It's hard not to associate The Mandalorian and Grogu with Disney Plus. Both beloved Star Wars characters made their debut with the platform, as The Mandalorian itself arrived alongside the launch of the streamer in 2019, and they have gone on to become pop-culture phenomenons. Phenomenons so big, in fact, that they are now headlining their own feature film.
But don't be expecting The Mandalorian and Grogu to make its presence felt on Disney Plus anytime soon, as the film is exclusively released in movie theaters. That said, fear not Mandalorians: They are on their way back to the streamer as the Star Wars movie will be released on the platform after its theatrical run ends. Here's when you should expect it to do just that.
The Mandalorian and Grogu won't be streaming on Disney Plus for at least 100 days
If you're hoping to find The Mandalorian and Grogu on Disney Plus over the next few weekends, you'll probably be disappointed. While the new Star Wars movie will indeed be joining the three seasons of The Mandalorian on the streaming service at some point, it is currently exclusive to movie theaters - meaning that this is the only place that it can be watched for now. However, that won't always be the case.
The theatrical release window will undoubtedly take the film through the majority of the summer, with a digital PVOD release then coming as the first of the on-demand releases (where it will be available to purchase on services such as Apple TV and the Prime Video Store). Whenever it does make its streaming debut, however, that will be on Disney Plus.
With that in mind, Disney movies tend to have a 100-day wait between their theatrical debuts and their streaming releases on the Disney Plus platform. It varies and the gap is getting longer as time goes on. Back in 2022 when the streamer was at the forefront of the studio's marketing, Marvel Studios' Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness arrived just 47 days after its theatrical release. Marvel's two most recent movies, however, had much longer waits - with The Fantastic Four: First Steps arriving on Disney Plus 103 days after its cinematic debut while Thunderbolts* set the record for a Marvel movie with a 118 days-wait. Only the Avatar movies have a longer wait due to their billion-dollar success at the box office.
Taking all of that into account, we're predicting that The Mandalorian and Grogu will stick to the 100-day window, placing its potential Disney Plus release date in either late August or early September. To narrow it down further, the streamer tends to unveil new movies on Wednesdays, making it potentially Wednesday August 26, Wednesday September 2, or Wednesday September 10.
It will likely come down to how well The Mandalorian and Grogu performs at the box office across the summer as it faces some serious competition from Marvel, DC, and more blockbusters. Although it opened extremely well - and well above expectations - it will be interesting to see if it can sustain that momentum. If it can't, Disney will likely fast-track the digital release to ensure it turns a profit on the PVOD market. Then, the streaming release date will come after that.
While Marvel movies always perform well on Disney Plus, there is no gauge for Star Wars as this is the franchise's first movie in seven years - making it the first one to have the streamer available to it. However, there is a real opportunity to capitalize on the popularity of the titular pair given that they both are regulars of Disney Plus.
Regardless of when The Mandalorian and Grogu comes out on Disney Plus, it will be a major success story for the platform due to the success of The Mandalorian. With that in mind, you can rest assured that Disney and Lucasfilm will ensure that they pick the right date. Don't be surprised if that 100-day window sticks!
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