In a status update that may came as either mildly exciting or excruciatingly painful depending on one’s personal opinion towards the current state of the all-but-completely-dead franchise, Disney has confirmed both the title of Dave Filoni’s previously announced The Mandalorian film as well as the apparent development of a second season of Ahsoka.
This small bit of news regarding the newly christened Lucasfilm Chief Creative Officer Dave Filoni’s next pair of projects was provided to the public on January 9th courtesy of a blog post made to the official Star Wars website.
In terms of the former project, said post confirmed that the silver screen debut of Din Djarin and his merchandisable companion would both officially be titled The Mandalorin & Grogu and enter production sometime this year.
Alongside this news, the company also released the first piece of concept art for the duo’s upcoming adventure, therein featuring both Din and Grogu jetting away from an exploding space ship.
First announced in April 2023 during Disney’s Star Wars Celebration event, per an official press release published alongside its initial reveal, the film will see Filoni “orchestrate the escalating war between the Imperial Remnant and the fledgling New Republic,” and “alongside producer Jon Favreau, they will bring together many of the threads of the Star Wars original series in a cinematic event.”
Speaking to StarWars.com regarding its title reveal, the film’s director, The Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau, asserted, “I have loved telling stories set in the rich world that George Lucas created. The prospect of bringing the Mandalorian and his apprentice Grogu to the big screen is extremely exciting.”
Likewise, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy – who is set to produce the film alongside Filoni – beamed, “Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni have ushered into Star Wars two new and beloved characters, and this new story is a perfect fit for the big screen.”
And while little attention was given in said blog post to the current status of the project, it did note that Filoni is “also currently developing Ahsoka Season 2.”
Yet, it should be noted that this mention of a second outing for the live-action Star Wars Rebels crew comes as a genuine point of curiosity given that the series’ star, Rosario Dawson, recently admitted that she had not been approached by the House of Mouse regarding any potential reprisal of her title role.
Asked by Entertainment Weekly’s Devan Coggan during a recent appearance on the outlet’s Dagobah Dispatch podcast whether or not she’d “had those conversations about getting back in the make-up chair and playing Ahsoka again?”, to which the actress directly admitted, “No.”
However, given that this interview was recorded prior to the December holiday season, as inferred by Dawson’s mention prior in the interview that she was “grateful that we have the holidays to go into” because she needed a moment to breathe, there does exist a distinct possibility that the last month saw major moves being made regarding the series’ next season.
As of writing, both The Mandalorian & Grogu nor Ahsoka Season 2 have yet to make any mention of their tentative release windows.