The Mandalorian & Grogu is entering a critical phase, and Disney needs to plan its next few steps carefully if it wants the movie to succeed. The new Star Wars movie is the first major theatrical release from the galaxy far, far away since 2019's Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. As such, a lot is riding on The Mandalorian & Grogu's success, but the film's marketing strategy so far is failing to make an impact.
The new Star Wars film is a continuation of the Disney+ show The Mandalorian, which introduced audiences to Pedro Pascal's stoic helmeted hero, Din Djarin, and his adorable young alien companion, Grogu. After three seasons of adventures on Disney+, the studio decided to take a gamble and put Mando and Grogu on the big screen. But only three months out from the movie's release, things are still touch-and-go.
The Mandalorian & Grogu could serve as Star Wars' salvation, offering a much-needed win for the Lucasfilm franchise on the big screen, or it could become a failed experiment, signalling the death of The Mandalorian franchise and any other Star Wars series planning to make the jump to cinemas.
The State of The Mandalorian & Grogu's Marketing Strategy
Disney has already put in a fair amount of effort into The Mandalorian & Grogu's marketing, but not all of it is resonating.
The new film is essentially taking the place of The Mandalorian Season 4, which is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, many audiences are already familiar with the duo's Disney+ show and are expected to turn out to see their journey continue in cinemas. On the other hand, many are not aware of The Mandalorian or are not up to date on the series, and may feel they need to catch up and do homework before seeing the movie (or wait for it on Disney+), which could impact its box office returns.
Disney has released one full-length trailer for The Mandalorian & Grogu (and one with slight deviations), which has done a solid job of establishing the movie's tone and style.
The largely dialogue-less trailer features action-packed scenes with classic Star Wars visuals and characters. It gives off a family-friendly charm and a classic, adventurous sci-fi tone. However, it also does little to distinguish The Mandalorian & Grogu from The Mandalorian and sell it as a worthy jump to the big screen, nor does it reveal basically anything about the story the two will be involved in.
It was an interesting first trailer for The Mandalorian & Grogu, but the movie still had months to go before its release. Then came the Star Wars film's Super Bowl spot.
Rather than pack as much eye-catching action or as many new reveals as possible into a 30-second teaser, Disney opted to go for another tonal teaser for The Mandalorian & Grogu at the Super Bowl. The teaser that aired shows Din Djarin and Grogu on a wagon being pulled by Tauntauns through the snow, accompanied by a narrator. It did little to reveal anything new about the movie.
Lucasfilm released an accompanying statement about the Star Wars Super Bowl spot, saying it was a "unique concept" designed to capture the "warmth, humor and emotional connection between these two beloved characters." The ad was intentionally designed to mirror "classic Big Game" spots of previous years and provide "a bite-sized promise of the experience audiences will get when they see these two beloved icons on the big screen."
While the homage was cleverly done, this bite-sized promise has left fans wanting more, particularly as The Mandalorian & Grogu enters a critical phase with only three months to go before its release.
What Does Disney Have To Do Next To Sell The Mandalorian & Grogu?
At this point in The Mandalorian & Grogu's marketing campaign, the marketing team has done a good job of establishing one thing: fans can expect more of what they know and love in The Mandalorian in this new film. But this doesn't feel like enough, particularly since they'll need to shell out more for cinema tickets to experience this new Star Wars story, rather than receive it as part of their monthly Disney+ subscription.
Disney needs to show fans that there's something unmissable in The Mandalorian & Grogu that warrants seeing it on the big screen.
While it's true that a movie's marketing can sometimes give too much away, The Mandalorian & Grogu seems to be suffering from the opposite problem right now. At this point, audiences still don't know who the villain in the Star Wars film is, what the main mission for Mando and Grogu is, or even much about Sigourney Weaver's new character (an exciting new hire for the franchise). Even some basic details on the plot and new characters would do wonders for The Mandalorian & Grogu at this stage.
This makes the next phase of The Mandalorian & Grogu's marketing crucial. There will no doubt be at least one more official trailer for the new Star Wars film in the coming months, which will hopefully provide some much-needed context on what exactly this story will be about. Beyond that, Disney has the traditional press tour and red carpet circuit - which could include stars like Pedro Pascal and Sigourney Weaver - to further hook fans into The Mandalorian's jump to the big screen.
As mentioned, there's a lot riding on this film. Rumor has it that if The Mandalorian & Grogu does well, it could launch a whole new Star Wars film franchise for Lucasfilm.
Adding to that, other Star Wars series' futures are on the line if The Mandalorian & Grogu doesn't do well. Reports of a MandoVerse crossover film, which would combine the stories from Ahsoka, The Book of Boba Fett, and Star Wars: Rebels, have been circulating for years, but only recently did it seem the film might be in trouble. If The Mandalorian & Grogu fails in theatres, it could be the nail in the coffin for any other Star Wars TV series that were intending to go to cinemas, including the MandoVerse movie.
There is definitely still time for audiences to get on board with The Mandalorian & Grogu before it releases on May 22, but Disney will need to make these next steps count.
