Just months after Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026) posted the lowest domestic opening weekend in modern Star Wars franchise history earlier in May, taking in about $82 million over its first three days, actor and comedian Simon Farnaby confirmed in a Variety interview that the Star Wars film he and director Paul King were developing for Lucasfilm will never materialize.
Farnaby, who wrote Wonka (2023) and Paddington 2 (2017), described the concept as centering on a robot, but that it made away with all the recognizable Star Wars characters. The actor acknowledged that the team struggled to align their vision with the specific expectations of a Star Wars project, leading the studio to pass on the pitch.
Disney had other ideas, however. Instead of abandoning the script, the media giant suggested that the duo rework the concept into an original science fiction film, a project Farnaby has confirmed is currently in development.
Wider cracks in the empire
The franchise has spent years under scrutiny at Disney, which has owned Lucasfilm since 2012 amid a track record of delayed films and divisive television. This climate of instability further culminated in Kathleen Kennedy, who had led the studio since the acquisition, stepping down earlier this year and being replaced by Dave Filoni, the company’s former chief creative officer.
Reviews of The Mandalorian and Grogu did not help. Sam Adams of Slate, for instance, wrote, “The good news about The Mandalorian and Grogu is you don’t have to have seen all three seasons of the streaming TV show to enjoy the story of a ruthless bounty hunter and his little green sidekick.
The bad news is I don’t know what you’d have to do to have a good time at this lifeless, half-hearted movie, which brings Star Wars back to movie theaters for the first time in seven years, since the similarly dreadful The Rise of Skywalker.”
The critical consensus remains fractured, with the film currently holding a 60% Tomatometer score against an 86% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes alongside a 6.8/10 score on IMDb.
Sources: Box Office Mojo, Screen Daily, Slate Magazine, Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb, Variety, The Independent