Lucasfilm will look to the future for the future of Star Wars in film.
In a wide-ranging interview with Deadline, where she debunked the recent rumor claiming she would exit the company at the end of the year, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy offered updates on four future Star Wars movies, including the one that will enter production next. Let’s run it all down by director!
Shawn Levy
Shawn Levy has been working on an untitled Star Wars movie since 2022, with Jonathan Tropper boarding the project in 2024 as screenwriter. Last month, Ryan Gosling entered into talks to lead the movie. While plot details remain under wraps, Levy’s movie will be the next to go into production.
“That’s also in the future. It’s all post-[the first] nine. Shawn’s is a standalone Star Wars story that’ll take place post-nine, maybe five or six years out,” Kennedy shared, revealing wher the movie takes place on the franchise timeline. “And with this, it’s all pretty much new characters. We may bring some of the characters back from the sequel saga, but pretty much new characters.”
Simon Kinberg
In November 2024, It was announced that Simon Kinberg, co-creator of Star Wars Rebels, would be writing and producing a new trilogy of films that will be set after The Skywalker Saga. Kennedy has now confirmed that the trilogy will be set after 2019’s Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, but will not be part of The Skywalker Saga. “This is the next iteration, the new saga that moves us into the future,” she revealed.
“We’re absolutely rolling fast and furiously. That has gone exceptionally well, and he’s literally going to script as we speak. We’ll see something probably around June,” she added. “Simon, if you remember, he did some work with us years ago with the animated show, which was a really wonderful collaborative experience. And he then got very, very busy with X-Men and then recently became available again, and he segued into this space beautifully. We’re really excited about where that’s headed.”
James Mangold
At Star Wars Celebration 2023, Lucasfilm announced that James Mangold would write and direct an untitled movie that would explore the origins of the Force, set 25,000 years before 1977’s Star Wars. In April 2024, Beau Willimon was tapped to co-write the script with Mangold.
“He’s working on this script right now,” Kennedy shared. “Jim, he got delayed a bit because of the [Bob] Dylan movie [A Complete Unknown] and the awards season. You have to accommodate top talent to a certain extent. And quality is so important with what it is we’re trying to do. I like to wait for people that I think are passionate and really good to step into Star Wars.”
Taika Waititi
Out of these four directors, Taika Waititi has been working on his Star Wars movie for the longest, since May 2020. While Krysty Wilson-Cairns was originally announced as a co-writer on the film, by April 2023, Kennedy revealed that Waititi was now the sole writer on the project.
“Well, I keep waiting for Taika [Waititi], and he is working with another writer now. He’s so busy. I love him. I think if we ever do get a script from Taika, it’s going to be fantastic,” the Lucasfilm president remarked to Deadline. “I already saw a first act that I loved, but tying him down, it’s tricky.”
The next Star Wars movie, The Mandalorian & Grogu, is scheduled to hit theaters on May 22, 2026.
Are you interested in any of these Star Wars movies? Tell us why (or why not) down in the comments!
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