This Week, In a Galaxy Far, Far Away: A Status Report on All Upcoming ‘Star Wars’ Films

Welcome back to a new edition of 'This Week, In a Galaxy Far, Far Away.' Is anyone else tired of seeing the same Ryan Gosling GIF from the Critics Choice Awards on social media? I thought so! It's been an interesting week in Star Wars, for sure, even if we still have no news on The Bad Batch season 3 -- although, according to Jennifer Corbett, something should get announced soon.



We have a lot to discuss today, as I'll be running a status report on all confirmed Star Wars movies. As always, let me know your thoughts, opinions, comments, and complaints in the comments section or via our Contact page. The idea of these weekly articles is to have a direct connection with our readers as we recap the week in the franchise with some analysis of what's going on. Let us begin.


<h2>Three Things That May Have Flown Casual</h2>

• Andor is close to finally wrapping production. Diego Luna had seven days left of filming as of last Monday, and Collider's Steve Weintraub later added that the show as a whole had 10-12 days left. Sounds like they'll be done by Jan. 31. Will they still try to hit a 2024 release? Unlikely, as the show is currently the only live-action Star Wars title coming to Disney Plus in 2025, and the projects of 2024 are looking like they'll be spaced out.
• Katee Sackhoff and Sam Witwer went blahblahblah, and our own Sydney Watsek covered the whole thing. They talked about The Mandalorian, The Clone Wars, Lucasfilm, and a lot more. Their mutual friend Dave Filoni was also announced this week to be honored with the George Pal Award at the 51st Saturn Awards. Please, spare me your 'he's George's Pal' jokes.
• For the publishing fans, Charles Soule's latest newsletter had a lot of interesting nuggets, which Nate Manning recapped for you here. They include a tease of Trials of the Jedi, a hint of a new Star Wars title he'll be working on soon, and some comic previews.

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<h2>Status Update on All Upcoming Star Wars Movies</h2>

<h3>The Mandalorian &amp; Grogu</h3>


As Lucasfilm announced earlier this month, Jon Favreau will be directing The Mandalorian &amp; Grogu, the next Star Wars theatrical feature film. Though they didn't announce a release date, they have said that they will be starting production this year. And doing some quick math with Pedro Pascal's upcoming schedule, there is reason to believe that cameras could be rolling sometime during the spring and summer. Of course, this is to be taken lightly, as Pascal doesn't even have to be on set for the film.



However, there are some indications, as we covered this week, that pre-production could be starting soon (though this is also to be taken with a big grain of salt). That could hint at a spring shoot. We'll hopefully learn more soon. I have a hunch that they'll be done with this movie by Labor Day weekend because by then, they'll want to move on to the New Jedi Order film.



The Mandalorian &amp; Grogu feels like a soft launch of a new era of Star Wars films. Though they haven't set a release date yet (one could be coming soon, once Disney updates their schedule again), most of us are assuming they are targeting May 22, 2026, but leaving the door open for a 2025 release. When, exactly? Who knows. Avatar 3 has the prime December spot, and I doubt they will want to rush it to meet the May 2025 date. However, that's not impossible given the (shorter) post-production time required by shooting in the Volume and the fact that Fantastic Four might be moving out of that window.






<h3>New Jedi Order-era Star Wars Film</h3>


Here is the reality of the situation with this movie, whether that's what the Internet likes to hear or not: It's going fine. Steven Knight is currently still writing it, and the process is going at its expected speed. The announcement of The Mandalorian &amp; Grogu was not a PR coverup of anything going on with this movie. It was something that was always going to happen, and the green light was not given because the script was in trouble or because it was going to be 'delayed indefinitely.' It's fascinating how the Internet will believe in a split second a doomed report from a website most Star Wars fans have never heard of, but have a hard time believing reports stating the contrary, with an on-the-record statement from Lucasfilm! Wild.



As I've been saying for months, Steven Knight was supposed to turn in his first draft of the script around the end of November. I suspect that was so Lucasfilm could give him some notes and he could implement them for a second draft in the New Year. I don't know if that actually happened, or if Lucasfilm decided to give him more time after they pivoted to The Mandalorian &amp; Grogu as their priority (I suspect I was told the information on the deadline before the decision was made). However, multiple reports this week seemed to suggest he's working on a new draft, so perhaps my previous instinct was right.



