Mandalorian And Grogu Tickets Went On Sale This Week, But It Feels Like A Missed Opportunity

Tickets for The Mandalorian and Grogu went on sale this week, and normally this would be a cause for celebration, but I really feel like their should have been more of a tie in between Star Wars Day on May the 4th and the upcoming 2026 movie release. Let’s talk it out.

So, tickets went on sale for the first Star Wars big screen venture we’ve gotten since The Rise Of Skywalker came out seven years ago. We’ve been through a bunch of announced and later cut movies, not the least of which was the project GOT creators Benioff and Weiss quit, but also the scrapped project Steven Soderbergh has recently been open about. It’s a big deal! There’s an upcoming Star Wars movie in the pipeline! How is Jon Favreau’s new Mando movie not tying it into the famous day with these tickets?

First of all, I know Disney has some stuff planned for Star Wars Day. Disneyland After Dark has a Star Wars Night on May the 4th. Han, Leia and the gang have already been introduced into Batuu (which changes the theming, but also gives the people what they want) ahead of the big anniversary day. If you have a Disney+ subscription, Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord has been ongoing, and the final two episodes will hit the 2026 TV schedule on May 4th. The fans will have stuff to talk about; I’m not worried about that.

I’m also not mad that Mandalorian and Grogu is waiting to head to theaters until the end of the month on May 22. Memorial Day weekend is a big moviegoing weekend for families. To top it off, in a lot of parts of the country, including where I live, kids are getting out of school at the end of May. So, theaters can theoretically get more butts into seats because of this, as well.

I do understand it’s not unlike theaters to release tickets to the public weeks or even months in advance. For example, Dune: Part Three IMAX tickets already went on sale, and that movie is not coming out until the end of the year. So, I’m not upset with Disney for putting The Mandalorian and Grogu tickets on sale this week and giving advance ticket sales more legs. I just seriously feel like it was a missed opportunity.

We've seen the first 18 minutes of the movie, and plan to see the rest. Yet, I would love to have gone to the movie website on May the 4th and bought my tickets to the movie, then shared that I did it for Star Wars Day, simple as that. I can still purchase tickets on May the 4th, and I just might, but as someone who has gone to Star Wars Celebration, I know there’s nothing quite like being in the exact same boat on the exact same day as other Star Wars fans, and that opportunity will not align here.