The latest news fromThe Mandalorian and Grogusuggests Lucasfilm has finally learned one of George Lucas' most important lessons. We tend to forget just how revolutionary George Lucas was as a filmmaker. There’s a sense in which he was the ultimate auteur, an artist with a distinctive approach. He knew what he wanted, and he’d make that film - whatever the critics thought. As Lucas put it in a 2005 interview withCBS:
“If you paint your house white and somebody comes over, ‘Well that should be a green house.’ Well, fine, but I wanted to paint it white. I don’t think there was anything wrong with painting it white. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with me for painting it white. Maybe it should be a green house, but I didn’t want it to be a green house. I wanted it to be a white house.”
Those comments were made when Lucas was justifying the controversial decisions he made during the prequels. Lucas funded the prequels themselves, meaning he didn’t need to worry about studios looking over his shoulder - a problem many modern filmmakers have faced with Lucasfilm. Butthis self-financing also contributed to an important approach, one that the studio Lucas founded has forgotten- until recently.
George Lucas Always Knew How To Keep The Costs Under Control
Lucas has always been well known for his experimental storytelling. The prequels, for example, were trail-blazers when it came to the creative use of CGI; Jar Jar Binks is a direct ancestor of Gollum inThe Lord of the Rings, and there’s a straight line in development fromThe Phantom Menaceto James Cameron’sAvatar. But, for all his technical ambition, Lucas excelled at one thing in particular;he knew how to keep the costs under control.
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Lucas himself pointed this out in an interview withWiredback in 1999.“Let me put it this way,” he reflected, and you can almost hear him smiling as he said it. “On Titanic the special effects cost about $50 million and there were about 500 shots; same thing with Starship Troopers - 500 shots for $50 million. In Star Wars: Episode 1 there are almost 2,000 shots, and the [special effects] budget is around $60 million. You do the math.”
This is a skill Lucasfilm has largely lost. Just look at the way production budgets forStar Warsmovies have ballooned, even after inflation - often affected by reshoots, additional photography, and behind-the-scenes drama. This was a major reason whySolo: A Star Wars Storybecame the first everStar Warsmovie to lose money in the box office.
1977
$11 million
1980
$18 million
Return of the Jedi
1983
$32.5 million
1999
$115 million
2002
2005
$113 million
2015
$245 million
2016
$200 million
2017
$317 million
2018
$275 million
2019
The Mandalorian & Grogu Sounds To Have A Surprisingly Low Budget
A Positive Sign For Lucasfilm
The Mandalorian & Grogu’s budgetis different. This nextStar Warsmovie is due out in 2026, and it will mark the franchise’s (hopefully) triumphant return to the big screen; there hasn’t been a newStar Warsmovie since 2019’sRise of Skywalker. Disney hope that Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin and the delightful Grogu will be as a big a draw for theaters as they have been for Disney+. The movie is made Jon Favreau, taking advantage of ILM’s innovative Volume technology.
It also sounds to have a much lower budget. According to the California Film Commission,The Mandalorian & Groguhas an overall production budget of just $166.4 million(and received tax credits of $21.75 million, too). Now, it must be noted the budget could well turn out higher if location work was carried out elsewhere, but there’s currently no evidence of this. All signs are that Lucasfilm has finally gotten the costs under control, relearning George Lucas' lesson at last.
How Did Lucasfilm Keep The Costs Under Control?
A Promising Sign Of Change At Lucasfilm
How did Lucasfilm pull this off? Part of the answer lies in technology, specifically in the Volume. While it’s true the CGI environment-generator has become controversial of late, that’s largely becausenot everybody is as competent with the Volume as Favreau; he’s always been another trail-blazer with CGI (just think ofThe Lion King), and he set the bar high with his use of the Volume inThe Mandalorianseason 1. Used well, it helps to keep the costs under control.
But it’s also important to note this is a sign of trust on Lucasfilm’s part. The Disney era has been renowned for behind-the-scenes drama and course corrections, withRon Howard reshooting nearly all ofSoloas the worst example. IfThe Mandalorian & Grogureally does have such a low budget, it’s a sign the studio has settled on a direction andtrustedits filmmaker. Favreau has been able to make the moviehewanted, with less meddling; to paint the walls white, in Lucas' metaphor. It’s a great sign for the future, asStar Warsreturns to theaters at last.
