Nearly five years afterStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalkermade its way into theaters, Lucasfilm has finally laid out a plan for three very interesting feature films. Lucasfilm PresidentKathleen Kennedytook the stage atStar Wars Celebration 2023to reveal all that fans of the franchise have to look forward to. From exciting new television shows likeAhsokato anticipated video games likeStar Wars Jedi: Survivor, there is so much to look forward to in the current year when it comes to stellarStar Warscontent, and there are even more stories set in “A Galaxy Far, Far Away” beyond 2023. Kennedy also took a very large amount of time to discuss the future ofStar Warsin the world of filmmaking, announcing that new feature films are in active development from acclaimed filmmakersJames Mangold,Dave Filoni, andSharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.
Each film is set to represent the beginning, middle, and end of theStar Warstimeline respectively, and it’s great that we have some minor plot details to go along with the projects' announcement. Lucasfilm has gotten into a nasty habit of announcingStar Warsfilms long before they’re ready, and it’s made it difficult to get excited about new projects as they keep falling into a state of development hell.Rogue Squadron,Rian Johnson’s trilogy, and many more have been either canceled or placed on indefinite hold, and it’s likely because Lucasfilm just tried to do way too much in way too short of a time.
However, with the three movies announced, we also have three incredible directors and three decently interesting concepts, all taking place in three separate timelines that make this a plan that’s likely to pan out this time.
RELATED:Everything We Learned at Star Wars Celebration
James Mangold’s Film May Be the Ultimate Prequel
James Mangold’s continued involvement with Lucasfilm is certainly a good sign forIndiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, but his vision for his ownStar Warsproject is already entering uncharted territory for the franchise. When Kennedy took the stage at Star Wars Celebration 2023, she also unveiled a new and improved timeline of theStar Warsfranchise, detailing each of the nine major eras of the current canon. Three of these eras take place long before the fabled “Skywalker Saga” and the events ofThe Phantom Menace. Two of these time periods will likely sound familiar to hardcoreStar Warsfans, including the somewhat recently introducedHigh Republicera and the fan-favoriteOld Republicera. However, before either of these times, there is a definitive beginning, and that appears to be the Dawn of the Jedi.
The Dawn of the Jedi is the time period where Mangold’s film will take place, potentially taking place eons before Darth Vader (James Earl Jones) rose in the galaxy. As the timeline’s title implies, the project could very easily be a definitive origin story for the Jedi Order (and likely the start of the Sith Cult as well). While we still don’t have many details on the major plot and characters in the still-untitled project,Mangold would later go on to explainhow his film will explore the first-ever force users, saying, “When I first started talking to Kathy [Kennedy] about doing one of these pictures, what occurred to me was thinking about what kind of genre of movie within Star Wars I wanted to do. And I thought about a biblical epic, like a Ten Commandments, about the dawning of the Force. Where did the Force come from, when did we discover it, when did we learn how to use it? It’s a movie that both connects to the worlds we know, but is also far enough away from it that I think there are a lot of opportunities to tell a story freely, also, and not be so incredibly tied in by the knots and different story strands that are already in place. A film exploring the beginnings of the mysterious Force could be exactly what theStar Warsfranchise needs, serving as the official start of the galaxy as we know it.”
Dave Filoni’s Feature Film Will Unite the New Republic
Ever sinceThe Mandalorianpremiered on Disney+, Lucasfilm has been exploring quite a bit of the New Republic era, meaning the time set in betweenStar Wars: Return of the JediandStar Wars: The Force Awakens. The upcomingAhsokais also set to explore this era, bringing in both old allies and enemies fromStar Wars: Rebels, potentially introducing the famous “Heir to the Empire” storyline. The brainchild behind most ofStar Wars' television projects is Dave Filoni, so it makes sense that Filoni’s upcoming film will take place in the New Republic era.
Again, plot details are being kept under wraps for now, but the film is expected to be a culmination of everything we’ve seen from the era so far, potentially acting as a crossover betweenThe Mandalorian,The Book of Boba Fett,Ahsoka, and more. When asked byCollider’s ownSteve Weintraubasked theStar Warssuper fanwhat he could reveal about the film’s story, Filoni had this to say:
“The way I’ve been describing it is, if you grew up when I did you’re aware of the post-Return of the Jediera that was presented to me. The New Republic is not a new idea. That is not somethingThe Mandaloriancreated. That’s an old idea, it’s been around a long time. There are just things in Star Wars that we all seem to know if we’ve been around it a long time. There have been a lot of tremendous creatives over the years that have been telling stories in the era that spans the 30 years that now ends withThe Force Awakens. But there’s a large gap of time there.
Things aren’t that great when we beginThe Force Awakens. So Jon and I looked at that time period, and when he knew he wantedThe Mandalorianin it, one of the things I told him early on was, ‘Well, I have this epilogue in Star Wars: Rebels that’s kind of dealing with that time period,’ which you’ve seen at the end with Sabina and Ahsoka going off. So, a lot of those threads start to come together, and then I looked at the bigger body of work that’s been done and what’s relevant, and a story will emerge out of that.”
The Mandalorianstoryline is easily one of the most popular parts ofStar Warsaround right now, so a big event film continuing (or perhaps even ending) this chapter of the series is a brilliant decision.
Rey Skywalker Returns in Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s Sequel
Last but certainly not least,Daisy Ridleysurprised everyone at Star Wars Celebrationwhen she came on stage to reveal she would be returning as Rey Skywalker. She’ll be doing so by starring in Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s film, which will also be entering unexplored territory by taking place after the events ofStar Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker. The screenplay is actively being worked on byPeaky BlinderscreatorSteven Knight, and is already confirmed to follow Rey as she works to rebuild the Jedi Order.
The Rise of Skywalkeris undoubtedly one of the most polarizing films in theStar Warsfranchise, with both fans and those involved with the movie finding it to be an unsatisfying end to the Skywalker Saga. The Rey Skywalker film has the potential to right the wrongs of the final sequel trilogy film, while also introducing an entirely new facet of theStar Warsgalaxy that we’ve never seen before. Not to mention, seeing Rey use her fancy yellow lightsaber and lead a new generation of Jedi is something that sequel trilogy fans have been clamoring to see, so the potential fan service alone is more than enough to make things interesting.
Kathleen Kennedy further elaboratedon what audiences can expect to see in Rey’s next adventure:
“Well we’re 15 years out from ‘Rise of Skywalker,’ so we’re post-war, post-First Order, and the Jedi are in disarray. There’s a lot of discussion around, ‘Who are the Jedi? What are they doing? What’s the state of the galaxy?’ She’s attempting to rebuild the Jedi Order, based on the books, based on what she promised Luke, so that’s where we’re going.”
The New Star Wars Plan Is Great Because It Is an Actual Plan
Prior to the announcement of the three yet-to-be-titled films, Lucasfilm just seemed to be announcing movies just for the sake of announcing movies. All of them seemed to be announced long before they were ready, and having to juggle them all at once led to most of them being neglected and later abandoned entirely. It’s a problem that the company will likely continue to face, as thelack of news regardingTaika Waititi’s project at Star Wars Celebrationmay very well indicate.
That being said, now that Lucasfilm has a concrete plan to release three projects with fleshed-out ideas, the likelihood of them being completed and released has already skyrocketed, and the odds of taking another trip to the theater to see aStar Warsmovie are as solid as a space rock.
