Star Wars is about to enter a new era. Next summer, The Mandalorian & Grogu hits theaters, ending what will be a seven-year hiatus on the big screen. The franchise has remained in the public eye during that time, as Lucasfilm has produced several TV series for Disney+, but now the galaxy far, far away is looking to once again be a dominant presence at the multiplex. The Mandalorian & Grogu is just one new Star Wars movie on the horizon; 2027 sees the release of Shawn Levy’s Star Wars: Starfighter, and there are plenty of other films in various stages of development. As Lucasfilm looks to relaunch the Star Wars film series following the uneven reception of The Rise of Skywalker, the studio has implemented a new strategy that’s exactly what the franchise needs right now.
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Speaking with Empire, The Mandalorian & Grogu star Sigourney Weaver talked about her experience making the film. After mentioning the quality of the script is what drew her to the project, Weaver shed light on Lucasfilm’s revamped approach to Star Wars movies. “But what’s interesting about Star Wars now is they’re no longer trying to do the Star Wars to end all Star Wars,” she said. “They’re letting the universe exist, and tell[ing] really interesting stories within that.”
Why Lucasfilm’s New Star Wars Movie Strategy Is Perfect for the Franchise
Weaver’s comments echo sentiments Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy made over the summer. Kennedy believes Star Wars is in a place now where creatives can hop into the sandbox and “tell stories that mean something to them” without worrying about how it connects to everything that’s been released before. Moving forward, there seems to be more of an emphasis on crafting compelling standalone narratives, which should be beneficial for the franchise. This approach takes advantage of the vast storytelling potential in the Star Wars universe, as directors should have the leeway to hop around the franchise timeline and not be tied to the history of the Skywalkers. In the past, Lucasfilm has been criticized for making the universe feel small, and this is one way to combat that.
Dialing things back and telling smaller-scale stories is also a sound strategy for the early days of the new Star Wars movie renaissance. The previous slate ended with an attempt to make “the Star Wars to end all Star Wars,” and the results were decidedly mixed. Rather than put that kind of pressure on a project right out of the gate, it’s better for Lucasfilm to focus on just making a quality movie and not concern itself with staging the next Star Wars epic. There will always be an opportunity to do something bigger down the line, but right now, audiences just need to feel good about Star Wars movies again. Stringing together a few well-received “smaller” films will generate renewed excitement about the franchise, opening pathways to take things in any number of directions.
The Mandalorian & Grogu is a continuation of a flagship TV series that ran for three seasons, but it’s encouraging to hear that director Jon Favreau kept his ambitions in check. The movie isn’t trying to be a grand finale for Din Djarin’s story or set the stage for crossovers. It’s just hoping to take audiences on an entertaining adventure with the two titular characters. While some have argued that The Mandalorian & Grogu doesn’t feel as “cinematic” as previous Star Wars movies, that doesn’t mean it won’t still be of high quality. Other major franchises like Marvel and DC try to provide a balance between smaller stories that just exist in the world and larger-scale event films, so it only makes sense for Star Wars to put its own spin on that approach.
In a way, The Mandalorian & Grogu is the ideal project to kickstart this new era of Star Wars movies. Not only does it seem like a safe box office bet given the popularity of The Mandalorian, it’ll help set the tone for what audiences can expect from the franchise moving forward. Rather than go the route of a space opera defined by galaxy-defining conflicts between good and evil, the films (at least for now) will be more “slice of life” while still delivering all of the action and spectacle fans have come to expect. Hopefully it works out and sets Star Wars on an exciting new course.
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