It seems that after many, many false starts Disney-Lucasfilm will finally be getting a new Star Wars film into theaters in May 2026--six and a half years after the last Star Wars movie (The Rise of Skywalker), and almost exactly eight years after the last really comparable movie, the side story Solo.
Not much is known about the movie, bar its being an obvious extension of the flagship TV series of the now rather sprawling small screen side of the franchise. Still, one thing about it caught my eye, namely the budget: $120 million. By no means low, it is also far from bank-busting for a Star Wars feature film, with Solo again a useful point of comparison. That film cost $250 million to produce back in 2018--about the equivalent of $315 million in today's money after we adjust for inflation. The Mandalorian film is thus running Disney a rough third of what the earlier movie did in real terms, with the more limited nature of the investment (likely to be complemented by a lower outlay for publicity) seeming to me relevant given the way the film market is going. Rather than putting up a tentpole and expecting "everyone" to show up for it, Disney may be aiming for the more limited portion of the audience that they might hope would really care about a Mandalorian movie--the project a limited investment for a limited but relatively enthusiastic market just big enough to let them turn a profit on a "low" budget. If so then whatever the film ultimately proves to be artistically, there is at least some soundness to the logic, this seeming to me exactly how movie producers need to play the game much more often if they are to keep making money at it.
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