It’s worth remembering that Dave Filoni directed the worst-reviewed and lowest-grossing ‘Star Wars’ movie ever made

Having slowly worked his way up the ranks to become one of the most pivotal figures in the entirety of the Star Wars brand, Dave Filoni has been handed what’s both a massive reward and the biggest challenge of his career after he was confirmed to be directing the feature-length conclusion to the MandoVerse saga.

Having breathed new life into the rapidly-stagnating franchise after teaming up with Jon Favreau for The Mandalorian and its various assorted spinoffs, many fans have been clamoring for Filoni to be given the reins on a big budget movie. However, what’s easily forgotten is that he’s already helmed a theatrical release set in a galaxy far, far away, and it was terrible.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars holds the distinction of being both the worst-reviewed and lowest-grossing Star Wars flick ever made, thanks to a disastrous 18 percent Rotten Tomatoes score and a box office haul of just $68 million. While you can argue that it’s an animated adventure and shouldn’t be held to the same standards, it’s a concerning statistic nonetheless.

Of course, Filoni has done virtually nothing but hone his craft in the 15 years since, but he’s still relatively unproven as a director outside of a few standalone episodes of the Disney Plus shows. Making the leap to not just the theatrical world but what’s immediately being deemed as one of the most hotly-anticipated sci-fi spectaculars on the horizon is a whole lot of pressure, which hopefully he’s equipped to handle.