Joonas Suotamo is Chewbacca, Oscar Isaac is Poe Dameron, Daisy Ridley is Rey and John Boyega is Finn in STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER



I've been repeatedly told that there is no delay expected and that everything is proceeding as anticipated. But it obviously takes a long time to make a massive movie like this, and there are a lot of moving pieces. I expect this to go into pre-production around or even before March -- though that doesn't mean the script will be finished by then. Remember that by the time the WGA strike happened, Knight had been writing the script for less than three months. Let him cook.



No release date has been announced. If everything goes well, this should go into a long process of pre-production soon-ish and possibly, hopefully, start filming in the fall. That's a rough estimate, but one I truly believe. Again, it takes a long time to make these movies. And obviously, they are either targeting May 22, 2026, or December 18, 2026, depending on when The Mandalorian &amp; Grogu comes out.



Here is the only question that matters at this point, though: Is BB-8 coming back or what?!



LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 07: (L-R) Daisy Ridley, Kathleen Kennedy and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy attend the studio panel at Star Wars Celebration 2023 attends the studio panel at Star Wars Celebration 2023 in London at ExCel on April 07, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Disney)


<h3>Dave Filoni's Star Wars Film</h3>


First announced at last year's Star Wars Celebration as the culmination of the New Republic-era films, the film has practically been put on the back burner now that The Mandalorian &amp; Grogu is happening, but most importantly, that he's working on Ahsoka season 2. Looking back, he started writing the first season in late 2020 and casting started in the summer of 2021, with cameras rolling in May 2022. I don't think it will take this long now, but I doubt they'll be able to start filming season 2 before top of 2025 for a 2026 release.



So he's gonna be tied up with the Disney Plus series for another 1.5-2 years. This is why reporter Jeff Sneider said in his newsletter this week that he doesn't expect Filoni's movie to hit theaters before 2028. And it's a legitimate argument. But honestly, I seriously doubt he'll willingly skip the chance of having his live-action feature debut come out on the 50th anniversary of Star Wars, in May 2027. The current schedule doesn't have a date then, but that can be fixed quickly.



LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 07: Dave Filoni, Daisy Ridley and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy onstage during the studio panel at the Star Wars Celebration 2023 in London at ExCel on April 07, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Kate Green/Getty Images for Disney)


<h3>James Mangold's Dawn of the Jedi-era Star Wars Film</h3>


'Hey, we haven't heard anything about Mangold's Star Wars film in so long! Is that still happening?!' Yes! Of course, it is. You're not supposed to get an update every three weeks on these projects, especially when they are not the director's next one. Following the release of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Mangold was supposed to shoot his Bob Dylan biopic starring Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown, last summer.



Of course, the strikes happened, and the schedule was shifted. Production will now start in late March, after Timmy has completed his press tour for Dune: Part Two. It should be a rather quick shoot, probably in the 6-8 week range, and Mangold could move on to start writing his Dawn of the Jedi (w/t) Star Wars movie later this year. Giving him 8-10 months for that and then another year and a half for pre-production and shooting it, with some wiggle room in the middle for the eventual awards parade of A Complete Unknown, there should be enough time for him to make the Dec. 2027 date.



LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 07: James Mangold, Dave Filoni and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy onstage during the studio panel at Star Wars Celebration 2023 in London at ExCel on April 07, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Kate Green/Getty Images for Disney)


<h3>Shawn Levy's Star Wars Film</h3>


This is certainly an interesting one, because there was some movement on it this week. According to the aforementioned newsletter from Sneider, Levy's film will involve the character of Rey, somehow. That was the extent of it, but it was enough for me to have a solid theory as to what this movie is going to be.



I mean, it's pretty clear he'll be working on the sequel to the New Jedi Order film, right? Or, if not the direct sequel, some continuation of the story started by that film. Let's look back at the timing of the announcements. As THR reported back in 2022, when Damon Lindelof was still working on Star Wars, Lucasfilm assembled a top-secret writers' room in the summer to discuss the future of the films. They laid out some sort of plan, which included the story for Lindelof's film, but also where the story would go further. All of this has been scrapped since, but let's put ourselves back in those days. They have a story for one film and the intention of making more. So what if they started seeking filmmakers for the next ones, so they can have them in the loop from early on?



Reports on Shawn Levy joining the Star Wars galaxy surfaced in November of that year, and though they said he was 'in talks', Levy confirmed it was a done deal -- that could hint the ink was still fresh. He had not started work on his story by the time Lindelof exited the project and Lucasfilm changed directions to focus on a younger Rey and bringing Daisy Ridley back, so it wouldn't be hard for them to keep Levy.



