After seven years toiling in the Disney+ content mines with one mid movie to show for its troubles, Lucasfilm is reportedly sticking with its plan to continue the Skywalker Saga on the big screen in the future.
Deadline has confirmed that Cop Car and Spider-Man: Homecoming director Jon Watts will helm a new trilogy set in a galaxy far, far away, with Simon Kinberg (XXX: State of the Union, Jumper) on writing duties. Both have previously dipped their toes in Ahch-To-adjacent waters; Watts co-created Skeleton Crew, while Kinberg co-created Rebels. The trade notes that Disney hasn’t yet signed off on the new trilogy, which will supposedly continue Rey’s adventures after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
The news will no doubt disappoint some fans who had lost interest in Star Wars following the release of that very film until the more adult-leaning and Jedi-free Andor appeared on Disney+ in 2022, gifting the franchise a huge dose of critical acclaim and proving that it was capable of creating something fresh, interesting, and subversive instead of traipsing back to the Skywalker well for another bucket of lightsaber battles.
Since Andor wrapped on the streamer, Dave Filoni has become Lucasfilm’s new President and Chief Creative Officer, and the company has released a feature film spinning off the family-friendly adventures of Pedro Pascal’s Mandalorian and his little green charge, Grogu, which underperformed at the box office. Next year, Starfighter, a standalone movie from Shawn Levy (Deadpool & Wolverine) set five years after the events of The Rise of Skywalker, will slide into the multiplex, infused with a Ryan Gosling charm offensive and a script by Banshee and Warrior co-creator Jonathan Tropper.
