Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu (titled The Mandalorian and Grogu on-screen) is a 2026 American science fiction film directed by Jon Favreau, who co-wrote the film with Dave Filoni and Noah Kloor. Produced by Lucasfilm and Fairview Entertainment, and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is part of the Star Wars franchise and serves as a continuation of the Disney+ television series The Mandalorian (2019–2023). Pedro Pascal stars as Din Djarin / The Mandalorian—who was also portrayed on set by Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder—alongside Jeremy Allen White, Jonny Coyne, Martin Scorsese, and Sigourney Weaver with supporting roles done by Stephen McKinley Henderson, Hemky Madera, Shirley Henderson, and Steve Blum. In the film, which is set following the fall of the Galactic Empire, Djarin and his apprentice Grogu are enlisted by the New Republic to rescue Rotta the Hutt (White) in exchange for information on a target.
Favreau and Filoni wrote a fourth season of The Mandalorian by February 2023, but production was delayed by the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes. During this time, Lucasfilm re-evaluated their plans for the franchise and decided to prioritize a Mandalorian film over the fourth season. The Mandalorian and Grogu was announced in January 2024 with Favreau directing and co-writing with Filoni and Kloor, and Pascal reprising his role from the series. Filming began in California by August 2024 and was completed by that December, with large segments of the it filmed in IMAX. Further casting was revealed around and after filming, including the return of various characters from The Mandalorian and other Star Wars media. The Mandalorian composer Ludwig Göransson returned to score the film.
Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu premiered on May 14, 2026, at TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, and was released in the United States on May 22. It grossed $345.8 million worldwide, which did not meet Disney's expectations, becoming the lowest-grossing live-action Star Wars film. The film received mixed reviews, with critics praising the score, action sequences, and Pascal's performance while criticizing the plot, script, and visuals.
Plot
Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin, known as Mando, and his foundling Grogu work for the New Republic to hunt down neo-imperialist warlords of the former Galactic Empire. After a successful mission, Mando is tasked by New Republic commander Ward to find the mysterious warlord Commander Coin. The New Republic has been offered intel on his whereabouts by the Hutt Twins, siblings and successors to the deceased crime-lord Jabba, in exchange for rescuing Jabba's son and heir Rotta from the moon Shakari. Mando reluctantly accepts the assignment, and receives a new Razor Crest ship as pre-payment.
Upon arriving at Shakari, Mando discovers that Rotta is a popular gladiator in a fighting pit owned by crime-lord Janu. Rotta, desperate to step out of Jabba's shadow, enjoys his status as a self-made fighter and refuses to be rescued by Mando, saying that his next fight will repay his debt to Janu and set him free. Mando tracks Janu down and offers to buy Rotta's freedom, but Janu refuses, intending for Rotta's final fight to be a match in which he will continue fighting monsters until death. Mando returns to Rotta, who refuses to believe him, instead calling on security. Mando is subdued and must fight Rotta in the arena. He defeats Rotta, but surrenders rather than killing him. He tells Janu that this fight has fulfilled Rotta's debts, and that Janu must now set him free. Realizing that his plan has been thwarted, Janu floods the arena with monsters, forcing Mando and Rotta to work together to defeat them. Rotta breaks the arena's security systems, which sets the surviving monsters free, before escaping. Aided by Zeb Orrelios, Mando and Grogu pursue and capture Rotta.
Rotta claims that the Twins only want him so they can kill him, preventing him from potentially claiming control over the Hutt Cartel. When Mando explains that he needs to give Rotta to the Twins in exchange for Coin's whereabouts, Rotta tells him that Janu and Coin are the same person. Trusting Rotta, Mando and Zeb raid Janu's compound and bring him back to Ward, who takes him in for questioning but warns that the Twins will not take kindly to Mando's breaking his promise to deliver Rotta to them. Mando returns to Nevarro with Grogu. He enlists four Anzellans to modify the Razor Crest and helps Rotta go into hiding via a gunrunner. At night, Mando and one Anzellan are captured by bounty hunter Embo, who delivers him to the Twins on Nal Hutta; Grogu and the other Anzellans follow.
Mando is brought before the Twins, who have intercepted Rotta and are intending to slowly torture him for hundreds of years. To punish Mando for breaking his contract, the Twins remove his helmet and drop him into a pool of water which houses Amanin and the giant Dragonsnake; defeating the Amanin, Mando recovers his helmet and escapes with the help of Grogu and the Anzellans, but is mortally envenomated by the Dragonsnake in the process. Unable to fit aboard the small Anzellan ship, Mando stays behind on Nal Hutta, holding off his pursuers to cover Grogu and the Anzellans' escape as he succumbs to the venom. Grogu also chooses to stay behind, tending to the dying Mando and eventually saving his life using an antidote made by a friendly fisherman. Mando, now fully recovered, decides to go after the Twins instead of fleeing Nal Hutta, reasoning that they would still pursue him and Grogu.
