Summary
It feels like every time plans for a newStar Warsmovie are shared, whatever was announced before them is canceled at the same time. That’s not happening for The Mandalorian & Grogu. Filming for the next Star Wars movie wrapped in 2024, it has a release date of May 2026, and according to a new report, it’s going to costDisneyless to make than any other Star Wars film to have released in the past 20 years.
That’s according to Colliderwhich has reportedThe Mandalorian & Grogu has a budget of $166.4 million. That figure was published by the California Film Commision which also revealed the movie has received a $21.75 million tax credit from the state of California. Even without that generous tax credit, the next Star Wars movie will still have the lowest budget in the series since Episode 3: Revenge Of The Sith.
That’s 20 years of Star Wars movies that have not only cost more than episodes one through six but all of which have budgets that exceed $200 million. Episodes seven, eight, and nine were, unsurprisingly, pretty pricey with $245 million, $317 million, and $275 million budgets, respectively. Rogue One cost $200 million, and most surprising of all, Solo: A Star Wars Story had a budget of $275 million, making it the joint-second most expensive Star Wars movie of all time.
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The Mandalorian & Grogu’s budget will fall midway between the prequel trilogy and everything that has come to the big screen in the series since. The Phantom Menace, Attack Of The Clones, and Revenge Of The Sith all cost roughly the same - $115 million for episodes one and two, and $113 million for episode three. The original trilogy was naturally a lot cheaper since the movies were made during the later 1970s/early 1980s, costing $61.5 million combined, so almost half the budget of the next cheapest Star Wars movie.
Considering how difficult it is to please Star Wars fans in the modern era, The Mandalorian & Grogu having a lower budget than usual for a movie on this scale is an early win for the film. Outside of Andor, the franchise’s spin-off shows have struggled to leave a mark. The Acolyte was canceled after a single season, and even The Mandalorian’s third season had a lot of detractors. Hopefully, after a six-year wait between movies, the hunger for a new Star Wars epic will be strong enough that fans will love the film and its revenue will blow past its $166.4 million budget.
