It wasn’t Coruscant, it was Madrid. Director Jon Favreau landed this Thursday from the most technological Hollywood to an always tumultuous plaza in Callao that seemed, on the eve of a holiday, like an amusement park. Between a Rosalía colony stall, tourists and lines for a pop-up from Sephora, a giant Chewbacca appeared, wearing Mandalorian helmets and wearing Star Wars for almost five decades. Fans and influencers gathered to be the first in the world to see the opening 27 minutes of The Mandalorian and Grogu. It wasn’t even the entire film, which will be released on May 21, but it was tangible proof that now, after seven years, George Lucas’s galactic universe is about to return to where it always belonged, to the big screen. Even if it’s with a duo.
Favreau himself said that he saw it when he was 10 years old, in 1977, in a movie theater with his father. Since then he has always been a fan, the director of Iron Man o : “I had never seen anything like it, I couldn’t believe that the ships were so big. The rooms used to bring us together before this emotion and grandeur, as we do today.” That feeling is what he seeks to return with the return of the saga to the cinema after certain ups and downs and overexploitation on Disney+: “There is a generation that has never seen Star Wars in theaters, only on TV. Grogu and Mando are also characters that even those who are not fans know, so it is an opportunity to attract new viewers. There are many winks for followers, but above all it is a fun adventure with which to get hooked on the universe,” he said before
From the first bars with the classic overwritten lyrics that these films usually introduce to give context to the political situation (but without much relevance beyond that), the first 27 minutes already show both sides. The Mandalorian and Grogu starts with this bounty hunter as some kind of James Bond or an order Mission: impossiblecarrying out missions for the new republic led by Sigourney Weaver. The introductory sequence, in which he dismantles the plans of several nostalgic landowners of the Empire, takes place in the snow, like the beginning of The empire strikes back in a sequence that almost looks like a video game. The gigantic mechanisms of the four-legged AT-ATs return, the fights, the explosions and also the furry pilot Zeb (Steve Blum), from the .
But, above all, what many expect returns intact: the adorableness of Baby Yoda (now Grogu), even if he now has to wear armor. Although between pranks and jokes, Favreau warned that this film takes him from “vulnerability to being a true apprentice and warrior who will become one with the force” after having studied with Luke Skywalker.
In this introduction, after returning from his first mission, Mando reluctantly receives a new assignment: search for the mysterious Commander Coin. But to do that he will first have to negotiate with the Hutts (those giant worms that controlled the galactic mafia). On their swampy planet, they ask in exchange to find Rotta the Hutt, Jaba’s strongman and gladiator nephew, voiced by Jeremy Allen White (The Bear). That takes Mando to a dark, futuristic city, a kind of Tokyo on the horizon. Blade Runner where metallic music composed by Ludwig Göransson plays. The first one he meets there: a cooking monkey food truck with four arms of white eyebrows and the voice of Martin Scorsese (yes, it’s him). He tells her where to find the Hutt.
first in the opening credits Apocalypse Nowhas not taken off his helmet yet, so it is only fair that the third and fourth credited actors are Brendan Wayne (grandson of John Wayne) and Lateef Crowder, body doubles and fights for the Mandalorian who have shaped this protagonist, while Pascal has spent entire seasons without appearing on the set. With this jump to film, by the way, Favreau also anticipated new “sets, characters and a size that could not be achieved on TV, where eight episodes had to be filmed in one year.” Less LED screens and more space and creatures. These first 27 minutes also use less of the western for which the series became famous, although they could fit perfectly into it, still without demonstrating the cinematic greatness that Favreau speaks of.
The goal of the film is to tell a self-contained story that doesn’t have too much connection with the rest. Thus, this 132-minute feature film ruined the already advanced plans for the fourth season of the series, now that LucasFilm is once again putting all its eggs in the cinema. That season would have been more connected to the plots of the series, with Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) as the enemy, but when converting it into a film, an accessible and own story had to be invented, according to Favreau.
A new hope in cinemas
Just like he did as a spur on Disney+, The Mandalorian and Grogu It is a key experiment for Star Wars in cinemas. When Bob Iger bought the brand from LucasFilm in 2012, the plan was that every year there would be a movie set in this galaxy far, far away. But the reality is that, after a few fruitful years, Star Wars It hasn’t made the box office for seven years, since 2019 and , which performed worse than expected and was rejected by fans and critics. The doubts exist, but perhaps this break is what he needed to invigorate himself. The promotion will go into hyperdrive from the day of Star Warson May 4, to try to overcome the not very optimistic box office forecasts (especially because the comparisons in the previously unbeatable saga are very high).
To do this, Disney went easy: a couple of characters with proven popularity that fill stores with merchandising since they debuted in streaming. Getting back to the movies was vital after having announced films by Guillermo del Toro, Taika Waititi, Damon Lindelof, James Mangold, Rian Johnson, Patty Jenkins and those responsible for game of thronesDavid Benioff and Dan Weiss, and that none of them came to fruition. Such was the lack of direction that Lucasfilm presented three more film projects. None have been filmed.
During this time, in addition, the overexploitation of the series on Disney+ has caused the brand to deteriorate. In 2019, The Mandalorian It was an event. It was the long-awaited first live-action series of Star Warscaptured the essence and captivated new audiences. It also put the nascent platform on the map. But not only did it become one of the great triumphs of the era of streamingbut Baby Yoda was born as an unexpected phenomenon (there were not even dolls designed for that Christmas) that . “I was grateful that it was a secret, because if you make dolls, it is very difficult to hide it. Since they saw his little face, everyone was captivated. He became a star on the networks even where Disney+ was not. He is the character that those who have never seen know know. Star Wars“Favreau noted. His adorableness was a milestone in pop culture as Star Wars I hadn’t remembered in years, a triumph for a franchise also born to sell dolls. But, with each project he has added on television, the audience has been diluted both in audience and in influence and conversation.
After converting them from movie scripts (the opposite step to this Mandalorian), and Obi-Wan Kenobi They did not work as expected, despite their connections to the films. and prizes. AND y . In addition to the animated ones, the only survivor is , who coincidentally shares characters with The Mandalorian. Now the efforts have turned to making the return to theaters a real event, not just another one.
To that test for relevance, another project starring Ryan Gosling as a space pilot, along with Amy Adams, Mia Goth and Matt Smith. It will be an adventure after the last episode of the saga and independent of the Skywalkers and the Empire, to try to attract new acolytes from all spectrums to this religion on its 50th anniversary.
These films will also be the first to be released under the new direction of LucasFilm, after the departure of Kathleen Kennedy (who continues as producer) and the arrival at the helm of Lynwen Brennan and Dave Filoni, creative heir to George Lucas and creator of the Mandalorian, little Yoda and the vast majority of the television universe. It is also the first blockbuster for Disney’s new CEO, , who begins his term with . But while the romantic comedy draws audiences captivated 20 years ago, Star Wars He needs to convince a new generation to his Jedi pantheon so that the force can continue to accompany cinema for 50 more years.
