It may be far, far in the future that fans get to see more of the galaxy far, far away on the big screen.
In 2012, George Lucas sold his Lucasfilm studio to The Walt Disney Company for $4 billion in cash and stock. Since then, Lucasfilm, led by President Kathleen Kennedy, has released multiple movies–including the polarizing sequel trilogy–and a plethora of live-action and animated television shows on the Mouse House’s premium streaming service, Disney+.
Now, 14 years on, Kennedy will step down from her post as one of The Walt Disney Company’s presidents, with Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan taking over the role as a joint partnership. Filoni will lead the creative side, while Brennan will head up the business division. It’s the most startling shift in Lucasfilm’s history under Disney, and Kennedy has outlined the current status of the beloved Star Wars franchise during her exit interview with Deadline.
While the immediate future includes Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026), a follow-up to the small-screen Mandalorian franchise set in the New Republic era (a follow-up that Favreau has claimed is not a repurposed fourth season–although only time will tell how the fans react). In May 2027, Shawn Levy’s Star Wars: Starfighter, starring Ryan Gosling and Flynn Gray, will be released.
Starfighter has been pitched as a true standalone, a movie unconstrained by the history and legacy of the saga. Levy’s movie is still canon, though, set just years after the conclusion of Star Wars: Episode IX–The Rise of Skywalker (2019). It will be the first foray into the post-First Order universe–a part of the timeline expected to be filled by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s untitled Rey Skywalker movie starring Daisy Ridley.
As announced by Kennedy herself almost three years ago at Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023, Obaid-Chinoy’s movie was set to occupy the New Jedi Order timeline, with Rey rebuilding the Order following Luke Skywalker’s (Mark Hamill) attempt. After many production delays, including a scrapped release date that was expected for the film, there is no word on when (or if) the “New Jedi Order” movie will see the light of day.
Despite the lack of information from Disney or Lucasfilm, Daisy Ridley recently expressed to Parade that the film is moving forward and “will be worth the wait.” However, the future of that doesn’t look good. In Kennedy’s exit interview, neither the executive nor the interviewer, Deadline’s Editor-at-Large, Mike Fleming Jr., offered any comment on the long-gestating motion picture.
But the pair did discuss the status of almost every other project announced or confirmed over the last decade.
No Star Wars Movies Confirmed After 2027
When asked about upcoming Star Wars movies, Kennedy provided an answer that revealed nothing is confirmed beyond Starfighter‘s release in 2027.
“I’ve got to tread a bit carefully here,” Kennedy said, responding to Deadline’s question about the future of projects from Rian Johnson, James Mangold, Simon Kimberg, and Taika Waititi. “Jim Mangold and Beau Willimon wrote an incredible script, but it is definitely breaking the mold, and it’s on hold.”
“Taika has turned in a script that I think is hilarious and great. It’s not just my decision, especially when I’ve got a foot out the door,” the Lucasfilm executive added. “Donald Glover has turned in a script. And as you have read, Steve Soderbergh and Adam Driver turned in a script written by Scott Burns. It was just great. Anything’s a possibility if somebody’s willing to take a risk.”
Dave Filoni’s Mando-Verse
In a twist, recent shifts at Lucasfilm suggest the much-touted Mando-Verse crossover movie, that sprawling post-Return of the Jedi tapestry spun out of The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, The Book of Boba Fett, and more–is now quietly being shelved rather than expanded.
With Kennedy’s exit and Dave Filoni stepping into the creative driver’s seat, the galaxy’s big screen return with The Mandalorian and Grogu this May may serve more as a capstone than a new beginning. According to reports, the previously announced cinematic event film from Filoni that was supposed to unite heroes from across the Mando-Verse has been put on the “back burner,” per The Hollywood Reporter, by Lucasfilm, reflecting a broader retrenchment from the interconnected streaming saga and a pivot toward select theatrical tentpoles instead.
What was once thought to be the “Avengers: Endgame” of Disney+’s New Republic Star Wars era, with various heroes teaming up against Lars Mikkelsen’s Grand Admiral Thrawn, now reads more like a strategic reset–one that may leave the show’s sprawling narrative threads to hang in the cosmic breeze.
Rian Johnson’s Star Wars Trilogy
Disney has also seemingly pulled the plug on one of the Star Wars projects fans were most curious–and perhaps apprehensive– about. The long-rumoured Rian Johnson trilogy, once positioned as a fresh cinematic frontier post-Skywalker, is now confirmed to be dead in the water, with Johnson himself admitting it isn’t actively moving forward despite his continued affection for the galaxy far, far away.
