The Walt Disney Company reported its first quarter earnings of 2024 on Wednesday, and Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger made several surprise announcements. For one, as you probably already read, a surprise “Moana 2” is not only coming, it’s nearly ready, and dated for November 2024. “Zootopia 2” was also dated for fall 2025, and Disney confirmed the title of Fede Alvarez’s next ‘Aliens’ movie as “Alien: Romulus.” Iger noted several “significant announcements that represent important and exciting steps forward.” Among them were also unexpected announcements about “Frozen 3,” “Toy Story 5,” and the confirmation that the Lucasfilm movie “The Mandalorian & Grogu” will be the first “Star Wars” theatrical film to arrive in 2026.

Continue reading Disney Announces ‘Toy Story 5,’ ‘Frozen 3,’ ‘Mandalorian & Grogu’ For 2026 & More at The Playlist.

The surprise announcement this week of “The Mandalorian & Grogu” raised a ton of questions about the galaxy of Lucasfilm. Isn’t “The Mandalorian” a series? Wasn’t the Rey-leading “Star Wars” film from filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy meant to come first, and where do Dave Filoni’s various TV series and films fit into all of this? Additionally, given Bob Iger’s famous about-face quotes about Disney+ shows—namely the Marvel and Lucasfilm ones—“diluting” the brand, aka these subpar TV shows may have hurt the theatrical model and bottom line—won’t a TV series on Disney+ that audiences already enjoyed in the comfort of their own homes face a steep challenge making the leap to the big screen?

Continue reading ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 4 Was Fully Written Before Series Pivoted To The ‘Grogu’ Movie at The Playlist.

This is the way. Leave it to Lucasfilm to throw us a curveball when it comes to “Star Wars” films. Just when we were all set to speculate about the three films currently in development, led by the next film being Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s feature starring Daisy Ridley, Lucasfilm has gone ahead and turned everyone upside down. No longer is that Obaid-Chinoy film the next film on the slate, but instead, it’s a previously-unannounced feature titled “The Mandalorian and Grogu.”

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Sure, the title is a bit on the nose, but “The Mandalorian and Grogu” was just announced by Lucasfilm and is said to be a continuation of the adventures we’ve seen in “The Mandalorian” TV series.

Continue reading ‘The Mandalorian & Grogu’: Jon Favreau To Direct A New ‘Star Wars’ Film Beginning Production Later This Year at The Playlist.