Production of ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 4 May Face Delays Due to Writers Strike
According to a new report by Deadline, the writers strike may delay production of the fourth season of The Mandalorian. The trade’s Co-Editor-in-Chief, Nellie Andreeva, is apparently hearing that the crew was initially targeting a September start date, but due to the ongoing, industry-wide work stoppage, that is no longer set in stone.
It’s obviously unknown when, should it be delayed, production would start, for the same reason that it’s unknown how long the strike will go on. Some estimates have it going well into the summer and possibly into September or beyond, but this is obviously a very fluid situation and depends on when the writers and the studios decide to finally sign a new deal. (The directors’ and actors’ guilds are, respectively, currently in and about to start negotiations with the studios for a new deal, so there could even be multiple strikes happening at once should things go South.)
The Mandalorian premiered its season three finale last month. While Lucasfilm has not officially announced the development of a fourth season, series creator Jon Favreau stated in May of last year that he was writing scripts for The Mandalorian season four. Then in February of this year, it was reported that Favreau had completed the scripts and that they were handed to Lucasfilm veteran Doug Chiang for concept art. The stoppage shouldn’t stop pre-production on the show, but Lucasfilm is likely getting ready for a situation where a deal hasn’t been signed by Labor Day.
The Mandalorian would be the latest major production to be impacted by the WGA strike, which has already impacted several high-profile shows and movies — Abbott Elementary season 3, Stranger Things season 5, or even Disney Plus’ own Wonder Man and Daredevil: Born Again have all been put on pause. This can either be because the writers are no longer allowed to work on the scripts, because they cannot be on set, or because the rest of the crew finds it impossible to cross the picket lines.
Favreau is the main writer of The Mandalorian, so if the strike were to go on beyond the summer, he wouldn’t be able to perform any writing duties on set, but what that means for his job as showrunner is a blurry line that has yet to be defined — this is the case of Andor, for instance, whose showrunner and executive producer Tony Gilroy has announced he will cease all work on the show. (The scripts had been completed right before the stoppage was announced.)
Grant Davis (Pomojema) and Miguel Fernandez of Star Wars News Net reported previously about what the Writers Strike means for Star Wars. Their editorial outlines how the previous strikes tend to have lasted around three to four months. Should the current strike continue for that same amount of time, that could affect the production of The Mandalorian slated for September. Their editorial also goes into detail about other Star Wars projects that could be affected. (Bear in mind this was written before Gilroy’s decision was reported.)
Star Wars News Net will continue to follow and provide updates on the WGA Strike and how it pertains to Star Wars as the situation continues to develop.
Born and raised in Hawaii, Jay Goodearl runs the YouTube Gaming channel “Good Games, Dude” His channel aims to open up video games to beginners and immediate players and help them understand what makes games the art form that it is.
