After Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ended the sequel trilogy and the Skywalker Saga itself on an uneven note, Disney made the decision to put the Star Wars movie series on hiatus. The studio instead pivoted to live-action TV shows for Disney+, releasing hits such as The Mandalorian and Andor. Seven years after The Rise of Skywalker premiered, Lucasfilm’s strategy seems to have shifted back to the big screen. Streaming is dead (so says Disney), and there’s a full slate of new Star Wars films in development. The new era gets underway this summer with The Mandalorian and Grogu, and Star Wars: Starfighter is already scheduled to come out next May.
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As the first new Star Wars movie in nearly a decade, The Mandalorian and Grogu is a fairly important release for Lucasfilm. Based on what the studio has in the works, they have no intentions of slowing things down again, so it’s imperative the first few movies on this upcoming slate are successful and click with audiences. That’s the best way of ensuring Star Wars can continue to thrive and be a viable Hollywood IP for years to come. There isn’t as much pressure on The Mandalorian and Grogu to perform as Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but its release is still a big deal. That’s why it’s surprising to see Disney repeating the same mistakes it made with Star Wars’ only box office flop.
The Mandalorian and Grogu Is Being Let Down By Underwhelming Marketing
As of this writing, there are about four months remaining until The Mandalorian and Grogu hits theaters. Despite the close proximity of the movie’s release date, Disney has so far put together an underwhelming marketing campaign. A single teaser trailer was released in late September, and there hasn’t been much else done to generate any kind of palpable excitement. It would be one thing if the aforementioned trailer had done a great job of building up buzz and excitement, but the general consensus is that it was a fairly weak teaser. Perhaps the biggest takeaway is that it felt like a preview for a new season of the TV show as opposed to coming across as cinematic.
Regardless of the premise, the first new Star Wars movie in seven years should feel like one of the year’s biggest events, and yet, that hasn’t happened with The Mandalorian and Grogu. While it’s fun to see the dynamic duo of Din Djarin and Grogu back in action, one thing the teaser failed to do is hook the audience in with intriguing story details. Rather than base the trailer around the film’s plot (and perhaps illustrating why this is a tale that needed to be told on the big screen), the teaser consists of out-of-context shots that aim more to sell audiences on the overall old-school adventure tone and vibe. Granted, this is just a teaser (there are plenty more trailers and TV spots to come), but it’s safe to say The Mandalorian and Grogu did not make a memorable first impression.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because we’ve seen this happen before with Solo: A Star Wars Story. The second Star Wars spin-off movie is the franchise’s first and only box office bomb, grossing just $392.9 million worldwide. Solo had numerous hurdles it needed to clear, including an inflated production due to the infamous production issues and skepticism of Alden Ehrenreich playing a young Han Solo. However, perhaps the biggest contributing factor to its lackluster box office was weak marketing. When compared to the other four movies on Disney’s first Star Wars slate, Solo really struggled in this department. The trailers failed to capture fans’ attention, namely because the initial teaser (which was only released 108 days before the movie came out) almost went out of its way to hide Ehrenreich’s face. Instead of building a trailer around him and confidently selling him as the star, it was as if Disney’s marketing department was leery of any backlash. The Solo trailers didn’t do much to sell the film as a must-see movie event, and the film was completely overshadowed by Avengers: Infinity War and Deadpool 2 during the era of peak superhero cinema.
Now, once again, we have another new Star Wars movie trying to overcome some hurdles (skepticism of the idea itself, waning enthusiasm for The Mandalorian after a divisive Season 3), and it isn’t getting much of an assist from Disney’s marketing department. Right now, there isn’t anything about The Mandalorian and Grogu that feels special or unique. It’s coming across as just more of the same, a standard addition to the ongoing Mandalorian story, which is an odd approach to take since it’s ending an extended Star Wars movie hiatus. This is supposed to be Star Wars’ big comeback, but it hasn’t been sold that way.
There’s Still Time to Salvage the Mandalorian and Grogu Marketing Campaign
The Mandalorian and Grogu marketing campaign didn’t get off to the best start, but there’s still enough time remaining for Disney to turn things around. Over the next few months, there needs to be a shift in strategy. Rather than position the movie as “more Mandalorian,” it should be pushed as “new Mandalorian,” with trailers that emphasize what makes this project unique and deserving of the big screen. Historically, Lucasfilm has veered on the side of secrecy when it comes to showcasing plot details in trailers. Nobody is saying the next Mandalorian and Grogu trailer needs to spoil the entire story, but highlighting key story beats could be a way to get people on board.
Set against the backdrop of a brewing conflict between the New Republic and Imperial remnants still trying to maintain their grasp on the galaxy, there are certainly some compelling elements in The Mandalorian and Grogu that could make for a strong trailer. When the next one arrives, it should be time to outline the story, giving audiences a sense of where things stand in the galaxy and what’s at stake during Din Djarin’s next mission. General audiences need a reason to care and be interested. It would also be smart to showcase more of Rotta the Hutt, the character voiced by Jeremy Allen White. Hutts are a recognizable part of Star Wars iconography, and seeing one portrayed in such a different way (Rotta is apparently taking part in some sort of gladiator combat sport) would allow people to see the new aspects The Mandalorian and Grogu is bringing to the table.
Whatever the next trailer consists of, it will have to make a major splash. Fortunately, there’s an event coming up where Disney will be able to do just that. Super Bowl LX takes place in early February (a little more than two weeks from now). Historically, studios have used the Super Bowl as a platform to launch new sneak peeks at their upcoming films, raising awareness by taking advantage of a large audience that’s well over 100 million people. Seeing that Disney released a Super Bowl spot for Solo in 2018, it wouldn’t be surprising if there was one planned for The Mandalorian and Grogu. Rumors persist Disney will give Avengers: Doomsday a moment in the spotlight, but Mandalorian and Grogu‘s release date is approaching fast, so it should be a priority for the Mouse House.
The high profile of a Super Bowl spot can be a springboard for a full marketing blitz that lasts until The Mandalorian and Grogu hits theaters. It’ll be key to not just maintain visibility, but also sustain enthusiasm by putting together a well-thought-out campaign that reaches moviegoers of all ages and sells them on the movie. Whatever it takes to rejuvenate the Mandalorian and Grogu marketing efforts, Lucasfilm needs to figure something out. Coincidentally, the studio’s two May releases in the Disney era have suffered from this problem. Disney had no issue putting together robust campaigns for its December Star Wars movies, so perhaps pulling pages from those playbooks would be smart. Those marketing materials were extremely effective, leading to $1 billion hauls, so they’re worth studying and seeing what can be replicated.
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