Rey Skywalker returns for the next Star Wars theatrical release. That means Daisy Ridley returns, too. Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy made the announcement Friday night at Star Wars Celebration in London. (Different time zones mean I woke up to the news Friday morning — time travel is tricky.)
Directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and written by Steven Knight, the film follows Rey as she builds a new Jedi Order. Allegedly, this occurs 15 years after the events of The Rise of Skywalker. After years of announcements of new films and trilogies being developed, none having anything to do with the Skywalker Saga, the actual next new film is an addition to the Skywalker Saga. It seems like we hadn’t heard of it before, but Variety reports that it’s one originally developed by Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson.
Positive for Lucasfilm? Obaid-Chinoy proved her mettle on episodes of Ms. Marvel and becomes the first woman to direct a Star Wars film. Thus she beats Patty Jenkins, whose Star Wars: Rogue Squadron was supposed to open in December 2023. That one never got out of development and has been cancelled. Positive for me? I’ve been meaning to watch Peaky Blinders, and creator Knight’s work here means I kind of have to now.
Two other films became “official,” promising to expand the universe. Rey’s return looks to the future, but director James Mangold will be a “Biblical epic” set 25,000 years in what we consider the Star Wars present. The Force gets an origin story of sorts. Keeper of the Lore Dave Filoni will step up as a feature director to put a theatrical bookend on The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Ahsoka Disney+ series trilogy.
Let’s not lie here. While Star Wars has mostly thrived on streaming, the movies seemed to lose their way. (Both the Obi-Wan streaming series and Boba Fett had originally been earmarked as theatrical projects.) That’s not a dig on The Rise of Skywalker – maybe. It’s that we’ve been excitedly told about several films in development that never got further than the announcement. The Once and Present Disney CEO Bob Iger originally promised that we would get one “main” storyline film every two years, with separate standalone “Star Wars Stories” in the gaps. Disney+ and the pandemic clearly altered that plan, but Solo and The Rise of Skywalker didn’t help.
Beyond Jenkins’ cancelled film, dead projects include an announced trilogy from Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, which in hindsight we’ll call a blessing. Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige had been announced as developing a film, but as he grows in power like a Republic-era Palpatine (I kid! I kid!), it was a ridiculous announcement in the first place. The Last Jedi writer/director Rian Johnson was developing a separate trilogy, and though he has occasionally commented he’s still working on it, Lucasfilm hasn’t said a thing in a while.
However, Variety seems to think that Taika Waititi’s announced project still has hope. From here, Waititi has become the new Guillermo del Toro, in that his announced projects seem to have about a 1 out of 4 fruition rate. What we see we love; we just can’t hold out hope
we’ll see everything we’re promised.
Then again, we’re always given… a new hope. Just keep them in a bag with several grains of salt.
