Budget For The Next ‘Star Wars’ Film, ‘The Mandalorian & Grogu’ Is Surprisingly Low

The California Film Commission has revealed the budget for Lucasfilm’s upcoming Star Wars film, The Mandalorian & Grogu, and it is cheaper than one may expect. The film cost $166.4 million, making it the cheapest Star Wars film made under the Disney umbrella.

A major reason as to why the budget is smaller is the use of ILM and its newest innovations. Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) was created by George Lucas and Lucasfilm back in the 70s for Star Wars. The technology has been used for decades, but nobody has used it better than Lucasfilm. Now, Volume technology, which involves a 360-degree LED display to create high-resolution backgrounds, has helped cut costs on VFX for The Mandalorian. The Volume was used for the TV series, and now Lucasfilm is using it to keep costs low on the new film. Previously, no Disney Star Wars film has managed to keep its budget under $200 million, so this is a massive leap. On top of that, many of the Star Wars Disney+ shows have had enormous budgets, with the two seasons of Andor costing well over $600 million combined.

The Mandalorian & Grogu is the first Star Wars film since The Rise of Skywalker all the way back in 2019. The film is directed by Jon Favreau and written by Favreau and Dave Filoni, both of whom have worked on The Mandalorian series. The film was originally written as the fourth season of the show but was later reworked into a theatrical film. It wrapped filming back in December, meaning it has over a year of post-production before its scheduled release on May 22, 2026. The cast includes Pedro Pascal, Sigourney Weaver, and Jeremy Allen White.