The Star Wars franchise finally returns to the big screen in 2026 with The Mandalorian and Grogu. Beyond that, we know Lucasfilm plans to explore what happened after 2019's Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (starting with Shawn Levy's Star Wars: Starfighter).
"The High Republic" books and comics didn't strike a chord with fans, and The Acolyte was cancelled after one season on Disney+. There's only so much storytelling potential in exploring the gaps between each previous movie, so a post-Episode IX setting does create something of a blank slate for filmmakers.
While (positive) updates have been few and far between since 2023, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy remains attached to a movie revolving around Daisy Ridley's Rey Skywalker.
Set 15 years after the events of The Rise of Skywalker, it's being written by George Nolfi, who replaced Steven Knight, who in turn took over from the writing duo of Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson. However, with Kathleen Kennedy stepping down as Lucasfilm President, only time will tell what Dave Filoni has planned for this and all the previously announced projects set in a Galaxy Far, Far Away.
During a recent "exit interview," Kennedy said that Filoni intends to move forward with X-Men: Dark Phoenix writer and director Simon Kinberg's planned trilogy. That update didn't receive the warmest of responses from fans, but Filoni and Kinberg did previously collaborate on Star Wars Rebels.
According to Daniel Richtman (via SFFGazette.com), Ridley's Rey Skywalker will have a major role in the planned trilogy. However, the focus will be on new leads, indicating that while Rey is going to be placed front and centre, it won't be as the story's main protagonist.
Where does this leave Obaid-Chinoy's movie? Well, while it's hard to shake the feeling that this trilogy is meant as a replacement, Rey's solo outing could be what bridges the gap between Episode IX and what many fans believe will effectively serve as Episode X, XI, and XII.
This update comes after Richtman also recently reported that Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania director Peyton Reed met with Lucasfilm about helming a Star Wars movie. He previously took charge of episodes of The Mandalorian, including the Season 2 finale featuring Luke Skywalker's return.
"He’s working right now. He wrote something that we read in August, and it was very good, but not there," Kennedy said of Kinberg's Star Wars movie. "We’ve pretty much upended the story, and then spent a great deal of time on the treatment, which he finished literally about four weeks ago. And it’s a very detailed treatment, like 70 pages. And so he is expected to give us something in March."
"I know that Dave and Lynwen [Brennan] are very much on board with what Simon’s doing, and that would be a new trilogy," she added. "In the timeline of things, that takes you well into 2030 plus. So that’s really what’s up next."
Stay tuned for updates on Star Wars as we have them.