A fourth season of The Mandalorian looked like a sure thing at one point, but with the disappointing performance of the movie, the fate of the show is now very much in doubt.
What Is It?
This Star Wars series follows the lone bounty hunter Din Djarin, a member of the warrior culture known as the Mandalorians, as he travels the outer reaches of the galaxy in the years following the fall of the Galactic Empire. After accepting a routine bounty, he instead becomes the protector of the mysterious Force-sensitive child Grogu (“Baby Yoda”), setting the pair on a journey that pits them against Imperial remnants, bounty hunters, criminals, and other threats.
Airing: Disney+, 3 Seasons Totaling 24 Episodes (So Far)
Starring: Pedro Pascal, Katee Sackhoff
Created By: Jon Favreau
Has It Been Cancelled?
After three mostly successful seasons, everything seemed to be on track for a fourth year of The Mandalorian, with creator Jon Favreau saying at one point that he already had the scripts written. But reception to the third season was mixed, and viewership was down (though not terrible), so Disney decided to pivot and shift the property to the big screen. That movie went into the works, putting the series on pause, and finally made it to theaters in June as The Mandalorian and Grogu.
Prior to that, in February of this year, an entry appeared in the Production Weekly listings for Season 4 of the show, indicating that work was ramping up again on the small-screen version. I surmised at the time that it was moving into pre-production and that the success of the movie would determine whether the fourth season would move forward. But after The Mandalorian and Grogu fell short of expectations during its theatrical run, the fate of the series is definitely uncertain.
The film has now left theaters after an eleven-week run (it is currently available On Demand, with physical media releases coming soon) and finished with a worldwide tally of $345,058,060 against a budget of $165 million. That means it almost certainly lost money in theaters (a film generally needs to earn at least double its production budget based on domestic ticket sales—or roughly two and a half to three times its budget worldwide—to break even), and it ended up as the lowest-grossing live-action Star Wars movie, falling behind the previous low point set by Solo: A Star Wars Story (which had a much higher budget of $300 million and counted as a flop).
There is still a chance that The Mandalorian and Grogu will turn a profit once streaming and home video revenue are factored in, but as mentioned above, the film certainly fell below expectations at the Box Office. And with that, along with the drop in viewership from Season 2 to Season 3, Disney+ will not have much incentive to move forward with a fourth season, especially considering how expensive the show is to produce. There has been no confirmation at this point that the fourth season will not happen, but it never received an official greenlight in the first place.
One promising note for the series, as pointed out in the comments below, the characters will be added to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge attraction at Disneyland, so the Mouse House is still keeping them in the public eye. There were also plans for a crossover movie that would tie together the storylines from The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, Skeleton Crew, and The Book of Boba Fett, and that may still happen, though the performance of The Mandalorian and Grogu could put a damper on That. As for Season 4 of the series, its prospects are uncertain at this point, but there is still a chance it could go forward.
What Can Fans Do to Help the Show?
If fans want a fourth season, the next steps are pretty simple: watch the show and watch the movie. All three seasons of The Mandalorian are streaming on Disney+, and if fans stage watch parties, perhaps they can get the series back into the Nielsen Streaming Rankings. They should also buy the movie On Demand and buy it on Blu-ray, DVD, and other physical formats when it becomes available (August 25th). Those actions will certainly draw the attention of executives at the Mouse House because they positively impact the bottom line. Fans should also get the show trending on social media, and there are several other ways they can support the series, which you can read about at this link. There is almost no chance that The Mandalorian would move to another venue because Disney wants to keep its Star Wars properties in-house. But with enough fan support, perhaps the company could be convinced to give the show one more shot with a fourth season.
Have you been watching The Mandalorian, and will you support fan efforts to keep the show going for a fourth season? Chime in with your thoughts in the comments below.
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