Mandalorian Season 4 is a No-Go, Ahsoka Season 2 Still Coming
Remember The Hollywood Reporter’s breakdown of Star Wars’ performance under Disney? Forbes has responded, highlighting the TV side of the downturn under Disney. I remember when The Mandalorian first aired, and even when season 2 was on, the ratings were great. It seemed like making Star Wars TV shows instead of big-budget movies was the answer. However, Forbes reiterates THR’s points about the declining returns on these shows. The Mandalorian season 3 wasn’t as well-received as the previous two, and other series have fared far worse. We’ve had much to say about The Acolyte’s critical and fiscal failure, as has seemingly everyone on the internet. It wasn’t pretty, and going by its cancellation, Disney knows this endeavor was a mistake. Ahsoka’s ratings declined from 829 million view minutes for its series premiere to only 570 million by the end of the season. 829 million was quite respectable, putting Ahsoka in The Mandalorian season 3’s ballpark in terms of viewership. Despite such a drastic drop-off after the premiere, Ahsoka is still proceeding with a second season under showrunner and Ahsoka Tano’s co-creator, Dave Filoni.
Meanwhile, The Mandalorian is ending its streaming run, at least for now, with the film The Mandalorian and Grogu taking season 4’s place. THR adds at this revelation: “It also looks like Disney spent many years and untold capital struggling develop a new Star Wars movie and its best idea was an extra-long episode of a TV show.” It’s not clear if this means the series is over or if more seasons could come after the film. Additionally, to the shock of absolutely no one, The Book of Boba Fett was meant to be an ongoing series; this didn’t happen due to fan reactions to the first season. No future seasons of Obi-Wan Kenobi are in the works, despite both Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen asking to continue it. Skeleton Crew was pitched and intended as a miniseries, but if it performs well, they will continue it. Finally, The Acolyte was canceled due to poor numbers and its explosive budget. I genuinely wonder how many times this must be said for people to accept it. In short, unless Skeleton Crew season 1 does really well, we’re getting season 2 of Andor, season 2 of Ahsoka, and perhaps more Ahsoka and Mandalorian in the distant future. Ahsoka season 2 goes into production next year, meaning it will likely be 2-3 years between seasons 1 and 2 airing. Star Wars TV has very little in the pipeline, with most of its shows canceled, and the next movie coming out is spun-off from a TV show.
I understand that this is all very bad for business, and I hate that Star Wars has been run into the ground like this. But Obi-Wan Kenobi should never have been a thing, The Acolyte absolutely shouldn’t have been made, and I would only be interested in more Boba Fett if it was significantly reworked. Temeura Morrison had the right ideas, but nobody on the writing side was interested in that. I’ll be sad to see Andor go so soon, and I was initially mocking the idea of the planned five seasons. I was wrong, and now I wish we were getting one season per year leading up to Rogue One, a movie I don’t even like. But I’m not sorry to see most of these go because they weren’t good. Ahsoka was uneven in tone and quality and doesn’t really deserve a season 2, either. Still, I’m holding out hope they actually learned from season 1’s mistakes. This wasn’t the Rebels sequel we deserved and waited five years for, and it certainly didn’t do Ahsoka’s character justice.
The Mandalorian news is hardly news at this point; most of us guessed the show would be winding down when the movie was announced. It makes perfect sense; they lose money on the streaming service. It’s not that profitable, and these shows are expensive. They can invest in a movie and get that profit back at the box office, and eventually, it ends up on Disney+ anyway. And this might be the only way they can get people in the theater for Star Wars, now that they’ve ruined every other popular character. I don’t expect Dawn of the Jedi or New Jedi Order to even get made at this point, much less turn a profit.
But what do you think? Are you happy with what’s renewed, what’s over, and what’s headed to cinemas? Let us know in the comments!
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