The Mandalorian brought all the action of a big-screen Star Wars movie to the small screen with the first season on Disney+, and fans got a cinematic experience on a weekly basis while the episodes were releasing. As it turns out, those battle scenes weren't all digital effects, and the show used a wild amount of ammunition. Deborah Chow, who directed two of the eight episodes of The Mandalorian Season 1, shared some of what fans viewing from home might have missed.
In an episode of Disney Gallery - The Mandalorian on Disney+, Deborah Chow explained when the show went through a whole lot of ammunition:
There was a moment I think in Day 2 or Day 3 we’d shot so many zirc hits and done so many explosions that we started to run out, it was getting the point we were trying to preserve them because we couldn’t get anymore at that point because of the licenses on ammunition. And whatnot. We shot off I think over 7,000 rounds of zirc hits alone in those days.
Over the span of just a few days, the Mandalorian shot more than 7000 rounds of zirc, which are flash bangs that mimic bullets for film and television. Mando did seem to go from one dangerous situation straight into another, so it's no wonder his show was going through so much ammo! Still, that's a lot of ammo in not a lot of time, and Deborah Chow's comments reveal that even being part of Star Wars doesn't mean projects don't have to abide by licenses on ammunition.
Considering that The Mandalorian's battle sequences were as intense by the end of the Season 1 finale as they were from the moment Mando and IG-11 made their stand to claim their quarry, which -- unbeknownst to them at the time -- was the adorable little 50-year-old child who would come to be known across pop culture as "Baby Yoda."
Despite all the incredible action sequences, including the one that used the wild amount of ammunition, from Season 1, The Mandalorian reportedly aimed for even bigger action sequences in Season 2. It's possible Mando and Baby Yoda will have the forces of Moff Gideon chasing after them after what happened at the end of Season 1, although the Darksaber takes a different kind of effect than the fake bullets. Of course, Mando ended up in plenty of dangerous situations that weren't directly connected to bad guys hunting Baby Yoda, so those bigger action sequences could involve pretty much anything.
As for when Mandalorian fans will get to see what Season 2 has in store, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that The Mandalorian managed to finish filming the second season before production shutdowns throughout the entertainment industry brought other TV shows and films to halts, and Disney+ plans to release the new episodes on schedule. The bad news is that the scheduled premiere isn't until October.
To pass the time until The Mandalorian Season 2, you can always rewatch the first season, with the episodes directed by Deborah Chow, among others. Disney+ also offers Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, the Star Wars film saga, and more, so there is plenty of content from the galaxy far, far away to keep binge-watchers busy for a while. For more viewing options now and in the not-too-distant future, be sure to swing by our 2020 summer TV premiere schedule.