Mando and Grogu break into the Twins' palace using the gunrunner ship and battle their way through their droid security force before being intercepted by Embo. Mando duels Embo while Grogu frees Rotta, who fights the Twins; the fight eventually drops himself, the Twins, and Embo into the Dragonsnake pit. Grogu saves Rotta with the Force while Embo escapes through the tunnel Grogu created earlier, leaving the Twins to be eaten alive by the Dragonsnake. The Anzellans return, bringing Ward and a New Republic squadron with them, to destroy the Twins' palace and droids.
Ward confirms Mando's suspicions that Janu and the Twins were working together, and Rotta chooses to stay and work with the New Republic. Mando and Grogu leave in the Razor Crest, where Mando teaches Grogu how to pilot it.
Cast
Pedro Pascal as Din Djarin / The Mandalorian:A Mandalorian and veteran bounty hunter in the outer reaches of the galaxy, whose face is often hidden by a helmet. Pascal said the film was the start of a new chapter after the end of The Mandalorian third season (2023), which saw Djarin agree to work for the New Republic. Pascal said this gave the character a chance to combine his bounty hunter skills with doing "what he knows is right" by working for "the good guys". After the third season showed Djarin paying penance for removing his helmet, which goes against the Mandalorian creed, the film unmasks the character again. Director Jon Favreau said they did not make this decision lightly and were balancing the established story with their wish to show more of Pascal's face. Pascal felt the unmasking was justified in the film. Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder as the on-set doubles for the Mandalorian Grogu:The Mandalorian's ward, who is an infant of the same species as Yoda. Grogu is created with animatronics and puppetry, augmented with visual effects. Producer Kathleen Kennedy said the character was a "perfect example of a character that has to emote and you have to feel connected to" without hearing him speak. Jeremy Allen White as Rotta the Hutt:The son of deceased crime lord Jabba the Hutt. White provides the voice for Rotta, speaking in Galactic Basic (represented by English) and Huttese. He took inspiration from Jabba's voice in previous Star Wars media. Unlike previous Hutts, Rotta is a physical threat who participates in gladiator-style fights. Favreau compared him to Adonis Creed from the Creed films, saying both characters live in the shadow of their famous fathers. Jonny Coyne as Janu Coin: A Shakari crime lord and the leader of a faction of Galactic Empire remnants Martin Scorsese as Hugo Durant: An Ardennian fry cook on Shakari that Mando visits twice for information Sigourney Weaver as Ward: A colonel and leader of the New Republic's Adelphi Rangers who previously served as a pilot for the Rebel Alliance
Additionally, Steve Blum reprises his role from previous Star Wars media as the voice of New Republic pilot Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios, while the Kyuzo bounty hunter Embo appears in a mostly non-speaking role. Other returning Star Wars characters include members of the Anzellan species, all voiced by Shirley Henderson, and Jabba the Hutt's twin cousins, voiced by unspecified actors. Stephen McKinley Henderson provides the voice of Gatori, a fisherman on Nal Hutta that Grogu encounters. Hemky Madera portrays the Imperial warlord Commander Barro, and Matthew Willig portrays Coin's henchman Hogsbreth.
Briefly appearing in the film as New Republic X-Wing pilots are the film's co-writer Dave Filoni and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as Trapper Wolf and Carson Teva, both reprising their roles from previous Star Wars media, alongside The Mandalorian series directors Deborah Chow, Rick Famuyiwa, and Lee Isaac Chung as Sash Ketter, Jib Dodger, and Dok Suri, respectively. Lucasfilm's Vice President and Creative Director and the film's production designer Doug Chiang appears as New Republic member Lieutenant Blick. Anthony Daniels, who played C-3PO in previous Star Wars films, has a voice cameo as an air traffic control droid.
Production Background Director Jon Favreau had pitched an idea for a Star Wars television series featuring Mandalorians to Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy in 2017. Dave Filoni, an executive producer on the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008–2020) and Star Wars Rebels (2014–2018), was also conceiving a Mandalorian-focused series and Kennedy suggested they work together. This led to the creation of The Mandalorian, the first live-action Star Wars television series, which debuted with the launch of the streaming service Disney+ in November 2019. Shortly after the premiere, Walt Disney Studios's chief creative officer (CCO) Alan F. Horn said a film featuring the titular bounty hunter, Din Djarin, could be developed if the series was a success. The next month, Favreau said there was an opportunity to explore the series' characters in Star Wars films or spin-off television series.
The Mandalorian's bounty at the start of the series is "the Child", colloquially known as "Baby Yoda" by viewers, who is an infant of the same species as Yoda. The character is created with animatronics and puppetry, augmented with visual effects. He becomes the Mandalorian's ward, and is revealed in the second season to be named Grogu. In September 2020, The Mandalorian co-star Giancarlo Esposito said the second season lays the groundwork for "the depth and breadth that's going to come in season three and season four". The next month, Favreau and star Pedro Pascal said they were open to the Mandalorian appearing in a Star Wars film, but Favreau was in no rush to do this. Favreau began writing the fourth season by late May 2022, and completed the scripts with Filoni by February 2023. Filming for the season was scheduled to begin that September, but this was delayed by the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes. In November, Filoni revealed that he was now the CCO at Lucasfilm and would be directly involved in the planning of future films and series.
Development