'The Mandalorian' Season 3: Jon Favreau On How The Show Could Continue Filming During The Pandemic
The Mandalorian season 2 hasn't even debuted yet (that happens this October), but assuming this country hasn't destroyed itself in the year that follows, what about season 3? Will a potential third season of the live-action Star Wars show be affected by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic?
Creator/showrunner Jon Favreau can't promise that the show won't be delayed – he can't even officially acknowledge the third season's existence yet! – but in a new interview, he explains why his production is particularly well-suited to avoiding the types of delays that could affect other major films and TV shows.
In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Favreau was asked if the fact that The Mandalorian shoots on virtual sets will make it easier to get back to filming a potential third season amid COVID-19 restrictions. And as you might expect from someone as adept at handling publicity as Favreau, he answered the question without fully answering it:
"The fact that the set is much more contained is a benefit, because you can limit the number of people. A lot of the people controlling it are doing it remotely from what we call the Brain Bar, which is a bank of gaming computers, essentially. The amount of people near the camera could be much smaller than [usual]. We also shoot a lot outside, which is helpful, too. We build to a moment in filming more like an animated production, where we have a lot of storyboards, a lot of discussions and scouting in virtual reality. We use cinematic tools in VR much the same way we did for The Lion King and The Jungle Book. A lot of times the actors you are seeing on the screen aren't actually there on set."
Sounds like that's also good news for the Obi-Wan Kenobi series starring Ewan McGregor, since that show will be produced using the same technology that Favreau and his team pioneered for The Mandalorian.
Season 3 of The Mandalorian hasn't officially been given a greenlight at Disney+ yet, but considering the massive popularity of the first season (and the genuinely surprising number of Emmy Award nominations it received), it's only a matter of time until they get the go-ahead. Favreau and his team have actually been hard at work on a third season for months already – earlier this year, word came out that Favreau had been "writing season 3 for a while" at that point, and that was four months ago.
The Mandalorian season 2 hits Disney+ in October 2020.