A brand-new Star Wars movie had landed.
There are currently nine films in the Star Wars Skywalker Saga. In order of release, the three trilogies include Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope (1977), Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi (1983), Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace (1999), Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones (2002), Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith (2005), Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi (2017), and Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker (2019).
Much to everyone’s surprise when it was announced on Star Wars Day (May 4) this year, a tenth film is currently in development, which will pick up 15 years after the events of The Rise of Skywalker to find Rey (Daisy Ridley) trying to rebuild the Jedi Order in the wake of the destruction left by the war between the Resistance and the First Order.
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It’s easy to forget that Star Wars movies go beyond the Skywalker Saga. Even long before the two anthology films, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) and Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), there was the CG-animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008), which led to the long-running and critically acclaimed series of the same name.
If we cast our minds even further back, there are also the two Ewoks spinoffs, Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure (1984) and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (1985). They’re hardly considered canon, but they’re still part of the wider franchise.
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The untitled Rey Skywalker sequel from director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy isn’t the only Star Wars movie in the works: James Mangold is directing a film about the origins of the Jedi and the Force; Dave Filoni is putting together a Mando-Verse crossover that will unite characters from shows such as The Mandalorian (2019), The Book of Boba Fett (2021), and Ahsoka (2023); and Taika Waititi is also bringing his unique style to the faraway galaxy.
Unfortunately, there are no release dates for any of these projects, so your guess is as good as ours as to when we can expect to see another Star Wars movie in theaters.
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That said, there’s still plenty to look forward to where the faraway galaxy is concerned. Unsurprisingly, there are more Disney+ shows on the horizon, such as The Mandalorian Season 4, Andor Season 2, and Skeleton Crew (2024). And next year will see the release of the highly anticipated open-world game Star Wars Outlaws (2024).
But for those hoping to sink their teeth into something a bit more cinematic, a brand-new Star Wars fan film has just landed on YouTube, and it’s called Star Wars: Brightstar. Check out the 20-minute fan film from Archangel Epics below:
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The synopsis beneath the video reads, “A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, a fugitive family living in peace must brace itself when their past has tracked them down.”
The family in question is the titular Brightstars (a surname that obviously pays homage to the names Skywalker and Starkiller). There are the parents, Jonn and May, and the children, a teenage girl named Vaylie and her younger brother Walden/Wally. After thinking they’ve found peace on a remote forest planet, they’re discovered by a Sith known as Valek, who’s after Jonn’s yellow lightsaber, which, interestingly, she refers to as a “Sunspear.”
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A well-choreographed lightsaber duel ensues while Vaylie finds a vantage point with her bow and arrow. Though she’s disarmed by the Sith, ultimately, we learn that the young girl is actually a powerful Jedi, as she lifts several boulders from the forest and uses them to kill her enemies simultaneously — making her feel like a Rey Skywalker replacement.
There are countless Star Wars fan films on YouTube, but it’s fair to say that the Force is surprisingly strong with Brightstar. As stated on the video thumbnail, the film has been nominated for several international film awards, and it’s plain to see why.
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There are hints of the iconic Star Wars theme by John Williams throughout, but Brightstar crafts its own score alongside the iconic opening text crawl.
Brightstar captures the magic, charm, and tone that’s been missing from the Star Wars movies since the prequels. Though there are moments when you can point out the limited moment (but not many), for the most part, it has a more cinematic quality than some of the Disney+ shows.
Crew and cast information for Brightstar can be found on IMDb.
There are no release dates for any of the upcoming Star Wars movies.
What do you think of Star Wars: Brightstar?
This post is originally appeared on Inside the Magic.