‘Star Wars’: Jon Favreau’s ‘The Mandalorian & Grogu’ Movie Confirmed For California Shoot As Production Nabs $21.8M In Tax Credits

As soon as Lucasfilm and Disney announced that Jon Favreau (“Iron Man”) would be directing the next big “Star Wars” feature film with “The Mandalorian & Grogu,” it was expected that production would pretty much stick to the same stages and crew working on the Disney+ shows in and around the Manhattan Beach/Los Angeles area in California. Now, that has been cemented with new tax breaks as The Hollywood Reporter revealed the Disney production has landed $21.8 million.

What’s interesting about all this is that star Pedro Pascal is about to begin shooting on Marvel‘s big “Fantastic Four” reboot at Pinewood Studios in England over the summer. This would likely mean his part as Din Djarin will continue to be voice-over related with Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder expected to do the in-suit acting for Mando. Unless he shoots scenes with his helmet off during reshoots ahead of the film’s May 22, 2026 release date, that was inferred by Disney CEO Bob Iger.

Pedro Pascal: The Mandalorian Season 3 Was 'Mostly a Voice Over Gig' -  Comic Book Movies and Superhero Movie News - SuperHeroHype

“The Mandalorian” is still getting a fourth season but it’s unclear when that will shoot given the upcoming film shoot.

Directors Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, James Mangold, Dave Filoni, Taika Waititi, and Shawn Levy also have their own feature films in the works. The former will continue the story beyond “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” with the return of Daisy Ridley as Rey Skywalker and the expectation of her training a new generation of young Jedi. There’s been an assumption that Obaid-Chinoy’s movie will debut on December 18, 2026.

Favreau isn’t a stranger to helping build a cinematic universe as his two “Iron Man” movies helped establish the MCU and became important lead-ups to “The Avengers” in 2012. Along with Lucasfilm’s new CCO Filoni, Favreau has been fleshing out their own corner of the “Star Wars” universe and is expected to contribute creatively to most things moving forward.

The next big “Star Wars” project to be released is said to be “The Aloclyte” this summer on Disney+ and takes place during the end of The High Republic era.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Giancarlo Esposito Teases Early Talks With James Gunn About A Movie Role In The DCU

Actor Giancarlo Esposito has been getting multiple second-winds thanks to his renewed popularity from shows like “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul,” allowing him to continue exploring various genres such as sci-fi fantasy with playing a minor Imperial villain in “The Mandalorian” series (Each season having varying levels of screentime). But he seems to be embracing calls from the internet to take on comic book roles within the worlds of Marvel and DC.

While speaking with a crowd at Comic Con Panama, the actor revealed (See video below via Mint Doom on Twitter) that he’s had an early chatter with DC Studios co-head James Gunn about potentially joining the newly reset DCU, which had officially kicked off earlier this month with “Blue Beetle.” However, a character wasn’t declared nor were the subjects discussed in that talk assumed to have taken place before the strikes.

“I have been talking to James Gunn about the possibility of being in a movie – so who knows?”

What we do know is that Gunn is on the hunt for actors to play multiple roles in “Superman: Legacy,” but the names being mentioned for someone like Lex Luthor have been attributed to actors like Alexander Skarsgård, Bill Skarsgård, and previous Clark Kent hopeful, Nicholas Hoult. Fans might want to pigeon-hold the actor to only being right for villains, but Esposito seems to be keen to rebuff that notion. Planet).

In the past, Esposito has mused about a personal desire to play more heroic comic book characters such as Professor Charles Xavier from the “X-Men.” While fan sites/accounts have made massive leaps about Esposito taking certain roles, none of that has actually been backed up by more credible sources like the studios themselves or trades. More or less when the actor has on occasion brought up characters, it has been his personal reaction to internet fan-castings and not likely something he’s actually been offered.

Things like this might not even materialize into a role and could simply be a meeting of the minds that goes nowhere. Then again, we could see him being a good fit as a more cheerful version of, Perry White, Clark and Lois’ boss at the Daily Planet. There are also multiple other high-profile DCU projects in the works as well such as “The Brave & The Bold,” a second season of “Peacemaker,” an animated project focused on the “Creature Commandos,” and even more on the horizon.

SOURCE: GIANCARLO ESPOSITO AT COMIC CON PANAMA

‘The Book Of Boba Fett’: Cinematographer David Klein Confirmed For Multiple Episodes

Lucasfilm’s next big Star Wars release on the small screen will be The Book of Boba Fett, a direct spinoff from The Mandalorian as we’ll see further adventures of Fett (played by Temuera Morrison) and his newly acquired partner Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen).

We already know that the show has wrapped but details of who worked on the secretive project has been trickling out recently, including some crew and director confirmations.

The Ronin has been able to confirm that Deadwood: The Movie and The Mandalorian (Season 2) cinematographer David Klein (Clerks, Chasing Amy, Mallrats) indeed returned to shoot multiple episodes of Boba Fett, however, the number hasn’t been fully revealed. Klein shot Robert Rodriguez’s Season 2 episode where we see Fett get his armor back and take out a bunch of Storm Troopers.

Previously, it was revealed by American Cinematographer that legendary director of photography Dean Cundey would also be shooting episodes as well. His fantastic list of credits includes Halloween, The Fog, Escape From New York, The Thing, Big Trouble In Little China, Jurassic Park, Back To The Future 1-3, and Death Becomes Her.

Fett’s directing team is expected to include Robert Rodriguez (Alita: Battle Angel, Desperado, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Sin City) alongside other Mando alumni such as Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Extraction director Sam Hargrave.

Lucasfilm confirmed last year that The Book of Boba Fett would be ready to begin airing on Disney+ sometime in December. Other Star Wars shows currently in production include Diego Luna’s Andor, Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Season 3 of The Mandalorian is said to be underway as well.

It’ll be interesting to see how Fett will lead into Season 3 of The Mandalorian and if we’ll indeed see multiple characters cross-pollinate between the two Star Wars projects.

Some rumors would suggest that Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka series could be the next series to go into production alongside Lucasfilm’s next big Star Wars movie Rogue Squadron from filmmaker Patty Jenkins.