The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026)

In The Mandalorian and Grogu, Din Djarin and Grogu take a job from the Hutt Twins to rescue Rotta, the son of Jabba the Hutt, while hunting Imperial warlords for the New Republic. The film, directed by Jon Favreau, places the story after Return of the Jedi and before The Force Awakens in chronological order.

The setup is a trade. The Hutt Twins offer to give up the location of a warlord named Commander Coin if Din will rescue Rotta. Rotta is being held on the moon Shakari, where he fights as a gladiator, and he does not want to be saved. Din and Grogu travel there to bring him out, and that mismatch between the mission and the person it concerns drives the first act.

If you are arriving from the series The Mandalorian, our Star Wars TV shows page covers where it sits, and the Star Wars timeline shows how this film fits around the saga films.

In The Mandalorian and Grogu, Din Djarin and Grogu rescue Rotta from Shakari for the Hutt Twins, learn that Lord Janu and Commander Coin are the same warlord, survive the Twins' betrayal, and watch the New Republic destroy the Twins' palace.

Din and Grogu begin by hunting former Imperial warlords for the New Republic. The Hutt Twins promise intel on Commander Coin in return for the rescue of Jabba's son Rotta from Shakari. Rotta is a gladiator there and refuses to leave, so Din fights him in the arena, beats him and spares his life. Lord Janu then floods the arena with monsters, and in the chaos Din and Grogu manage to capture Rotta.

Rotta tells them something that changes the job: Lord Janu and Coin are one and the same man. Din raids Lord Janu's compound to settle it, but he is caught by the bounty hunter Embo, who hands him over to the Hutt Twins. The Twins have Din poisoned by a Dragonsnake, and Grogu saves him with an antidote from a fisherman.

Din and Grogu then sneak into the Twins' palace, where the Dragonsnake devours the Twins. The New Republic, led by Colonel Ward, destroys the palace. Rotta chooses to join the New Republic, and the film closes with Din teaching Grogu to fly the Razor Crest.

The Mandalorian and Grogu premiered May 14, 2026 in Los Angeles, opened May 22, 2026 in the US and UK (May 21 in Australia), and grossed about $345.8 million worldwide on a $165 million production budget. The premiere took place at the TCL Chinese Theater. The film is rated PG-13 in the US, 12A in the UK and M in Australia.

That worldwide total splits into about $177.7 million domestic and $168.1 million international, according to The Numbers. Box Office Mojo reports a slightly different international total, so the figures quoted are The Numbers'. The full comparison with other titles is on our Star Wars box office page.

After its theatrical run, the film moved to home viewing. As of November 2, 2026, Disney+ carries it on subscription in the US, UK and Australia, and it can also be rented or bought from several stores in each country. The country by country list is on where to watch Star Wars. Disney+ has not published a streaming arrival date in the sources we checked.

At the end of The Mandalorian and Grogu, the Dragonsnake devours the Hutt Twins, the New Republic destroys their palace, Rotta joins the New Republic, and Din teaches Grogu to fly the Razor Crest. Everything that follows contains spoilers, and the interpretation is my own reading, so please treat it as opinion.

What does it mean? In my opinion, the Twins dying to their own creature gives the Hutt thread a clean close, since the same Dragonsnake they used to poison Din is what removes them. Because the film sits directly after Return of the Jedi in chronological order, and Rotta is Jabba's son, I read the Hutt storyline as a deliberate echo of that earlier film's criminal world, now being dismantled by the New Republic. That is interpretation, not something the filmmakers have stated.

Rotta is the more interesting case. He begins on Shakari as a gladiator who refuses rescue. Din beats him in the arena and spares his life, and that mercy is the hinge: Rotta later tells Din that Lord Janu and Commander Coin are the same man, and he finishes by choosing a side. It could be argued this is the film's quietest argument about what the New Republic offers people compared with the criminal families it replaces.

The Colonel Ward sequence matters for the same reason. The New Republic arrives and flattens the palace, which shows the faction acting with force, not only as the employer Din and Grogu work for. Set beside The Force Awakens, the next film in chronological order, that early show of strength gives viewers something to weigh. I am not claiming the film plans that connection, only that it is a fair question to ask.

The final image is small on purpose. Din and Grogu fly off together, and teaching Grogu to pilot the ship shifts the partnership from carrier and passenger toward two pilots, which, perhaps, is the most accurate summary of where the pair have arrived by this point in the chronology.

As a spinoff, it closes its own story much as Rogue One and Solo are also spinoffs that stand as complete stories. In my view, that makes this ending a finish more than a launch pad. The source I could read describes no larger sequel setup, and the film leaves Lord Janu's fate after the compound raid unstated, which I would read as a loose end rather than a setup.

The Mandalorian and Grogu was filmed entirely in California, and the California governor's office described it as the first Star Wars feature shot entirely in the state. That announcement came in February 2024, tied to the state's film and TV tax credit program.

Filming began in August 2024 and wrapped in early December 2024. Specific stages and sites have not been publicly detailed in the sources we checked.

The Mandalorian and Grogu was filmed under the working title Thunder Alley, and about 49 minutes of it were shot in IMAX 1.43:1. It is also the first Star Wars film to feature opening credits.

The production involved about 54 cast members, 3,500 background extras and 500 crew. Tippett Studio provided the stop motion animation, and Ludwig Göransson recorded the score in January 2026 at the Fox Studio Lot in Los Angeles.

If you want to see how the film compares with the earlier releases, the Star Wars movies in order page lists each one in release and chronological order.