The next chapter of Star Wars on the big screen is shaping up to be smaller, slower, and far less certain than once promised.
Disney’s $4 billion acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012 launched an aggressive era of Star Wars storytelling. Under Kathleen Kennedy, the studio delivered three sequel films and an expansive Disney+ lineup that turned streaming into the franchise’s primary playground. Now, as Kennedy exits her role, the momentum behind Star Wars movies appears to be cooling.
Kennedy is handing the reins to Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan, who will share leadership duties moving forward. Filoni becomes the creative architect, Brennan the business lead. Speaking with Deadline before her departure, Kennedy outlined a slate filled more with question marks than certainties.
In the short term, two films remain on the calendar. The Mandalorian and Grogu hits theaters in 2026, extending Jon Favreau’s New Republic-era story beyond Disney+. Shawn Levy’s Star Wars: Starfighter follows in May 2027, starring Ryan Gosling and Flynn Gray.
Unlike many recent projects, Starfighter is designed to stand on its own. Though set a few years after 2019's Star Wars: Episode IX–The Rise of Skywalker, it deliberately avoids heavy ties to legacy characters. That same post–First Order period was once intended to belong to Daisy Ridley’s Rey Skywalker, whose “New Jedi Order” film has been stuck in development limbo since its announcement at Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023.
Despite Ridley’s recent assurance to Parade that the film is still happening, Kennedy made no reference to it during her Deadline interview. Instead, she addressed the broader uncertainty surrounding nearly every other announced Star Wars movie. Pressed about future releases, Kennedy was blunt.
“I’ve got to tread a bit carefully here,” she said when asked about projects tied to Rian Johnson, James Mangold, Simon Kinberg, and Taika Waititi. “Jim Mangold and Beau Willimon wrote an incredible script, but it is definitely breaking the mold, and it’s on hold.”
“Taika has turned in a script that I think is hilarious and great. It’s not just my decision, especially when I’ve got a foot out the door,” Kennedy added. “Donald Glover has turned in a script. And as you have read, Steve Soderbergh and Adam Driver turned in a script written by Scott Burns. It was just great. Anything’s a possibility if somebody’s willing to take a risk.”
That willingness to gamble appears to be waning. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the once-hyped Mando-Verse crossover film is now on pause. Rather than escalating into a theatrical event uniting characters from The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, and beyond, Lucasfilm seems to be stepping back from large-scale convergence.
The Mandalorian and Grogu may now serve as a finale of sorts for this interconnected era. The planned showdown with Lars Mikkelsen’s Grand Admiral Thrawn—once framed as the culmination of Disney+’s New Republic storytelling—no longer appears imminent.
Another long-discussed casualty is Rian Johnson’s trilogy. Though announced in 2017, Johnson has since acknowledged the project isn’t moving forward.
“Johnson had signed on to mount a fresh Star Wars trilogy in 2017, and while that plan is effectively dead, he isn’t saying goodbye yet,” The Hollywood Reporter wrote. “‘A part of my brain will always be in Star Wars,’ he says. ‘It’s so much a part of me and the way I think.'”
Johnson later echoed that affection on Radio Andy, describing 2018's Star Wars: Episode VIII–The Last Jedi as a career highlight and leaving the door open for a future return.
James Mangold’s ancient-set Star Wars epic, positioned 25,000 years before the saga, once promised a mythic reinvention of the franchise. Despite progress on the script, Kennedy confirmed the project is currently on hold.
Taika Waititi’s Star Wars film continues to hover in development. Kennedy again praised his script to Deadline, repeating, “Taika has turned in a script that I think is hilarious and great. It’s not just my decision, especially when I’ve got a foot out the door.”
One of the more surprising cancellations was The Hunt for Ben Solo. Developed by Adam Driver with Steven Soderbergh and writer Scott Z. Burns, the film would have explored Ben Solo’s fate after The Rise of Skywalker. According to the Associated Press, Disney executives, including CEO Bob Iger, halted the project after questioning how the character could have survived.
Simon Kinberg’s newly announced trilogy remains in flux. Kennedy told Deadline that after extensive rewrites, Kinberg completed a detailed treatment and is expected to submit new material soon.
With leadership changing and numerous projects stalled—including the ever-shifting Rogue Squadron—Star Wars is entering a period of retrenchment. The galaxy far, far away isn’t disappearing, but its cinematic future now looks far more selective than sprawling.
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