Rey Skywalker Returns As Lucasfilm Announces Three New Films

Lucasfilm has announced the production of two new Star Wars films, with additional details unveiled about a third installment that is expected to follow.

This announcement indicates that the production company is nearing the end of its hiatus since the release of Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker in 2019.

The news was revealed by Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy during a Star Wars Celebration event held at the ExCeL center in London.

James Mangold, the director of Logan, and Dave Filoni, the co-creator of The Mandalorian TV series and director of the 2008 computer-animated feature Star Wars: The Clone Wars, will oversee the production of the two new Star Wars films.

According to Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, Mangold’s film will focus on “the first Jedi to wield the Force and harness it as a liberating power in an era of chaos and oppression,” while Filoni’s film will center around “the escalating war between the Imperial Remnant and the fledgling New Republic.” Filoni’s film will also “close out the interconnected stories told in The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and other Disney+ series.”

The third film, directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, has been in development for some time but has experienced changes in direction and staff departures. The film will take place 15 years after The Rise of Skywalker and feature Daisy Ridley returning to the role of Rey. It will explore the rebuilding of the New Jedi Order and the challenges that arise. Recently, Lucasfilm announced that Steven Knight of Peaky Blinders had replaced Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson as writers on the project.

The Star Wars franchise’s recent film development history has been inconsistent, with separate projects supervised by Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige and Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins reportedly shelved, and another from Thor: Love and Thunder director Taika Waititi and 1917 co-writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns still in development.

At the same event, Lucasfilm also confirmed several new TV shows, including a second series of Andor and a Mandalorian spin-off Ahsoka.