The Mandalorian Season 2 will air as planned on Disney Plus this autumn, despite many other TV shows and movies being disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Disney has confirmed the show has not been affected by the film set shutdowns caused by the social distancing rules, which have decimated Hollywood’s ability to create new content for the last couple of months.
Thankfully, the next run of episodes featuring everyone’s favourite bounty hunter and Baby Yoda, were completed before the rules came into effect. The season is currently in post-production and on-track to begin streaming in October.
The word comes directly from new Disney CEO Bob Chapek, who told CNBC that although some content under the vast Walt Disney umbrella could end up being delayed, the Mandalorian isn’t among them. The standalone Black Widow film from Marvel is also safe from delays and will arrive in November, Chapek says.
Related: Disney Plus vs Netflix
He said: “As you know we have a certain amount of inventory, particularly for Disney+, that is still fuelling the machine.
“It’s important to note though that pre-production, sort of the development phase, can still happen during these times of lockdown if you will; and post-production can still happen. So it’s only films that are mid-stream, right in the middle of production (that have been stopped by the pandemic).
“Take for example Mandalorian. The Mandalorian was shot before COVID really hit, and so we’ve been in post-production and there will be no delay on Mandalorian. Same thing with Black Widow which is coming out in November.”
However, one has to assume there are plenty of projects Disney should be filming right now, so there will certainly be delays down the line. Hopefully those hold-ups will be mitigated by speedier post-production schedules. Despite offering a massive array of high-end legacy content, it’s important Disney keeps bringing new programming to its streaming service if it is to maintain the 54 million subscribers it has already gained since launch last year.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.