New Star Wars movies coming soon in the near future
Rey and BB-8 look to the sunset in the final shot of THE RISE OF SKYWALKER. © Disney/Lucasfilm.
A long time to go, in a theater near us, new adventures will take place.
Since 2019's The Rise of Skywalker, we haven't seen a new Star Wars film on the big screen. Since then, stories within the saga continue to be told in television series on Disney+, as well as in novels and comic books (and some video games and VR experiences). On our comfy couches we have followed the adventures of Din Djarin (played by Pedro Pascal) in The Mandalorian through three seasons, and the new life of Boba Fett (with Temuera Morrison returning to the franchise) in its spinoff The Book of Boba Fett in a single season. Ewan McGregor returned in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series (also one season) answering some questions about what he was up to all that time on Tatooine between Episodes III and IV. Diego Luna reprised his role as Cassian Andor in a prequel to Rogue One (for one season with another season on the way) in the acclaimed Andor series. Most recently, Rosario Dawson continued her live-action portrayal (beginning in Mandalorian season 2) of Ahsoka Tano in the eight-episode series, Ahsoka. At a glance, that's a festival of Star Wars! What we miss is the original form of Star Wars: feature films.
During the many series premieres and finales some film announcements have been made by Disney and Lucasfilm. Some later announcements have canceled those films, too. Some were mentioned in the past, only to be forgotten in the present. So, what's going on with the movies? I don't follow all the behind-the-scenes news and frankly, it seems we don't have all the facts of these stories. Disney has often remained tight-lipped about productions and developments so the complete stories are unknown at this time. Let's take a look at the things we do know.
Rey Skywalker movie (untitled)
The television series had several actors return to their film roles including the ones mentioned above like McGregor and Luna. It is confirmed now that Daisy Ridley will return as Rey in an upcoming movie that takes place after Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. This film, usually referred to as “New Jedi Order,” will be directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy—but currently has no release date (no release date for any of these, actually). It's believed to be a single/standalone spinoff story after the events of Rise of Skywalker where Rey sets out to find new people (and presumably other life forms) with potential to become Jedi knights and train them. To me, this is a story that might have been similar to what I expected to see Luke do in the sequels. We had glimpses of what Luke did in the Disney trilogy where it was torn apart by Kylo Ren and his master Snoke. It could show Rey learning more about the history of the Jedi and try to set things right that had gone wrong for so long with the order.
This announcement came at Star Wars Celebration 2023 but came out of nowhere. I didn't expect any continuation of the sequel trilogy and I was scratching my head about it for a while. No one was reallyl asking for this one, but I'm still intrigued. After all that Rey has gone through, it would be fascinating to see what she makes of her story and how she chooses to carry on Jedi traditions and make new ones in the process. No word on whether John Boyega will return as Finn since the last episode hinted at his abilities in the Force (or the return of “broom boy,” anyone?). Rumors include one that John Williams could return to score the film, especially since he was proud of his music for the character of Rey. I hope this movie sets out to be its own thing and not just a patch on the sleeve of the sequel trilogy. Which means, I don't think it will be called “Episode X” but could be a more satisfying coda to the major saga.
New Republic movie (untitled)
George Lucas's padawan, Dave Filoni, will finally be granted the rank of master. Filoni has been building up a cinematic playground in his various series on Disney+. The Mandalorian, Book of Boba Fett, and Ahsoka all take place around the same time, which is post-Episode VI: Return of the Jedi where the New Republic is trying to restore peace in the galaxy and rebuild a just society after the destruction of the Empire. We've seen the power voids cause chaos in these series and how the new government is having a hard time of it.
This movie will supposedly merge all the stories from these series into a big blowout where everything comes to a head. We may see Din, Boba, Ahsoka, and maybe even characters from Rebels (that appeared in live-action in Ahsoka) or maybe even Luke himsels since appeared in Mandalorian and Boba Fett. It could be the culmination of everything Filoni wanted to accomplish since he began work on The Clone Wars many years ago. I thinki it is fitting he gets to do this and am excited to see what the story will entail and if it will possibly set up some ideas that the sequel trilogy showed us.
