The Mandalorian is an American space Western television series created by Jon Favreau for the streaming service Disney+. It is the first live-action series in the Star Wars franchise, beginning five years after the events of Return of the Jedi (1983), and stars Pedro Pascal as the title character, a lone bounty hunter who goes on the run to protect the Force-sensitive child Grogu. Starting in the third season, Katee Sackhoff also stars as Mandalorian Bo-Katan Kryze, following her appearance in the second season. Star Wars creator George Lucas had begun developing a live-action Star Wars television series by 2009, but this project was deemed too expensive to produce. He sold Lucasfilm to Disney in October 2012. Subsequently, work on a new Star Wars series began for Disney+. Favreau signed on in March 2018, serving as writer and showrunner. He executive produces alongside Dave Filoni, Kathleen Kennedy, and Colin Wilson. The series title was announced in October 2018, with filming starting at Manhattan Beach Studios in California. Visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic developed StageCraft technology for the series, using virtual sets and a 360-degree video wall to create the series' environments. Other film and television productions have since adopted this. The first season of The Mandalorian premiered with the launch of Disney+ on November 12, 2019. A second season premiered on October 30, 2020, and a third season premiered on March 1, 2023. A fourth season is in development. Interconnected spin-off series The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and Skeleton Crew expands on The Mandalorian's timeframe, with an untitled feature film directed by Filoni set to conclude the interconnected stories. The series has received largely positive reviews from critics, with solid praise for the performances (particularly Pascal's), visual effects, cinematography, direction, action sequences, emotional weight, musical score, and the chemistry of the two leads. The first season was nominated for Outstanding Drama Series at the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards and won seven Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.