‘Extraction’ Director Sam Hargrave Joins ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 2 As Second Unit Director

Disney The Mandalorian Pedro Pascal Star Wars Gina Carano Star Wars Chapter 3 Jon Favreau Robert Rodriguez & James Mangold Extraction Sam Hargrave

Extraction director Sam Hargrave has revealed his involvement with the Star Wars universe, confirming his contribution as second unit director for the upcoming second season of the Disney+ series The Mandalorian.

Speaking with Collider about his recent Netflix film Extraction, which starred Chris Hemsworth and quickly became one of the streaming titan’s most-watched films, Hargrave revealed that he was approached to join The Mandalorian while he was hard at work editing Extraction:

“They actually came to me. It’s crazy. I was in the middle of post [-production on Extraction] and I’m editing my movie and I got a call from my buddy Colin Wilson, one of the line producers, who said, ‘Jon [Favreau] and the people over here are looking for someone to bring into the team or add to the family who has experience with action.’ The team that was there did a great job in the first season and it was just all fun. But they wanted to build on that and bring a new perspective and take it to another level for the next season. So, I was like, ‘That sounds like a fun challenge.'”

Hargrave also opened up about the revolutionary filmmaking process behind The Mandalorian, which utilizes large LED walls and unreal engine 4 to render real-time visual effects and digital sets for the actors to engage with during production:

“I like the people over there — Favreau’s great — so I went over and it was a really fascinating adventure. They have a crazy way of shooting. Some of the stuff is traditionally shot, with the live-action and blue screen on the backlot, but they’ve also got this technology called ‘The Volume’ where it’s just, like, the inside of a live game engine. It’s quite insane what technology nowadays is available to filmmakers. It was really eye-opening, the potential of this technology that Jon and they guys had been working on. It was a really fun learning experience.”

The Extraction director also said that he’s confident that his involvement will successfully up the ante and raise the bar for the level of action seen on the series when the second season debuts later this year:

“I am confident. The difference is, with Extraction, I’m in the editing room so I can be extremely confident [the action] is going to be what it’s going to be. I’m not editing these episodes. […] But I know the footage we delivered, as a second-unit, they seemed to be happy with. We worked closely with the stunt team there, with Bryan Watson and the team that had done the first season; they did a really great job. You know, it was just to bring a little extra perspective, add a few things, things I’ve learned while working on superhero movies, little tricks which make the performances easier and using visual effects to enhance certain things. Just bringing a little bit of experience and knowledge to where we could take it to another level and up the ante. The next season is really, really cool. The way the story arcs is really cool. So we tried to have the action represent that and take it to the next level. I think we did that.”

Jon Favreau recently confirmed The Mandalorian is on track to meet its originally scheduled release date of October despite the Coronavirus pandemic. Plot details remain under wraps, the series will reportedly feature Rosario Dawson taking on the role of Ahsoka Tano for the fan-favorite character’s live-action debut. In addition, Temuera Morrison will reportedly appear as Boba Fett, with Timothy Olyphant donning the Bounty Hunter’s iconic armor, along with the return of Bill Burr and Giancarlo Esposito.

So what do you think? Are you excited to have Sam Hargrave on board for The Mandalorian season 2? Let us know in the comments below!

The second season of The Mandalorian will feature episodes directed by Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Peyton Reed, Carl Weathers, and Robert Rodriguez. Here is the official synopsis for The Mandalorian:

After the stories of Jango and Boba Fett, another warrior emerges in the Star Wars universe. The Mandalorian is set after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order. We follow the travails of a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic.

The Mandalorian stars Pedro Pascal, Gina Carano, Giancarlo Esposito, Emily Swallow, Carl Weathers, Omid Abtahi, Werner Herzog, and Nick Nolte. The Star Wars series was written by Jon Favreau, who also serves as an executive producer alongside Dave Filoni, Kathleen Kennedy, and Colin Wilson. Karen Gilchrist is also on board as a co-executive producer.

The Mandalorian season one is now available exclusively on Disney Plus. Stay tuned to Heroic Hollywood for the latest news on Sam Hargrave, the upcoming Extraction sequel and the Star Wars franchise as it develops and you can also subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content in the future!

Source: Collider

Michael Mistroff

Michael Mistroff

News Editor, Film/TV Reporter at Heroic Hollywood.