The Mandalorian is an American space Western television series created by Jon Favreau for the streaming service Disney+. It is the first live-action series in the Star Wars franchise and begins five years after the events of the film Return of the Jedi (1983). It follows a lone bounty hunter who protects a Force-sensitive child, Grogu, from remnant Imperial forces. Pedro Pascal stars as the title character, with Katee Sackhoff co-starring in the third season. Star Wars creator George Lucas had begun developing a live-action Star Wars television series by 2009, but it was deemed too expensive to produce. He sold Lucasfilm to Disney in October 2012, and work on a new Star Wars series began for Disney+. Favreau signed on as writer and showrunner in March 2018. He executive produces alongside Dave Filoni, Kathleen Kennedy, and Colin Wilson; Rick Famuyiwa joined them for the third season. The title was announced in October 2018 when filming started at Manhattan Beach Studios in California. Visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic developed the StageCraft technology for the series, displaying digital backgrounds on a 360-degree video wall. This has since been adopted by other film and television productions. The Mandalorian premiered with the launch of Disney+ on November 12, 2019. The rest of the first season was released through December 27. A second season was released from October to December 2020, and a third season was released from March to April 2023. The series has received largely positive reviews from critics and several accolades, including Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award wins for all three seasons. A feature film, The Mandalorian & Grogu, is being directed by Favreau and is scheduled for release in May 2026. A fourth season of the series had been in development, but it is unclear if it will proceed following the announcement of the film. Interconnected spin-off series The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and Skeleton Crew expand on The Mandalorian's timeframe, with an untitled feature film directed by Filoni set to serve as a conclusion to the interconnected stories.