The Mandalorian & Grogu looks to be the least-expensive Star Wars film made in the Disney era, according to recent numbers from the California Film Commission’s report on tax credits.
As pointed out by Star Wars News Net, The Mandalorian & Grogu is listed with a production budget of $166.438 million. Though there is some discrepancy over the exact budget numbers of past Star Wars films, what is clear is that this number would represent the cheapest movie that Lucasfilm has made since being sold to the Walt Disney Company.
Though this is an interesting tidbit, it’s not at all surprising. Past Star Wars movies have fared well at the box office and made up for their expensive budgets (with the exception of Solo), but a lot has changed since the last theatrical release (The Rise of Skywalker in 2019). The movie industry is changing. But what’s more, this budget represents a very fair number for a TV series that’s being brought to the big screen. It’s more expensive than past seasons of The Mandalorian, but it’s not quite as expensive as the Skywalker saga films.
But what it also means is that Star Wars is going to be in a very good position, at least financially, to return to theaters. They’re going to be entering a very full and competitive 2026 summer box office schedule, and are taking a bit of a risk by bringing a story that begun on the small screen to the big screen (even if it’s Disney’s most marketable show, it’s still a significant adjustment). Because of that there could be some uncertainty on how the film will fare, but a budget like this should make it easier to emerge feeling really good about the movie’s numbers.
The Mandalorian & Grogu is currently in post-production and will hit theaters on May 22, 2026. It is directed by Jon Favreau, written by Favreau and Dave Filoni, and executive produced by Favreau, Filoni, Kathleen Kennedy, and Ian Bryce.
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