The weekend box office numbers are in for The Mandalorian and Grogu, and while the movie brought in about $100 million, it still represents the lowest-ever opening for a Star Wars film. The consensus seems to be that The Mandalorian and Grogu is underwhelming, in part because it feels too small in scope to be a Star Wars movie. That’s entirely fair, but maybe it’s also a good thing for the future of the franchise. Hear me out: Not every Star Wars movie needs to be about the fate of the entire galaxy — at least, not anymore.
The Mandalorian and Grogu picks up not long after the third season of the Disney Plus series The Mandalorian. While Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) is back to bounty hunting, his priority now is raising Grogu, so he’s no longer taking jobs from those he considers to be morally corrupt, opting to work for the New Republic instead. However, when he’s assigned to a mission that involves doing a favor for a pair of Hutt gangsters in exchange for information, he finds himself tracking down the son of the deceased Jabba the Hutt.
None of that even comes close to the kind of epic space opera we typically associate with a Star Wars movie, and The Mandalorian and Grogu ultimately amounts to little more than a rescue mission for Rotta the Hutt (Jeremy Allen White), who has no interest in inheriting his father’s crime empire. Instead, as Rotta repeatedly states, he wants to be his own man and escape his father’s sizable shadow.
In addition to Rotta’s story, the other biggest theme in the movie is about the eventual fate of Grogu. Grogu’s species lives for centuries longer than Djarin will, and director Jon Favreau takes this opportunity to show that Grogu is not merely a near-helpless baby with a connection to the Force. He’s capable of taking care of himself and even Mando when he’s in danger (even if it never really seems like the Mandalorian is actually going to die in the movie). There’s also some suggestion that, after Djarin is gone, Grogu will at least have a friend in Rotta, whose lifespan is similarly long.
Small stories like this are not what we think of when it comes to Star Wars movies. All nine films in the major trilogies, as well as Rogue One, are all about the fate of good and evil in the galaxy. Only Solo: A Star Wars Story is of comparable size and scope to The Mandalorian and Grogu, but even Solo gained a bit more narrative weight thanks to its direct connection to the original trilogy.
There’s an argument to be made that instead of The Mandalorian and Grogu, Disney could have given us another season of The Mandalorian instead, especially since the movie mostly feels like a long episode of the show (or several episodes stapled together). That’s a fair argument to make about this film in particular, especially since we’re accustomed to seeing these characters on television. But more generally, what is wrong with smaller, character-focused films that tackle things like the mortality of a single character? Or a story that just saves one life as opposed to billions? While those kinds of stories may be trickier to scale up to the cinematic standard we associate with Star Wars, what, exactly, is the alternative?
Especially after the disappointing sequel trilogy, it would be a mistake for Disney to charge headstrong into another big trilogy. Those films failed to live up to the epic expectations set for them, so if Disney cranked out a new trilogy every decade, they would inevitably feel less and less special. Plus, those big trilogies should really be reserved for a once-in-a-generation kind of thing.
In between, Lucasfilm should be allowed to deliver all different kinds of Star Wars films. Some can be about the struggle between good and evil within a more self-contained story like Rogue One, but some can just be about great characters who inhabit that galaxy. As has been proven, especially through Star Wars television, there are lots of good stories to be told that don’t involve the Jedi and the Empire, but those kinds of stories shouldn’t be exclusive to the small screen. There’s still something thrilling about visiting these environments, meeting these characters, and experiencing these space battles in a theater. If they’re well-crafted, those kinds of stories can be big enough to warrant a movie, even if their stories are smaller than what we think of for Star Wars movies.
Regardless of what can be done on TV, nothing compares to seeing an epic Star Wars battle on the big screen. One of the best parts of The Mandalorian and Grogu is the opening sequence, where Mando takes down a handful of AT-AT walkers, giving off serious The Empire Strikes Back vibes in the process. So I’m all for films that can capture that experience in different and, yes, smaller ways — assuming Disney doesn’t overreact to the lackluster response to The Mandalorian and Grogu.
In recent years, Disney has been far too reactionary when it comes to Star Wars movies. After The Last Jedi enraged many fans with its disregard for the characters and themes those fans hold dear, The Rise of Skywalker tried too hard to please them. The result was a vapid, uninteresting nostalgia fest that fans also didn’t like. Since then, it seems that Disney has been gun-shy, which is why it took seven years to get another Star Wars film in theaters, and why, when Lucasfilm finally delivered another movie, it banked on the pre-established success of The Mandalorian, with Disney basically deciding to do the same thing on the big screen and that “more of the same” approach seems to have hurt the movie’s financial returns.
Somewhat predictably, that approach has failed to pay off. While The Mandalorian and Grogu will likely make a profit for Disney (especially once you factor in toy sales, which is really the whole point of Star Wars anyway), it’s definitely not the massive hit the movie franchise needs after seven years in hibernation. Hopefully, instead of overreacting once again and swerving in the wrong direction, Lucasfilm can take a more thoughtful approach and figure out what’s best for Star Wars in the long term, not just for the next movie.
The Mandalorian and Grogu is in theaters now.