Lucasfilm has put three more Star Wars films into gestation, and who knows? Some of these might actually get made.
Several sources are reporting that Lucasfilm is planning a return to the cinematic trilogy format that helped to build the Star Wars brand into a pop culture giant for decades.
Since the release of the (largely) unloved The Rise Of Skywalker in 2019, a film that was supposed to draw a line underneath The Skywalker Saga, the future of Star Wars on cinema screens has seemed somewhat rudderless.
In short, a large portion of the audience wasn’t keen on The Rise Of Skywalker, partly because it was clearly missing the central aspect of any trilogy: a joined-up story that connects elements of the previous two films. Lucasfilm’s baffling decision to relaunch Star Wars as a trio of films for a new generation without first figuring out how those films would connect to each other remains its foundational mistake, and one that continues to haunt the company still.
Here’s what we know about the plans for the new series of films.
Simon Kinberg has been brought in to write them, although whether they will be a continuation of The Skywalker Saga depends on which source you believe. The Hollywood Reporter is claiming that this new trilogy of movies will not be connected to those nine films, while Deadline suggested that the opposite is true.
For our money, we can’t help wondering if both are somehow right. It’s an open secret that Lucasfilm has been struggling for some time to get its Rey Skywalker-focused New Jedi Order film past the writing stage, with some outlets even claiming that the project is indefinitely on hold. It’s been reported that the latest writer on the project, Peaky Blinders’ Steven Knight, has departed after submitting several drafts that weren’t to the liking of Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy.
Read more: Star Wars | Lucasfilm is exceptionally good at not making movies
Could this new trilogy of films somehow be a way of ditching that project, or more accurately, adapting it into something new, perhaps? Shifting a Rey tale starring Daisy Ridley into a new project would be one way of offsetting the continued reputational damage Lucasfilm has endured for only being able to get cameras rolling on one Star Wars film in the past five or six years. Either way, we wouldn’t be surprised to see Daisy Ridley’s character return in these films, no matter what number they might be badged with.
Simon Kinberg has form with franchise filmmaking and indeed, Star Wars. He was the creative overseer of Fox’s X-Men universe for a good while and he was also involved in the creative direction of 2015’s Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.
Kinberg also co-created the popular Star Wars: Rebels animated show with Dave Filoni, so there’s always the chance that Lucasfilm could be looking to launch a new trilogy of films in that era. Although given that it’s set just before A New Hope, that part of the story has already been told cinematically by a fellow named George Lucas.
We’ll bring you more on this one as we hear it.
