- Primary Subject: Jon Favreau's explanation regarding Lucasfilm's decision to choose The Mandalorian and Grogu as the franchise's return to movie theaters.
- Key Update: Jon Favreau explained why The Mandalorian and Grogu became the first Star Wars movie in seven years.
- Status: Confirmed
- Last Verified: May 21, 2026
- Quick Answer: Jon Favreau suspects the global popularity of Grogu made the duo perfect for introducing Star Wars to an entirely new theatrical audience.
Jon Favreau recently addressed why The Mandalorian and Grogu became the movie that launched Star Wars back into the theatrical space.
Since the release of The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, Lucasfilm has been attempting to bring back the franchise to the big screen with several projects that are in the works. Ultimately, they settled on The Mandalorian and Grogu as the movie that will mark the return of Star Wars in theaters.
While there is a lot of excitement for its release, some fans are wondering why they decided The Mandalorian and Grogu as the first Star Wars theatrical release in seven years.
Why The Mandalorian and Grogu Became the First Star Wars Movie in Seven Years
In an interview with GamesRadar, director Jon Favreau was asked why Disney opted for The Mandalorian and Grogu to be the first movie that brought Star Wars back to movie theaters.
He admitted that he is unsure why they made that decision. He said, "I’m not sure what, exactly, why we were asked to do this."
In a follow-up answer, the filmmaker theorized that the popularity of Grogu may have been one of the biggest factors that led to the decision for The Mandalorian and Grogu to be the first Star Wars movie in seven years.
"I suspect it was because these are characters that people, even who hadn’t seen Star Wars, may be aware of, especially Grogu. Baby Yoda was everywhere. And these are two characters that were used to launch Disney Plus, and we made no assumptions when the Mandalorian TV show came on that anybody had seen any Star Wars before," Favreau said.
"But we also wanted to make it feel authentic to Star Wars, and so the world that we created as the backdrop and the way the characters present themselves were embraced by Star Wars fans, which I really appreciate."
The director continued, "But it also was an inroad for people who may not have ever watched Star Wars on television, and here we are now, seven years after the last film. I think there’s an opportunity to present Star Wars to a new audience using these characters as well."
What to Expect in The Mandalorian and Grogu
In The Mandalorian and Grogu, the evil Empire has fallen, and Imperial warlords remain scattered throughout the galaxy. As the fledgling New Republic works to protect everything the Rebellion fought for, they have enlisted the help of legendary Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin and his young apprentice Grogu.
The cast includes Pedro Pascal, Sigourney Weaver, Jeremy Allen White, Jonny Coyne, Martin Scorsese, Steve Blum, Dave Filoni, and Matthew Willig.
It is set to arrive in North American theaters and on IMAX this Friday. As we've noted, it is the first Star Wars theatrical release since The Rise of Skywalker in 2019.
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