All you need to do is take a look at one scene’s worth of footage from The Mandalorian to know that the budget is clearly comparable to a major Hollywood blockbuster. The cost of the first season was rumored to be $15 million per episode, which equates to at least $120 million to get all eight in the can, and while that’s admittedly at the lower end of the scale for an effects-driven sci-fi movie, it’s hardly cheap.
As well as the extensive post-production required to bring the world to life, The Mandalorian has also been pioneering the immersive Stagecraft technology, which the industry looks set to adopt at large to give the actors a tangible background to film against as opposed to the typical wall-to-wall green screens.
The Disney Plus exclusive series is already poised to serve as the basis for a whole host of Star Wars shows, but in a recent interview, creator Jon Favreau and Pedro Pascal addressed the possibility of a feature-length movie, with Favreau admitting that the lines have become increasingly blurred with the budgets on offer during the age of Peak TV.
“The line is blurring now. Things that you would have only seen in the movie theater, you’re seeing on streaming, and I think it could go the other way as well.”
Pascal was more in favor of the ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it approach,’ but conceded that something as epic and sweeping as The Mandalorian would be a sight to behold on the biggest screen possible.
“I think that the work is so beautiful that I would love for that to be held by a big screen experience. But it seems to work so well that also I’m not sure it’s something that I would want corrupted by any kind of change, you know? I mean, I certainly know that the challenge can be met. It’s not like these people don’t have the experience. If anybody can do it, they can.”
In all honesty, there’s really no need for The Mandalorian to spin off into a movie. A two-hour story would just feel like an extended episode with a slightly bigger budget, and there are almost infinite Star Wars stories that could be told instead of adapting a mythology that fans are already familiar with on Disney Plus. At least, that’s our opinion.
