Three more Star Wars movies have been announced and maybe they will release
Star Wars celebration is the perfect time to announce new projects, reveal new merch and just, as the name suggests, celebrate Star Wars. One of the things that seems to be a stapple these days is the Lucasfilm Studio Showcase, which generally kicks off the show.
While this years showcase did have details on The Acolyte, Ahsoka and more, I wanted to focus on the movies that were announced at the end of it. Kathleen Kennedy, the president of Lucasfilm introduced the three film makers who would be making these movies, one a piece.
“As you can see by all the television we’ve been doing, we’re exploring a lot of different storylines. This really spawns from what George Lucas said years ago, that he created Star Wars to move forward and backward along a mythological timeline. Now we’re looking to broaden that timeline, building a rich future, expanding upon the present, going deep into the past to tell our stories, and we’re thrilled to be working with some of the best and most passionate filmmakers on projects that will span the past, the present, and the future.”
The three directors in question are James Mangold, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Star Wars veteran Dave Filoni, with each of them taking a different part of the Star Wars periods.
The above image shows the various periods that Star Wars content is set within, lets break that down. The times below are approximate and are in BBY, or Battle of Yavin, which takes place at the end of Episode 4. So with that sorted, here we go:
The Old Republic - Started roughly 25,000 years BBY and fell around 4000 years before the same battle
The High Republic - Started around 500 years BBY and its peak was about 100 years BBY
Fall of the Jedi - This period covers the Prequel Trilogy (Phantom Menace, Clone Wars and Revenge of the Sith)
Reign of the Empire - This period covers the time between Episode 3 and Episode 4 (Star Wars Rebels, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order)
Age of Rebellion - This is the original trilogy (A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi)
The New Republic - This is set after the events of Episode 6 and before Episode 7 (The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka)
Rise of the First Order - This period covers the Sequel Trilogy (The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, Rise of Skywalker)
So now we have a timeline of periods, or a rough one at least, the settings for the movies will make more sense. The first movie in the timeline will be directed be James Mangold, who is busy right now overseeing the final parts of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the latest trailer for it is here. All we know of the story right now is that it will go back to the dawn of the Jedi. There is no word of course, if this will adapt the now Legends story Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi comic, or if it will be something new.
The second movie is being directed by Dave Filoni, who was the man behind The Clone Wars, The Bad Batch and Rebels, along with producing Resistance and more recently Tales of the Jedi, which is also getting a second season. As far as details on this movie, all we know is that it will be set during the New Republic era and be connected to the tv shows The Mandalorian, Boba Fett and Ahsoka.
The final reveal was that Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy would be directing a movie set within the era of Rise of the First Order, or just after it, that wasn’t confirmed. What was confirmed is that it would focus on a a Jedi Master building up a new Jedi Order, with the master being played by Daisy Ridley.
Welcome home, Daisy. #StarWarsCelebration pic.twitter.com/9wIpKdicbe
— Star Wars (@starwars) April 7, 2023
So three potentially impressive movies on their way, which sounds great, but sadly we need to look at just how the movies for Star Wars have been treated lately. Here are all the confirmed or reported Star Wars movies over the past few years.
In December 2020, Patty Jenkins, the director of Wonder Woman and its sequel, announced that she was heading into a galaxy far, far away to bring Rogue Squadron to the screen and since then, reports are all over the place on its status.
In May of 2020, Taika Waititi was revealed to be working on a new Star Wars movie and while he did work on Thor: Love and Thunder in between, there is still no word on the status of the movie he is working on.
Reports surfaced a while back that Damon Lindelof was working on a new Star Wars movie, but the details for that were that Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy would be directing and it would be set within the world after the events of Rise of Skywalker, so we can mark that one as updated to be happening.
Director Shawn Levy is also has been reportedly working on a Star Wars movie, he also directed films like Night at the Museum and Free Guy, with his current project being Deadpool 3. This one however has not been confirmed by Lucasfilm, so grain of salt there.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson was confirmed to be making a new trilogy of Star Wars movies, but while the setting up of the deal was being done, he inked a deal with Netflix to direct three movies there, two are already out in Knives Out and Glass Onion, meaning there is one more to go. Once that deal is done, his focus is set to return to Star Wars, but for now don’t get out your knives for this one.
Kevin Fiege was also connected to a galaxy far, far away at one point, at least in rumour form. Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, were meant to spearhead a trilogy, but that has fallen away in order for them to focus on new stuff at Netflix.
What I take away from all of this is that from all the confirmed, which means Jenkins, Waititi and Johnson, all do not having anything to show after 3 years and there being no update from Lucasfilm at Celebration, they are likely dead or being put on a lengthy hold.
The rumours are just that, so don’t expect them to announce anything tomorrow on those, but you know the old saying, where there is smoke, there is fire.
The problem however isn’t the lack of production on those rumours, but rather the lack of movie content. It seems Lucasfilm love to make splashy announcements about movies being made, with directors attached, but then they can never follow through. I would love to be proven wrong here and that these three new movies will be made and put into cinema soon, but the track record isn’t with them. Given that Disney have slotted Star Wars movies in their release calendar for the next few years December 19, 2025 and December 17, 2027, they would need to get something going soon.
