Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy has presented a fresh vision for Star Wars, explaining how this will inform the upcoming Star Wars movies. The last few years have seen Star Wars shy away from the big screen, with Lucasfilm instead pivoting to a steady stream of Disney+ TV shows. All that is due to change, though, with next year’s The Mandalorian & Grogu, followed by Shawn Levy’s Starfighter – due to begin filming in the U.K. in September.

Speaking at the BFI Film on Film Festival in London (via Variety), Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy has outlined the creative vision behind the new movies.

“I really think that now we’re in a position where it’s broadened the possibility of stories and filmmakers we can bring in to tell stories that mean something to them – it doesn’t necessarily have to connect to every little thing that’s been done in Star Wars; it can actually be a standalone story that then builds into many many other stories,”

Kathleen Kennedy Is Clearly Hinting At Shawn Levy’s Starfighter

A Promising Sign For The Upcoming Star Wars Movie

It’s reasonable to ᴀssume Kennedy is directly referencing Shawn Levy’s Starfighter, confirmed to star Ryan Gosling and Mia Goth as lead hero and villain. Ser five years after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, this will introduce viewers to a whole new era in the timeline; it’s been teased as a standalone, but the teaser released at this year’s Star Wars Celebration hinted at ties to the Jedi. But it seems Kennedy has high hopes.

Notice the stress on giving creative freedom to directors and filmmakers. Lucasfilm has become well-known for behind-the-scenes drama – we recently learned the scale of Rogue One‘s reshoots – but she clearly believes the studio has learned its lesson. This comment also coincides with Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy’s recent comments, hinting he believed Star Wars was about to branch out into other genres (even potentially horror).

This Is The Star Wars We Need To See

There’s A Dramatic Irony To This

I can’t help but find Kennedy’s comments rather amusing; this is the same creative vision originally outlined by Lucasfilm over a decade ago, but the studio lost confidence in it after misunderstanding the lessons from Solo: A Star Wars Story and the sequel trilogy. We’ve seen faltering steps towards it again on Disney+, most notably with the stratospheric success of Andor. It’s a joy to see Lucasfilm return to this approach, one that was genuinely exciting.

It’s also thrilling to see a hint of how confident Lucasfilm is in Starfighter; if Kennedy is alluding to that project, the implication is that she believes this particular Star Wars movie could serve as something of a launchpad. I for one can’t wait to see what’s in store.

Source: Variety