At last, it looks as though the bosses at Lucasfilm have gotten their house in order – meaning we can begin to predict the future of Star Wars. The last few years have been difficult for Lucasfilm, with the studio abandoning its original plans to make a Star Wars movie an annual event.

Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy made an important observation earlier this year when she pointed out that this studio’s development pipeline comes under intense scrutiny. “Of course, we’re going to develop lots of different things with an understanding that not everything gets made,” she conceded, acknowledging the number of canceled Star Wars movies and TV shows.

But the studio does appear to have figured out how to manage the message, and the future of Star Wars is gradually becoming clear. Lucasfilm’s focus is returning to the big screen, and we appear to be moving to a place where we get an annual release again, with another launching production. So here are our predictions for the future of Star Wars.

5

The Mandalorian And Grogu

The Next Star Wars Movie

The Mandalorian is essentially the Disney+ flagship show, and it’s leading the way for Star Wars to return to the big screen. We know surprisingly little about this movie, which wrapped up filming in December last year. Attendees at this year’s Star Wars Celebration saw a trailer, but that hasn’t been released online yet.

Speaking to Collider last year, writer-director Jon Favreau stressed he’s treading a careful balance.

“A lot of people know these characters who haven’t seen the show. So it’s not just that there are people who saw the show and people who don’t know the characters, there’s a big range of people who are familiar with who they are, the archetypes, what they look like. They’ve seen them in fan-made stuff, social media clips, so you want to lean into that understanding, but not take for granted that they know all the lore ᴀssociated with every season of the show. But you also want to reward the people who’ve been there since the beginning, and so that’s the conversation that we constantly have, that I have with Dave, especially. How do you embrace the characters, the archetypes, but not have it be required viewing? But if you’ve seen it, you see things that are in there that speak just to you, and that’s a big part of Star Wars.”

4

Star Wars: Starfighter

Shawn Levy’s Mysterious New Movie

Next up is Shawn Levy’s Starfighter, officially announced at this year’s Star Wars Celebration. Unusually for Star Wars, this movie appears to be focusing on star power for marketing – notably Ryan Gosling as the тιтular starfighter pilot and horror actress Mia Goth as a new villain. The official teaser appears to hint Gosling’s character is actually Force-sensitive.

Starfighter will introduce viewers to the galaxy post-Rise of Skywalker, with Kennedy confirming it will be set five years after the sequel trilogy. Production is scheduled to begin this fall; Levy is undoubtedly viewed as a safe pair of hands, which hopefully means there won’t be any behind-the-scenes drama. We’ll be surprised if this gets delayed.

3

The First Movie In Simon Kinberg’s Trilogy

The Backbone Of Star Wars To Come

Those first two seem safe bets, but we’re now moving to some that seem a little more distant. Simon Kinberg is working on a Star Wars trilogy, and this is probably the most important movie in the works right now. “This is the next iteration,” Kathleen Kennedy has observed. “The new saga that moves us into the future.“

Kathleen Kennedy has confirmed she’s serving as a producer on this trilogy, which also makes it seem more imminent; although Kennedy is expected to step down as president of Lucasfilm in the near future, she’s confirmed she’ll be serving as a shepherd for upcoming Star Wars movies.

Given the importance of this new trilogy and Kennedy’s own role, it’s reasonable to ᴀssume that it will happen after Starfighter – presumably meaning this bold new era will begin in 2028. Lucasfilm seem to be going for May releases now, so let’s pencil this one in for May 2028.

2

James Mangold’s Dawn Of The Jedi

Star Wars Is Already Setting This Up

We don’t know much about the history of the Jedi Order, but that’s soon to change. James Mangold is working on a Jedi origin movie (with the fandom generally referring to this as “Dawn of the Jedi” due to the era). According to Mangold, he pitched this because it would be “painting a new Star Wars story on a new canvas.“

We’re still clearly some years out from Magold’s Dawn of the Jedi, but Star Wars has already begun setting it up in the most surprising places. Andor season 1 brought an alien race of slavers known as the Rakata back into canon history, and season 2 confirmed they conquered much of the galaxy 25,000 years ago.

Dawn of the Jedi is set roughly 25,000 years ago, and Mangold is co-writing this with Beau Willimon, one of Andor‘s screenwriters. Given the setup, we’re suggesting this will be the next priority, loosely penciled in for May 2029.

1

The Second Chapter In Simon Kinberg’s Star Wars Trilogy

It’s Likely Lucasfilm Will Return To A Biannual Release For The Trilogy

Finally, let’s predict that Lucasfilm will return to a biannual release pattern for Kinberg’s trilogy. This caused problems with the sequel trilogy, but Kinberg is working on the entire trilogy at once, meaning it should be possible this time. If our predictions are correct, then it’s likely the second chapter of Kinberg’s Star Wars trilogy will come out in May 2030.

Naturally, all this may change; only the first two movies here seem locked in, and that’s just the way Lucasfilm like it. As Kennedy herself reflected, production of Star Wars is often studied under a microscope, meaning the studio would prefer to leave us only with best-guesses.