Kathleen Kennedy Compares Jon Favreau to George Lucas as THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU Heads to the Big Screen
The Star Wars franchise is gearing up for a major return to theaters, and The Mandalorian and Grogu is leading the charge.
What started as a streaming hit is now leveling up into a full-blown cinematic event, and according to Kathleen Kennedy, this isn’t just a bigger version of the show. It’s something much more ambitious.
Speaking at the UK Fan Event, Kennedy opened up about how the film pushes beyond what fans have seen on Disney+. The scale, the tech, and the creative vision all sound like they’ve been dialed way up.
"It's entirely on a different level," Kennedy said, when asked about the scale of the movie compared to the Disney Plus show. "And I think that's what excited us when we realized that we had the opportunity to put this on the big screen, and now we get to put it on IMAX, which makes it even bigger.
“And I think that we knew as we were creating the series that there was a real opportunity to expand this in a way that we couldn't even imagine, and we pulled together some of the most incredible people inside of ILM, Industrial Light & Magic, who has done all the Star Wars movies. They have done extraordinary work.
"And I think what I've been so amazed at in working with Jon is that he is incredibly innovative in terms of taking technology and cinema and moving into the next level, much like what George Lucas did," she added.
"And I think that's what you'll see with this movie, is it deserves, and needed, to be on the big screen, and it is, and it's extraordinary."
That comparison to George Lucas is a big one. Lucas reshaped how movies were made. Hearing Kennedy put Jon Favreau in that same conversation says a lot about what’s happening with this project.
Favreau has already changed the game with The Mandalorian, especially with the use of StageCraft technology and real-time environments. Now it sounds like he’s taking those tools even further, giving this movie a visual scope that demands the big screen experience.
This is the first Star Wars movie in seven years. You don’t come back after that kind of break with something small.
Bringing Din Djarin and Grogu into theaters feels like the natural next step. Their story has grown beyond episodic adventures, and fans have been ready to see it evolve into something more cinematic. From what Kennedy is saying, that leap isn’t just happening, it’s being pushed to its limits.
The Mandalorian and Grogu hits theaters on May 22, and it sounds like it’s aiming to remind everyone why Star Wars belongs on the big screen.