“Johnson had signed on to mount a fresh Star Wars trilogy in 2017, and while that plan is effectively dead, he isn’t saying goodbye yet,” The Hollywood Reporter wrote. “‘A part of my brain will always be in Star Wars,’ he says. ‘It’s so much a part of me and the way I think.’”
Later, Johnson doubled down on this. “Making The Last Jedi was, like, the best experience of my life,” Johnson told Radio Andy. “And I’m still tight with the folks at Lucasfilm. We’re not actively working on it right now, but if, down the line, it makes sense to come back into that universe, I’d be thrilled.”
James Mangold’s “Dawn of the Jedi”
Lucasfilm’s ever-shifting production plans are nothing new. What started as the ambitious “First Jedi” trilogy from the creators of Game of Thrones was laid to rest. Out of its ashes, though, emerged a new project: James Mangold’s “Dawn of the Jedi” feature, a prehistoric Star Wars epic poised to explore the very origins of the Force itself.
Announced alongside a slate of new films at Star Wars Celebration back in 2023, Mangold’s movie was said to be set an astonishing 25,000 years before any existing Star Wars story, and according to reports in 2024, the Beau Willimon-co-written script was nearing completion, with casting and filming expected not long after. Mangold himself has teased a sprawling, almost biblical take on the galaxy’s mythic beginnings, promising an untethered adventure rather than a lore-chained continuation of familiar tales.
But, as Kennedy stated to Deadline, the mold-breaking movie is “on hold.”
Taika Waititi’s Untitled Star Wars Movie
The filmmaker behind Thor: Ragnarok (2017) and Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) has long been attached to helm a Star Wars movie; the director even said his take on the galaxy far, far away would “piss people off.” Once thought to be off the table altogether, Kennedy commented last year that she was hopeful Waititi’s schedule would open up, giving him room to work on the film.
Again, Kennedy showed interest in Waititi’s Star Wars movie, telling Deadline, “Taika has turned in a script that I think is hilarious and great. It’s not just my decision, especially when I’ve got a foot out the door.”
The Hunt for Ben Solo
Late last year, it was revealed that Disney had cancelled a planned standalone Star Wars film centered on Kylo Ren/Ben Solo (Adam Driver), shelving what once seemed a legitimate chance to revisit the most charismatic villain of the sequel trilogy. The project—titled The Hunt for Ben Solo—wasn’t some half-baked idea in a fan forum; it was championed by Adam Driver himself, who had been quietly developing the concept with Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh and writer Scott Z. Burns, per the Associated Press.
Driver’s pitch was simple but bold: rather than a prequel or retread, The Hunt for Ben Solo would have picked up after The Rise of Skywalker to explore Ben’s fate beyond his Force sacrifice–a creative gambit that Lucasfilm embraced enough to commission a script.
But once the package reached Disney’s top executives–CEO Bob Iger and co-chair Alan Bergman–the project ground to a halt. They “didn’t see how Ben Solo could still be alive,” a narrative hurdle they weren’t willing to leap, even though Star Wars lore has made a habit of improbably resurrecting characters.
Despite having talent, a script, and genuine internal support, the film was ultimately killed at the executive level, leaving fans to wonder whether Disney will ever seriously revisit the sequels’ most compelling threads–or whether the era that gave us Kylo will continue to fade quietly into the Outer Rim.
Simon Kinberg’s Trilogy
One of the more recent developments in the Star Wars franchise was the announcement that Simon Kinberg was brought on to write and lead a new Star Wars trilogy. Discourse has surfaced since, with fans suspecting that Kinberg’s trilogy could be Episodes X, XI, and XII. It has also been suggested that the trilogy could have absorbed the story treatment set aside for Daisy Ridley’s Rey Skywalker movie.
No confirmation has been given, though, with Kennedy explaining in her exit interview that Kinberg is still working on the story.
“He’s working right now. He wrote something that we read in August, and it was very good, but not there,” Kennedy told Deadline. “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.”
The Future of Star Wars Is Unclear
Those are the big hitters that may be at risk of being cancelled altogether under Filoni and Bowen’s leadership–and that’s not to mention Patty Jenkins’ long-gestating Rogue Squadron movie. The film, once on, then off, and then reportedly back on again, has been in some kind of development for over half a decade. Chances are, it is off the table now, but as fans have seen before, anything can happen when it comes to the galaxy far, far away.
How do you feel about all the changes happening to Disney’s Star Wars franchise? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!
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