He's been working on Deadpool 3 for over two years now, and he still has a few more months to go. If he's going to be working on a sequel to a film that's over two years away, that could also explain why he's been signing up for other Netflix action comedies with Ryan Reynolds. Also, keep in mind Lucasfilm themselves hasn't officially confirmed this one yet. I wonder why...



Of course, keep in mind all of this is circumstantial evidence and we could find out I'm wrong rather soon.



Taika Waititi and director Shawn Levy on the set of 20th Century Studios’ FREE GUY. Photo by Alan Markfield. © 2020 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.


<h3>Taika Waititi's Star Wars Film</h3>


This month is the four-year anniversary of the first reports that Taika Waititi would be developing a Star Wars film. From all accounts, he's still working on it. Though the project has probably evolved a lot over the past few years, especially with the silent departure of 1917's Krysty Wilson-Cairns (or at least we assume she's left, Lucasfilm has been mysteriously quiet on this), Waititi has turned in multiple drafts of the script and has said he very much wants to do it, and do it right.



Despite that, he's going to be directing another film before that. Klara and the Sun, starring Jenna Ortega, according to reports. Ortega is supposed to shoot Wednesday season 2 during the summer, which means Waititi has a now-or-never spring window to do his film. But once that's done, his schedule should be freed up significantly.



Remember when Waititi had an IMDb page of upcoming projects longer than those he'd already completed? That's no longer the case. His TV era is seemingly behind him for now, with Reservation Dogs and Max's Our Flag Means Death both over. His Time Bandits show starring Lisa Kudrow is in post, and so is Hulu's Interior Chinatown. In a fall 2023 interview with Business Insider, he previewed his next few years: Klara and the Sun (first), and then Star Wars and The Incal. The last two are passion projects of his, and it's unknown which one will come first.



But I also believe he's been told by Lucasfilm they're in no rush because they have their plate full until late 2027 or mid-2028. That doesn't mean he won't get to it, though. And as I speculated recently, I think we'll get one major breakthrough this year: the leading man/woman. Just a hunch.






<h3>Lando</h3>


This continues to be the biggest question mark out of the entire slate for me. Lucasfilm confirmed it was a real thing to Variety last year after Stephen Glover spoke out of turn in an interview, but they haven't acknowledged it since. I was expecting some talk about this now that Donald Glover's Mr. &amp; Mrs. Smith Prime Video series is about to debut, but it's been crickets. Perhaps this week, as we get closer to the Feb. 2 release date. I mean, they'll at least have to promote it, right?



The Glovers are supposedly writing it, and though we all thought they weren't as busy now with Atlanta behind them, then they come out of the blue with a 21 Savage movie that I still can't quite understand what it is. So many questions about this one. Will it even be theatrical? We might learn something soon... Or not!









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<h2>Jocasta Nu's Reading List</h2>

• Star Wars News Net: Have you ever wanted to get started on Star Wars comics, but the pool is overwhelmingly large? Our own Nate Manning, lord over all things publishing at SWNN, has got you covered with his comprehensive Marvel comics guide!
• ComicBookMovie: Who will be the villain in The Mandalorian &amp; Grogu? Lucasfilm hasn't announced any plot details yet, but that hasn't prevented Josh Wilding from pitching five possibilities here; some are more interesting than others.
• CBR: If you've been inside a lore-centric Star Wars conversation recently, chances are the name Yuuzhan Vong has come up. In case you don't know what it is, Jordan Iacobucci explains it for you here.
• /Film: The Acolyte is about to introduce our second Wookiee Jedi in canon with Kelnacca... Or is it? As Rafael Motamayor argues here, Gungi is not the only Wookiee Jedi that we have in canon!
• Game Rant: Speaking of The Acolyte, you might have heard that the character of Vernestra Rwoh is going to make her live-action debut. But who is she and why is she important to the High Republic? Check out Joshua Kristian McCoy's introduction to her. Also, if you're interested in this type of explainer, stay tuned, as we might have some content like this in the works for our YouTube channel!
• Dork Side of the Force: The Mandalorian season 3 set up a lot of subplots, but didn't pay all of them off. One of those was the question of who will be riding the Mythosaur. As Mehwish Mahmood argues here, it should only be Din Djarin.

What did you think of the latest edition of “This Week, In a Galaxy Far, Far Away”? Let me know your thoughts and suggestions down below in the comment section. You can also send them, or reach out with any information tips, directly via our Contact page.



Have a great week!



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