‘The Mandalorian’ Season 3 Temporarily Pauses Production Due to COVID-19

Following the holidays Lucasfilm was set to restart production on season three of The Mandalorian. However, according to Bespin Bulletin, the cast and crew have not returned to the set due to the rising cases of the COVID-19 omicron variant, which is surging in the Los Angeles area.

As of now, it is unknown when production will kick back up, but according to the site, no one from the production contracted the virus and the pause is “to be on the safe side” due to rising cases in the area. It is nice to see Lucasfilm taking the proper precautions with the cast and crew, not many studios would completely pause production on their high-profile projects with no cases. I wouldn’t be shocked if more productions followed suit in the coming days. The Walt Disney Company recently moved their newest Pixar feature Turning Red to Disney+. So the company is keeping a close eye on the variant.

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By late April 2020, The Mandalorian creator and showrunner Jon Favreau had been writing the third season for “a while” and further development on the season was beginning. That September, co-star Giancarlo Esposito said the second season would “start to lay the groundwork for the depth and breadth that’s going to come in season 3 and season 4, where you’re really gonna start to get answers.” After the second-season finale announced The Book of Boba Fett for December 2021, commentators speculated that the third season would be shifting focus from Din Djarin to Boba Fett. Favreau soon clarified that The Book of Boba Fett was a separate spin-off series that was already in production in December 2020, with the third season of The Mandalorian again focusing on Djarin. He added that the third season was in pre-production, and filming would begin in 2021. Co-star Carl Weathers will direct again in the season.

Filming for the season began by October 13, 2021, filming under the working title Buccaneer. Details on the third season are being kept under wraps. However, we do know production has been moving forward on the series without star Pedro Pascal as he is currently shooting the HBO Max series The Last of Us, based on the popular video game franchise. Pascal is expected to do voice work and possibly return to the set for the character once The Last of Us concludes production. The series is expected to return to Disney+ late 2022/early 2023.