A previously announced Star Wars film from Dave Filoni appears increasingly unlikely to move forward, as Lucasfilm reassesses its Mando-Verse strategy following a string of underperforming releases and a change in studio leadership.
The Star Wars franchise has entered a period of significant instability, with development on several long-gestating projects stalled and no clear theatrical roadmap beyond the next twelve months. Much of the current uncertainty stems from the franchise's earlier pivot toward a streaming-first content strategy.
The Mandalorian, which debuted alongside Disney+ at launch, became the flagship title anchoring the platform's Star Wars output. Subsequent series expanded the format considerably, cementing Disney+ as the primary distribution channel for the franchise following the conclusion of the sequel trilogy in December 2019.
That strategy has since drawn diminishing returns. Spin-off series The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka were both met with mixed-to-negative critical reception. The Book of Boba Fett is not expected to continue, while Ahsoka is set to conclude with a second — and reportedly final — season in early 2027.
The Mandalorian itself showed declining momentum by its third season, and the franchise's subsequent move to a theatrical format in 2026 further indicated softening demand for New Republic-era storytelling, notwithstanding the continued presence of Pedro Pascal as Din Djarin alongside Grogu.
The Mandalorian and Grogu, which served as a de facto substitute for a fourth season of the flagship series, underperformed significantly at the global box office, grossing just over $340 million against a production budget of approximately $165 million. The film's commercial trajectory drew added scrutiny after lower-budget horror releases, Obsession (2025) and Backrooms (2026), outperformed it during its first few weekends of release.
The matter was addressed directly during The Walt Disney Company's third-quarter earnings call last week, when CEO Josh D'Amaro discussed box office results for both The Mandalorian and Grogu and the studio's live-action Moana (2026), which similarly underperformed internationally.
“While audience scores for both Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu and fiscal Q4's live action Moana have been strong, both films underperformed our box office expectations,” the company stated in its shareholder letter. “Even so, these franchise investments contributed to value creation beyond their theatrical releases.”
Disney further noted that the release “drove healthy growth in retail sales for the Star Wars franchise during the quarter,” citing the debut of a Mandalorian-themed overlay for the Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run attraction at both Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort as evidence of continued brand engagement beyond the box office.
Taken together — the disappointing theatrical result, the delayed second season of Ahsoka, and the apparent cancellations of The Book of Boba Fett and Skeleton Crew — the outlook for further Mando-Verse expansion has grown considerably more uncertain. Industry observers now expect Filoni's previously announced crossover film to be shelved.
The project was originally unveiled in 2023 under then-Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy, who announced a slate of three tentpole Star Wars films: a New Republic-set feature from Filoni, a “New Jedi Order” film from director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy starring Daisy Ridley as Rey, and a “Dawn of the Jedi” film helmed by James Mangold. Kennedy also confirmed a separate trilogy in development from screenwriter Simon Kinberg.
In the years since, none of the four projects has advanced publicly beyond intermittent statements addressing delays. With Filoni now serving in a co-leadership capacity at Lucasfilm alongside Lynwen Brennan, sources close to the matter suggest his New Republic film faces long odds of production. That assessment is compounded by softening audience interest in the Mandalorian era and the commercial results of The Mandalorian and Grogu.
According to prior reporting, Filoni structured Ahsoka Season 2 around a conclusive narrative arc. The specifics remain unconfirmed, though the season is widely expected to resolve storylines tied to the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen), as well as the escape of Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) and Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) from the world of Peridea.
As development timelines continue to slip, the likelihood of a theatrical culmination to the seven-year New Republic storyline diminishes further. Current indications suggest the Thrawn arc will instead be resolved within the Disney+ ecosystem, whether through additional series content or a standalone special.
The franchise's theatrical slate is not without upcoming titles. Director Shawn Levy's Star Wars: Starfighter (2027), starring Ryan Gosling, is scheduled for release next May. The film is positioned as a standalone story and marks the first Star Wars narrative set after the events of Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker (2019).
Should Star Wars: Starfighter perform well commercially — a plausible outcome given its standalone positioning and Gosling's marquee draw — that result would likely reinforce the narrative that audience appetite for the Mando-Verse has declined over the past seven years, further supporting the case for canceling Filoni's New Republic project.
This would not represent the franchise's first scrapped development effort. Rangers of the New Republic was canceled publicly following the dismissal of Gina Carano from her role as Cara Dune, while other projects have exited the pipeline with considerably less visibility. It was recently reported that a Star Wars project from Paddington 2 (2017) writer-director Paul King and co-writer Simon Farnaby had been removed from development entirely and reconceived as a non-franchise, original property.
With interest in the Mando-Verse era showing signs of decline across both box office and streaming metrics, Lucasfilm's broader theatrical strategy for the subgenre remains an open question heading into 2027.
How do you think Lucasfilm and Disney will handle the end of the Mando-Verse? Let us know in the comments down below!
