Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has revealed Simon Kinberg’s new Star Wars trilogy is the backbone of the franchise’s future. The future is bright for George Lucas’ beloved galaxy, with reports of three of four upcoming Star Wars movie projects in the works. One of the most intriguing is a trilogy by Steven Kinberg, of X-Men fame.

Speaking to ᴅᴇᴀᴅline, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy revealed this is central to the franchise’s future. “This is the next iteration,” she revealed. “The new saga that moves us into the future.“ Kinberg is currently working on the scripts, and Kennedy expects to see more around June. “We’re absolutely rolling fast and furiously,” she added. “We’re really excited about where that’s headed.“

Simon Kinberg’s Trilogy Really Does Feel Like Star Wars Episodes X-XII

The Future Is Taking Shape

Simon Kinberg’s Star Wars trilogy increasingly sounds like Episodes X-XII, an exciting development that logically means they will be the backbone of everything that is to come. What is particularly curious, though, is that Kennedy gives no mention of Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s upcoming New Jedi Order movie, which was planned to bring back Daisy Ridley’s Rey. There have been reports Ridley may actually appear in either Shawn Levy’s film, or Kinberg’s trilogy.

We’re getting a strong sense of a timescale at last. According to Kennedy, Shawn Levy’s mysterious Star Wars movie will be the next one to shoot. That presumably means the first chapter in Kinberg’s trilogy will come next. No doubt we’ll learn more at Star Wars Celebration.

Our Take On Simon Kinberg’s Star Wars Trilogy

He Knows What He’s Doing

It’s easy to see why Lucasfilm chose Simon Kinberg to make this trilogy. An experienced filmmaker, Kinberg has a strong history with Lucasfilm. “Simon, if you remember, he did some work with us years ago with the animated show, which was a really wonderful collaborative experience,” Kennedy pointed out to ᴅᴇᴀᴅline. He then helmed the X-Men franchise for some years; although those are generally seen as being of mixed quality, he was nonetheless ᴀssociated with successes such as X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Kinberg is used to working with big studios on major projects, and he’s clearly something of a “safe pair of hands” with a project of this scale. It’s interesting to note that Lucasfilm seem to want Kinberg writing the entire trilogy, rather than moving from writer to writer, as with the sequels. That should hopefully mean the Kinberg trilogy is rather more cohesive, and successfully expands the Star Wars galaxy.

Source: ᴅᴇᴀᴅline