13
Credit: LucasfilmOn the one hand, being a Star Wars fan right now is extremely exciting, judging by how many projects are currently on the slate. However, on the other hand, that same reason is sparking mass confusion and anxiety as Lucasfilm and Disney aim to wrangle the billion-dollar sci-fi franchise.
It was in April 2023 that Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy announced three new movie projects coming to the Star Wars franchise. Films from James Mangold, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, and Dave Filoni were all revealed, joining already-announced movies from Shawn Levy and Taika Waititi. As for Patty Jenkins, the turbulent on-and-off again Rogue Squadron movie is apparently back on, the director stated in spring this year.
James Mangold is said to be going the furthest back in time any Star Wars project has ever gone to explore the origins of the Force itself, while Dave Filoni will helm a Mando-Verse crossover movie, seemingly tying together the threads left untied in The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, The Book of Boba Fett, the upcoming Skeleton Crew, and presumably The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026) feature film from Jon Favreau.
At the top of 2024, not one year after Kennedy’s announcements at Star Wars Celebration Europe, Lucasfilm dropped the surprise that Favreau would be bringing everyone’s favorite Beskar-clad Mandalorian and his green ward Grogu to the big screen, where it will lead the movie slate. This then seemingly brought about the end of The Mandalorian on Disney+, with recent reports claiming the fourth season is now off the table.
This leaves Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s movie, which is set years after the end of the Star Wars sequel trilogy and features Rey Skywalker (Daisy Ridley) as she takes over from Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) in an attempt to rebuild the Jedi Order.
While there is no title for the movie yet, both New Jedi Order and A New Beginning have been floated. It all looked set to be Rey that would continue the Skywalker Saga post-Star Wars: Episode IX–The Rise of Skywalker (2019), but earlier in November, a bombshell was dropped, sparking confusion.
On November 7, 2024, it was revealed that Lucasfilm had tapped Simon Kinberg—the producer of films like The Martian (2015) and Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), who made his directorial debut with X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019)—to write and produce a new trilogy of Star Wars movies.
“The new story is not meant to be a continuation of the Skywalker Saga, the name of the overall arc of the popular and pop culture-dominating Star Wars movies known as Episodes 1 through 9,” The Hollywood Reporter noted on the announcement.
“The intent here is to have brand new characters and a new story, and not have it be a continuation, sources tell [THR]. (Although that does not mean that some characters could not or would not pop up.)”
In a follow-up report, The Hollywood Reporter notes that Obaid-Chinoy’s movie and Kinberg’s planned new trilogy may clash creatively.
“But Rey, the scavenger-turned-Jedi played by Daisy Ridley in the last three episode movies, is key to the franchise’s next turn,” the outlet notes. “That potentially puts Kinberg’s trilogy story development, as early in its conceptual stages as it may be, on a collision course with the Rey standalone movie that is actively in the works with director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.”
A source told THR, “[Rey] is the most valuable cinematic asset, in some ways maybe the only one, Star Wars has right now.” With the Obaid-Chinoy movie already hitting a number of hurdles, including its current hunt for a writer, could Rey be snapped up for Kinberg’s trilogy instead? A shift like this has happened before.
Years ago, Game of Thrones creators D.B. Weiss and David Benioff were revealed to be bringing a new trilogy to the Star Wars franchise. The movies would focus on the origins of the Force but would eventually go no further. Later, Kennedy would announce the James Mangold movie following a similar concept–something Weiss and Benioff spoke about recently.
While confusion continues to build surrounding the future of the George Lucas-created Star Wars franchise, and criticism toward Disney’s control of it simmers, fans are taking it upon themselves to bring footage of the galaxy far, far away to the masses.
Popular fan-made trailer site Darth Trailer has recently unveiled a new video conceptualizing the Rey Skywalker movie, which they are calling Star Wars: Episode X–New Jedi Order.
Related: ‘Star Wars’ Officially Returns to George Lucas’ Prequels After Canceling Multiple Disney+ Shows
The trailer has amassed over 116,000 views in less than 24 hours, with many comments seemingly thinking this is the official video for the movie–it’s not.
Looking ahead, Lucasfilm has two release slots in 2026: May 2, the release date of The Mandalorian and Grogu, and December 18, for an unconfirmed movie. Many thought that the Rey movie would follow The Mandalorian and Grogu in 2026; however, due to development issues, Lucasfilm may be forced to scrap the latter date.
How do you feel about the current state of the Star Wars franchise? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!