The “Star Wars” franchise is returning to the big screen for the first time in almost seven years with the premiere of “The Mandalorian and Grogu” on May 22.
In preparation for the film’s release, director Jon Favreau spoke about the future of the franchise and inspiring a new generation of “Star Wars” fans.
“To have the opportunity to present this (film) in a theater, not just to people who have always loved ‘Star Wars,’ but to introduce a new generation to ‘Star Wars,’ to know that you want to reach out and get people as excited about ‘Star Wars’ as you are and to make them feel the way that I felt the first time I saw it, I think that’s a responsibility,” Favreau said in an interview with Starwars.com.
“We want to make an experience that doesn’t rely upon somebody already loving ‘Star Wars,’ but gives them an opportunity to fall in love with it the way we have,” he added.
Following “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” the franchise will return to theaters next year with the release of the standalone movie “Star Wars: Starfighter” on May 28, 2027.
Jon Favreau on the future of ‘Star Wars’
Favreau first fell in love with “Star Wars” as a 10-year-old kid when he saw the first installment of the franchise in 1977. He has become more and more involved in the franchise over the years, with involvement in “Star Wars The Clone Wars,” “Solo,” heading up “The Mandalorian” series and now getting to direct his own “Star Wars” film.
The director added that he wants to make the next generation feel the same way about “Star Wars” that he did when he saw it as a child, per Starwars.com.
The franchise is currently in a time of transition after Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy stepped down in January after leading the company for 13 years. The “Star Wars” galaxy will now be under the leadership of Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan.
“She’s definitely a Mount Rushmore producer,” Favreau said about Kennedy, per The Associated Press. “I also think she did a wonderful job preparing the next generation.”
Favreau is not worried about the box office side of things when bringing “Star Wars” back to theaters.
“All of it comes down to seeing it with an audience,” Favreau said, per the AP. “That’s the part I’m looking forward to.”
2018’s “Solo: A Star Wars Story” had the lowest opening of any live-action movie in the franchise after it debuted with $103 million over the Memorial Day weekend. It made a total of $213 million domestically and $392 million worldwide.
Currently, “The Mandalorian and Grogu” is expected to make over $80 million over the four-day Memorial Day weekend debut, per Deadline.
‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’
“The Mandalorian” TV series takes place after the evil Empire has fallen and Imperial warlords are scattered across the galaxy, per The Hollywood Reporter. The story focuses on Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin and his young ward, Grogu.
The series first premiered on Disney+ in 2019 and ran for three seasons before it was decided to turn it into a feature film.
In “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” Din Djarin will continue training Grogu through their father-son dynamic.
“Always at its core, ‘Star Wars’ is about people,” Favreau said to Starwars.com. “The archetypes, the mythology, and the family connections. And what we’ve settled into here, and I don’t think people expected it when they first heard about the show so many years ago, was that it was going to be about parenthood. It was going to be about a father and a son.”
Along with Pedro Pascal as Din Djarin, the movie also stars Sigourney Weaver and Jeremy Allen White.
Watch the final trailer for the film here:
‘Star Wars: Starfighter’
Following his venture into the world of space in “Project Hail Mary,” Ryan Gosling will lead the next “Star Wars” film, “Star Wars: Starfighter.”
The film, premiering in May 2027, is set approximately five years after “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” and features an original storyline in a time period never before touched on in the franchise.
Alongside Gosling, the movie will star Mia Goth, Matt Smith, Amy Adams and Flynn Gray, per Starwars.com.