In the past five years, many Star Wars have been announced—films from an intriguing (and sometimes questionable) list of potential producers and developers. But nothing has come to fruition in the wake of The Rise of Skywalker—at least, nothing on the big screen. On streaming, Star Wars is consistent, from The Mandalorian to The Acolyte, which just started production.
Yesterday, The Wrap broke the news that director J.D. Dillard is no longer working on his Star Wars film that was announced in 2020. We’ve also seen the release date for Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron moved around so much no one seems to know what it is anymore. The Star Wars trilogy from Game of Thrones’ David Benioff & D.B. Weiss is long dead. But what of all the other announced projects?
In order of when they were announced, here’s what we know.
Rian Johnson’s Star Wars Trilogy
Before Johnson’s excellent The Last Jedi even hit theaters, he had another galactic-scale project on his plate: an all-new Star Wars trilogy that was announced in November 2017. The official announcement said, “In shepherding this new trilogy, which is separate from the episodic Skywalker saga, Johnson will introduce new characters from a corner of the galaxy that Star Wars lore has never before explored.”
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Johnson’s project seems a logical expansion to the Star Wars universe, but it’s taking a minute to happen, in part due to the surprisingly blockbuster success of Johnson’s 2019 film Knives Out, which led to a massive Netflix deal to make two sequels (the first of which is in theaters later this month). In May, Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy told Empire, “Rian had such a gigantic success with Knives Out that he’s very committed to trying to get that done. So it’ll be a while.” In October, Johnson struck a similar note, saying, “It’s just at this point a matter of schedule and when it can happen. It would break my heart if I were finished, if I couldn’t get back in that sandbox at some point.”
Kevin Feige’s Star War
In September 2019, it was announced that Marvel mastermind Kevin Feige was developing a Star Wars film. In January 2021, this project got a small update: the addition of bafflingly ubiquitous Loki writer Michael Waldron. Little else is known, though in a May interview with Variety, Waldron suggested this project is unconnected to any other Star Wars stories, saying “I’m enjoying having the freedom on that to do something that’s not necessarily a sequel or anything.”
Taika Waititi’s Star War
Two things are facts: Waititi is directing, and the script is from him and Krysty Wilson-Cairns (1917). Lucasfilm announced Waititi’s film on May 4, 2020, alongside Leslye Headland’s The Acolyte, which is now in production. But nothing about Waititi’s film seems so certain: In a June interview with The New York Times, he said, “I’m trying to write the ‘Star Wars’ idea at the moment. … I’ve got to see how that goes, because once I submit it, that might determine when it gets made or if it gets made, even.” (ed note: it probably won’t be about the life of Chewbacca’s grandmother. Our loss.) Last month, Wilson-Cairns couldn’t say anything about the movie, but IndieWire theorized it could be Disney’s 2025 Star Wars release.
Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron
By the simple fact that it has a title, Rogue Squadron certainly feels the most like a movie that might actually come to pass. Announced in December 2020, the film was originally scheduled for December 2023, but has since been delayed (a move that felt inevitable given that there’s no sign it’s in production yet). Last December, Jenkins stepped down as direction on the Gal Gadot-starring Cleopatra; according to Deadline, it was so she could focus more on Wonder Woman 3 and Rogue Squadron.
Damon Lindelof and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s Star War
An interesting addition to the lineup of Star Wars Movies We May See Someday is the just-announced film from writer-producer Damon Lindelof (Lost, Watchmen) and director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (Ms. Marvel). As with all of these projects, little is known about the plot, characters, setting, or place in the timeline. There are only a few concrete details: Justin Britt-Gibson has been brought on as Lindelof’s co-writer, and according to Deadline, “this Star Wars feature seems to have the most momentum out of all all the films currently in development.”
Shawn Levy’s Star War
Just yesterday, Deadline announced that Shawn Levy is in talks to develop and direct a Star Wars movie—but not until after the director reteams with his Free Guy and The Adam Project star Ryan Reynolds for Deadpool 3. Levy is arguably best known as an executive producer and director for Stranger Things, but somehow, The Adam Project was (at least in April) Netflix’s fourth most-watched movie ever. Levy has been a franchise director before, with the Night at the Museum films; one can only assume that that experience and his recent successes made him very appealing to Lucasfilm.
And that’s that: many irons in the fire, none with a release date (though Disney reportedly has Star Wars films on their calendar for Christmas 2025 and 2027). Personally, I would still like to see a Christopher McQuarrie Star War, but I am certainly not holding my breath.
