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The Mandalorian & Grogu is Disney's cheapest Star Wars movie

With a budget to the tune of $166 million, it'll still have to draw in a good chunk of box office gold.
Alex Hopley Editor UK 20 March 2025

The Mandalorian & Grogu marks Star Wars' return to the big screen. After years away, we won't have to tune into Disney+ to keep up with the adventures of the bounty hunter and his ever-marketable baby Yoda.

According to Collider, it appears Disney has learned its lessons from going big with Star Wars budgets, and has made The Mandalorian & Grogu the cheapest movie for Star Wars since Revenge of the Sith. A California tax credit worth $21.75 million brought the budget down to $166 million.

That's still a lot of money, but it's perhaps indicative of Disney's less lofty expectations for this film. While The Mandalorian did spark a new era for Disney Star Wars, people will have had to watch the series to understand who the character is, and therefore may shy away from theatres when The Mandalorian & Grogu releases. Considering The Acolyte had a reported budget of around $230 million, though, perhaps Disney is just pulling back on Star Wars spending to save some cash.

Editor UK Alex Hopley covered the video game industry for Gamereactor, from new announcements and launches to the business behind them. He also wrote on tech, film and entertainment, and his coverage wasn't tied to any one region.
Full profile Gamereactor author since 2023 · 9,411 published articles
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