this is not some random tie-in release. It is a big part of how the movie is going to feel. There is also some actual collector appeal here. StarWars.com…
The Mandalorian & Grogu and Ahsoka Season 2 Are Clearly Connecting
Lucasfilm may not have dropped a giant timeline chart on stage, but after Star Wars Celebration Japan, the direction feels pretty obvious: The Mandalorian & Grogu and Ahsoka Season 2 are not living in separate corners of the galaxy anymore. That is not a direct line from StarWars.com, but it is the clear read once you put the official Celebration coverage side by side. On the film side, StarWars.com’s official Celebration write-up confirms that The Mandalorian & Grogu hits theaters on May 22, 2026, and brings back Din, Grogu, Zeb Orrelios, and a new character played by Sigourney Weaver. The panel footage also included Din storming an AT-AT and mowing through snowtroopers, which makes it sound a lot bigger and more war-shaped than a simple side quest movie. Then came the Ahsoka panel. According to StarWars.com, Season 2 starts filming the following week, and the panel confirmed some very specific…
This New Mandalorian & Grogu Hot Toys Reveal May Be Hiding a Battlefront Surprise
At first glance, the new Hot Toys 1/6th scale AT-RT from The Mandalorian & Grogu looks like straightforward collector bait: big, expensive, and loaded with detail. Fantha Tracks highlighted the new reveal this week, noting a £240.44 price for the walker on its own, a £366.38 bundle with the Imperial Remnant Driver, and an expected delivery window of April to September 2027. The collectible itself sounds pretty stacked. Fantha Tracks notes a steel gray finish, Imperial crest, weathering effects, articulated legs and blaster cannon, plus LED lights and interchangeable hydraulic cylinders for different display poses. The walker is also listed as reaching up to 60 cm high when fully extended. That is the obvious story. The more interesting one may be hiding in the background. The real hook might be the weapon Separate reporting tied to the same product-photo drop points to something Star Wars gaming fans will probably spot…
The Mandalorian and Grogu’s Early Box Office Tracking Looks Soft
The first real box office tracking for The Mandalorian and Grogu is here, and it is not exactly the kind of number Lucasfilm probably wanted people talking about a month before release. According to early forecasting, the film is currently looking at roughly $71 million to $85 million domestic for its three-day opening weekend. That is not a disaster on its own. But it is the comparison point that makes this more interesting: Solo: A Star Wars Story opened to $84.4 million domestically in 2018, which means The Mandalorian and Grogu is currently tracking in a range that could land below it, roughly match it, or just barely edge past it depending on where it comes in. Why this number matters more than usual This is not just another Star Wars movie opening. The Mandalorian and Grogu is the first Star Wars theatrical release since 2019, and Lucasfilm has clearly…
Grogu Just Took Over The Mandalorian and Grogu Promo Push
Lucasfilm’s latest The Mandalorian and Grogu video is not a trailer, not a TV spot, and not exactly a standard featurette either. Titled “Grogu Joins the Conversation,” the new promo leans hard into the movie’s safest marketing weapon: put Grogu in the room, let everyone else orbit around him, and watch the internet do the rest. Fantha Tracks describes the clip as Grogu sitting down with Pedro Pascal, Sigourney Weaver, and Jon Favreau to discuss the film, while StarWars.com is using the same video as a featured push for the movie. This Is Less About Plot and More About Vibe That is what makes the clip interesting. It is not really trying to reveal major new story details. Instead, it feels like Lucasfilm settling into the tone of the campaign and reminding people that The Mandalorian and Grogu is not just another Disney+ extension anymore. This is the big-screen version…
The Mandalorian and Grogu Just Crashed a Savannah Bananas Game, and Honestly It Makes Weird Sense
The road to The Mandalorian and Grogu is taking some delightfully strange turns. This weekend, Din Djarin and Grogu made a surprise appearance at a Savannah Bananas game in Anaheim, with Fantha Tracks reporting that the duo showed up during the Bananas’ matchup against the Indianapolis Clowns. It is the kind of crossover that sounds made up until you remember modern Star Wars marketing has fully embraced the “put Grogu everywhere” philosophy. And this was not some totally random one-off. Disney had already turned March 26 into “Savannah Bananas Day” at Disneyland Resort, with performances at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, plus a Bananas stop in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge before the baseball festivities rolled into Angel Stadium. In other words, the Mando-and-Grogu cameo looks a lot less like chaos and a lot more like a carefully timed Disney-Star Wars-Banana Ball brand mashup. Wild sentence. Real sentence. A smarter promo…
Jeremy Allen White Says Finding Rotta the Hutt’s Voice Was Freer Than Playing Bruce Springsteen
Jeremy Allen White has now given one of the better descriptions yet of what makes The Mandalorian and Grogu such a strange swing. Speaking in Empire-backed coverage surfaced this month, White said playing Rotta the Hutt gave him “a bit more freedom” than playing Bruce Springsteen, because Springsteen’s voice is so instantly recognizable. Rotta, by contrast, gave him more room to experiment — including, in his words, the fact that “my speaking voice changes [as Rotta].” That is a weird comparison on paper, but it actually tells you a lot about what kind of performance this is. Rotta Is Clearly Not Being Played as a Joke That matters because White is not just voicing some throwaway CGI creature. Lucasfilm has already confirmed that he plays Rotta the Hutt in The Mandalorian and Grogu, the upcoming theatrical Star Wars film opening May 22, 2026. Official material has also made it clear…