A Star Wars live-action TV show is coming to Disney’s upcoming streaming service!
True to Lucasfilm’s hot streak of matching great talent to its projects, the studio has chosen original MCU puppet master Jon Favreau as writer, producer, and showrunner for the series, and he recently confirmed a Madalore-based setting for it with the title The Mandalorian.
None other than George Lucas visited the set of The Mandalorian over the weekend, which Favreau described as a “birthday surprise”…
Dave Filoni got in the middle of a lovely Star Wars man sandwich (manwich?) for another pic…
A list of season 1 directors was recently released, and that $10 million-per-episode price tag definitely seems to be worth its weight in gold. Filoni (Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels) is directing the pilot episode, with Deborah Chow (Jessica Jones), Rick Famuyiwa (Dope), Bryce Dallas Howard (Solemates), and Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok) helming the rest of the season 1 instalments.
These pictures are bittersweet in a way, as many many years ago, Lucas had planned out his own Star Wars series, hiring Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica) and Chris Chibnall (Doctor Who) amongst others to write two whole seasons of the new show for him. With all the scripts complete, the writers sat back and waited for filming to kick off over in Australia, but months and months went by with no news. The next thing they knew, Lucas had sold off Lucasfilm to Disney and they all sighed a collective “welp”. The scripts still remain under lock and key (probably in that big Raiders warehouse).
We’ll always wonder what that Star Wars series would have been like, but it seems George is backing this new venture anyway. Water under the bridge and that.
More as we get it.
The Mandalorian release date
We’ll update this with more information when it becomes available, but the earliest we’ll see this mysterious Star Wars TV series will be 2020.
Flip over to page 2 now for more cast, crew, story and behind the scenes stuff…
The Mandalorian cast
Following on from an exclusive story over at Making Star Wars earlier this week (see below) the site is now hearing that Game Of Thrones alum Pedro Pascal is up for the lead role in the expensive new series, which is said to be about the rebuilding of Mandalore after it fell during the Clone Wars.
There’s been no official confirmation of Pascal’s casting yet, but his three-season run on Netflix’s Narcos is now over and done with, so linking him with another big budget show doesn’t seem entirely out of the question.
For now, we’re treating this as just a rumour, but if any more on this comes to light, we’ll update you asap.
The Mandalorian images
We’ve now got a first image from the series, which features some new armour out in the wild, but is it Game Of Thrones star Pedro Pascal under that helmet? Hmm…
The Mandalorian behind the scenes
The Iron Man director’s recognisable form can be seen on set in a bunch of new images posted by Making Star Wars. The site has it on good authority that the huge series is due to start filming this week in an undisclosed location.
You can head on over to Making Star Wars to examine the rest of the pictures for yourself if you like. See if you can spot any nerdy details that may give you a few clues about what we can expect from the new show! The site has also claimed that the production will soon be moving to a “coastal location” for futher shooting, so there could be more images online in the next few weeks.
Certainly don’t expect this new Star Wars adventure to be a small affair just because it’s on TV, though. The New York Times reports that the show will “cost roughly $100 million for 10 episodes.” That’s a staggering $10 million per episode! We need to have a little lie down just thinking about that, but it’s not as though Disney doesn’t have the cash to splash on anything it damn well pleases these days.
Favreau clearly has no plans to stop dishing out little teases of the upcoming series over on Instagram. He recently posted a picture of a familiar-looking weapon…
It took a while to sink in, but yes, Boba Fett’s Amban phase-pulse blaster from the much-maligned animated 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special has seemingly become a reality in The Mandalorian. Hey, what happens in Mandalore, stays in Mandalore.
The Mandalorian story
At the world premiere of Solo: A Star Wars Story a while back, Favreau revealed to Nerdist that the series will take place seven years after the events of Return Of The Jedi, effectively setting up the series as a bridge between the Original and Sequel Trilogies. The series will feature all-new characters, as well.
This is good news, as the post-ROTJ timeline remains largely unexplored since the new canon was established. There’s little reason to continue to mine the era between the Clone Wars and the Original Trilogy, which has now been covered so well by two animated series and a film, and the saga of the Skywalkers is no longer the centre of the Star Wars universe. The blank slate quality of the era between ROTJ and The Force Awakens will allow Favreau to really dig into something new and fresh.
“I couldn’t be more excited about Jon coming on board to produce and write for the new direct-to-consumer platform,” says Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy in a statement about the new series a while back. “Jon brings the perfect mix of producing and writing talent, combined with a fluency in the Star Wars universe. This series will allow Jon the chance to work with a diverse group of writers and directors and give Lucasfilm the opportunity to build a robust talent base.”
“If you told me at 11 years old that I would be getting to tell stories in the Star Wars universe, I wouldn’t have believed you,” Favreau added. “I can’t wait to embark upon this exciting adventure.”
Here’s a synopsis from Favreau…
“AFTER THE STORIES OF JANGO AND BOBA FETT, ANOTHER WARRIOR EMERGES IN THE STAR WARS UNIVERSE. THE MANDALORIAN IS SET AFTER THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE AND BEFORE THE EMERGENCE OF THE FIRST ORDER. WE FOLLOW THE TRAVAILS OF A LONE GUNFIGHTER IN THE OUTER REACHES OF THE GALAXY FAR FROM THE AUTHORITY OF THE NEW REPUBLIC.”