“Dawn of the Jedi” movie (unofficial title)
James Mangold, who recently directed Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny will helm this movie that takes place thousands of years before Episode I. It could tell the story of early Jedi, or even the first Jedi, and how the Force was perceived in its early history. At first, I thought this story would take place in the High Republic era which was recently the setting for several books but this film's tale could happen long before even that time period. I think it could be fascinating to get a genesis/origin story of the Jedi and give us an even deeper understanding of the Force. What I believe would be just as interesting is to possibly see the beginnings of dark Jedi, or the Sith. It could add some context to the teachings of Yoda and Palpatine that we get to see in the current canon. Could this be to Star Wars what the Silmarilion is to Lord of the Rings? Origin stories have proven to be hit-or-miss (mostly miss) in theaters but those are often with characters we already know. This could succeed, in a way, since it's more about a concept (the Force) and involves characters we don't yet know. Count me intrigued again.
The Mandalorian and Grogu (working title?)
Dave Filoni's partner, Jon Favreau, will produce and direct this movie, which continues the adventures of Din and “baby Yoda” on the big screen. But wait—isn't season 4 of The Mandalorian coming up? Well, that's unclear at this point. It's been in preproduction, but had been delayed by the strikes in Hollywood. It could be that season 4 becomes this movie or something else altogether; just not sure. My belief is that this film should have been a priority much sooner than this because of the popularity of the series as well as its main characters the Mandalorian himself and the meme-generating Grogu. Will the iron still be hot to strike by the time this comes to theaters? I do hope so, since this series has a great vibe and deftly straddles old Star Wars as well as having its own identity. Hopefully that all doesn't get muddled with all its connected series on the home screen. Speaking of which, will it tie into Filoni's movie? Supposedly this movie will go into production this year and has a 2026 release date. We'll see…
Rogue Squadron (canceled)
When Disney acquired Lucasfilm, I did think and hope that we would get the VII, VIII, and IX trilogy I'd always imagined, as well as a place in Disney parks, but I also hoped against hope that we would get an X-Wing pilots movie of some description. Rogue One almost seemed to hint at such a thing with its space battle over Scarif. That film's original scheme, as witnessed in its early trailers, seemed to capture a war-time movie. The final result, while awesome, didn't quite have that war-theme drive to it. When Rogue Squadron was announced in 2020, I got my hopes up. I knew it wouldn't be “Top Gun in space,” but that's not a terrible place to start. I wanted this to focus on the war part of Star Wars and really get into what it takes to be a dogfighter in outer space. Alas, the attached director, Patty Jenkins (who directed Wonder Woman)—who we saw give a short teaser trailer about the project—seemed to have been all but fired and the movie canceled. And like an exploded Y-Wing over the Death Star, it's been quiet while we ask, “Why?”
Lando movie (untitled)
I'm quite happy about this one and I believe it will be a success. It also brings us some much-needed humor to these features. Here is my initial write-up of my thoughts on it from September.
Something directed by Taika Waititi
He directed Thor: Love and Thunder. What's he going to do with Star Wars? He also directed some of The Mandalorian episodes. Not heard much about this since 2022. Not much conjecture except that it could be weird.
Something directed by Rian Johnson
Johnson directed Episode VIII: The Last Jedi and the results were contentious. Around that time it was announced that he would direct and write an entire trilogy of Star Wars movies. This was one of the earliest announcements I've discussed (this was 2017), and it's been silent since then. It's believed the project was canceled but nothing official has come to light. Johnson has since directed the successful Knives Out mystery film and its sequel Glass Onion to much acclaim. He's set to make more movies in the Knives Out brand for Netflix, so he seems busy. I couldn't judge what he would make in this trilogy without reading more about it or simply seeing it. The Last Jedi still gets discussed to this day (both positive and negative), so he did make an impact. Who knows? This is as mysterious as his current works so it's hard to tell. It seems we have enough new films on the horizon but if we never see this trilogy, I do hope we eventually get to hear what it could have been.
As for me, I'm always interested/excited about new Star Wars films—but the more that's made, the more I hold tighter and the more I hold dear the original trilogy lest this flood of films deludes the entire thing. At the same time, I like hearing new ideas and seeing them in action—seeing other perspectives and takes on this whole saga. If I were to make a movie, too, (call me, Lucasfilm!) I would make an espionage movie about the “Bothan Spies” mentioned in Star Wars stories of the past. Who were they and what did they do? What made their spying skills so renown? We may never know. What do you think of all these upcoming movies? Too much? Too little? Too soon? Too late? Let the anticipation begin again.
