The Reactions To the First 25 Minutes of ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ Are Here

Star Wars has always carried a certain theatrical weight, the kind that comes from John Williams swells, crawling yellow text, and the overwhelming sensation of galaxies colliding on a screen as wide as the sky. For a franchise that has been absent from cinemas for seven years, the pressure on ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ to justify its leap from streaming to silver screen is enormous, and the stakes have never been more charged with fan feeling.

The film, directed and co-written by Jon Favreau alongside Dave Filoni and Noah Kloor, stars Pedro Pascal as Din Djarin, with Sigourney Weaver and Jeremy Allen White also featuring in key roles. It is set following the fall of the Galactic Empire and follows Djarin and his young apprentice Grogu as they are enlisted by the New Republic. The film is scheduled to be released in the United States on May 22, 2026, and is expected to screen in IMAX.

On May the 4th, a select group of fans and influencers were invited to special IMAX screenings of the film’s first 25 to 30 minutes, held at theaters across the country. Some of those screenings came with surprise appearances, including Lucasfilm president Dave Filoni greeting the crowd in Los Angeles and an armored Mandalorian and Grogu showing up at AMC Lincoln Square 13 in New York. The reactions that flooded social media afterward painted a picture that is largely encouraging, though not without its qualifications.

One outlet described the footage as feeling like the beginning of an epic, sprawling, old-school adventure movie comparable to ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark,’ noting massive smiles for virtually every second of what was shown.

One attendee described it as cinematic in scale and demanding to be seen on the big screen, with Ludwig Göransson’s score drawing genuine goosebumps. Another noted that the film sets out to feel more like ‘The Mandalorian’ than a Skywalker Saga picture, complete with a literal cold open, while still reflecting a level of budget and ambition the series itself simply cannot afford.

A recurring theme in the responses was that most of the footage already shown in trailers and clips appears to have been drawn from these opening minutes, suggesting Favreau may be holding back significant surprises for the latter half of the film, consistent with his strategy of concealing Baby Yoda entirely from ‘The Mandalorian’ marketing until the first episode aired.

The main hesitation among viewers was a familiar one, with some feeling the footage resembled an elevated television episode rather than achieving the cinematic grandeur of ‘Rogue One’ or the Skywalker Saga.

On the box office front, tracking ahead of release has been described as good, with a projected opening of around 80 million dollars over the Memorial Day weekend, though that figure would sit lower than the opening for ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ in 2018. Meanwhile, early Rotten Tomatoes predictions place the film at roughly 73 percent on the critics scale, which would land it above ‘Solo’ but below the 84 percent earned by ‘Rogue One.’

Whether ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ ultimately earns its place in the theatrical canon or settles into the memory as a very good streaming saga with an expensive IMAX upgrade remains the question that only May 22 can answer. For now, the galaxy seems cautiously excited, and after years of disappointment, cautious excitement from Star Wars fans feels like a victory in itself.

Let us know in the comments whether you think ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ deserves the big screen treatment, or whether Din and Grogu belong back on Disney+.