Star Wars Fans Saw the First 25 Minutes of The Mandalorian Movie and Say It's a Return to Form

Seven years is a long time to be away from a galaxy far, far away. When Lucasfilm invited select fans and influencers to IMAX theaters across the country on May 4 (Star Wars Day) to watch the first 25 to 30 minutes of The Mandalorian and Grogu, the mood going in was cautious. The film’s earlier marketing had left much of the fanbase skeptical. What came out of those screenings, though, was something different from what the lukewarm box-office tracking numbers had suggested.

In Los Angeles, Lucasfilm president Dave Filoni greeted the crowd in person. At AMC Lincoln Square in New York, an armored Mandalorian and a puppet Grogu stood alongside fans before the footage rolled. When the reactions hit social media on May 5, they carried an energy that had been largely absent from Star Wars conversations since The Mandalorian‘s third season ended.

Fan account Star Wars Holocron, one of the larger franchise-specific accounts covering the property, posted within minutes of the screening, saying the footage felt cinematic, demanding to be seen on the big screen, with Ludwig Göransson‘s score drawing an emotional response from the audience. Kyle Selby, another attendee, said the movie hits the ground running from its first frames, with strong action and signature Grogu moments. William Devereux, a Star Wars podcaster, wrote that Din Djarin, the character Pedro Pascal has played, is arguably at his best in what he saw, and that the two leads’ chemistry remains the irreplaceable center of the story.

Related: 5 ‘Mandalorian’ Episodes to Binge Before the New ‘Star Wars’ Movie Drops

Not every reaction was unconditional. Several attendees noted that the CGI still needs polish in spots, and one viewer wrote that the opening felt more like a streaming show than a theatrical release when the credits first appeared. But even the qualified voices said they would be in their seats on May 22, and several pointed to the IMAX format itself as doing meaningful work with the aspect ratio, the scope of the action sequences, and Göransson’s score all coming together well.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is the first Star Wars film in theaters since The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, and the first time a Mandalorian-era story has made the jump from Disney+ to the big screen. The film is also arriving under pressure. Early tracking placed its domestic opening at around $80 million for the Memorial Day four-day weekend, below historic Star Wars benchmarks. Disney and Lucasfilm clearly know that, which is why free sneak screenings for core fans (the most likely to carry word-of-mouth) were built into the rollout strategy.

What those fans said was a comparison that will mean something to the 35+ audience that made the show a phenomenon. Multiple reactions, independently of each other, said the footage felt like The Mandalorian‘s first season scaled up for the big screen with the intimacy of the father-son story intact, but with action sequences and production design that justify the theatrical format. One observer compared the tone to Raiders of the Lost Ark, the old-fashioned adventure energy that Favreau and Filoni have cited as a creative touchstone from the beginning.

Pedro Pascal has spoken in interviews about watching Star Wars in theaters as a child in Chile, and how he always hoped Din Djarin and Grogu would eventually make it to the big screen. In late April, at a fan celebration in Mexico City, he was moved to tears on stage when he described that hope becoming real. The fans who got a preview on May 4 seemed to feel it too.

The Mandalorian and Grogu opens in theaters and IMAX on May 22, 2026.

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