Official Lucasfilm Release
After years of starts and stops, unsubstantiated rumors and abrupt cancellations, Lucasfilm made a statement Friday morning in announcing three new theatrical feature films at Star Wars Celebration in London.
The films will be directed by James Mangold (Logan, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny), Dave Filoni (The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Rebels, The Mandalorian, Book of Boba Fett) and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (Ms. Marvel) will helm films set in very different and newly labeled eras within the Star Wars Universe.
No release dates were associated with any of these films, but as we’ve seen in the past, release dates aren’t the most reliable in the galaxy.
Mangold’s film will deal with the origins of the Jedi, set 25,000 years before the events of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999). I really like this, and not just because it matches my idea for what future films should cover. One of the main things that sets Star Wars apart from generic science fiction is the Force and the Jedi. The origins of those two concepts has not been covered in the new canon, until this forthcoming film.
Filoni is the spiritual successor to George Lucas, in my opinion, given his extensive work within the Star Wars universe. His film will wrap up the storylines woven in and through the seasons of The Mandalorian as well as Book of Boba Fett. This project makes total sense as a feature film, as a culminating event chronicling the exploits of Din Djarin and Grogu. In particular, season 3 of The Mandalorian has been narratively scattered in several different directions. Jon Favreau has stated he’s already written the fourth season of the show, and presumably, Filoni’s show will carry on where season four leaves off.
Obaid-Chinoy’s film will be highlighted by the return of Rey, played by Daisy Ridley in episodes 7, 8 and 9. The film, like the other two, will sit inside a new era of Star Wars storytelling, this one known as the New Jedi Order. Starting in 1999, there was a long series of novels written under the banner New Jedi Order. Presumably, this new film will have nothing to do with those books, since those books now exist under the “Legends” label. Rey will be tasked with leading a new generation of Jedi in this film, set 15 years after the events of Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker (2019).
Dawn of the Jedi (Mangold film)
The Old Republic
The High Republic (current series of novels)
Fall of the Jedi (prequel films)
Reign of the Empire (time between ROTS and ANH)
Age of Rebellion (original trilogy films)
The New Republic (Mando-verse)
Rise of the First Order
New Jedi Order (new Rey film)
It’s easy to feel cynical about these announcements, given how clunky Lucasfilm has been since 2019 about feature film announcements. I counted eight films that had been officially announced since 2017 that haven’t seen the light of day - three from Rian Johnson, two from Benioff and Weiss, one from Kevin Feige, one from Patty Jenkins (Rogue Squadron) and one from Taikia Watiti. I think it’s safe to say none of those seven films will exist as directed by those people going forward.
Here’s hoping the future of Star Wars films offers us even a fraction of the joy and wonder the franchise has given us in the past.
