Kathleen Kennedy is officially stepping away from Lucasfilm, and before she fully hands over the keys, she’s sharing a few interesting nuggets of info about where Star Wars movies stand right now.
Some projects are stalled, some are still kicking around, and a few are quietly shaping what the galaxy far, far away could look like well into the next decade.
In a candid conversation with Deadline, Kennedy laid out the current state of several long-gestating films, making it clear that plenty of scripts exist, even if the path forward is anything but simple.
“Jim Mangold and Beau Willimon wrote an incredible script, but it is definitely breaking the mold, and it’s on hold. Taika [Waititi] 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.
“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 Mangold and Willimon project is the long-rumored Dawn of the Jedi film, first revealed at Star Wars Celebration in 2023. The Star Wars movie from Taika Waititi dates all the way back to its 2020 announcement, while Donald Glover’s script centers on Lando, a project that started taking shape in late 2023.
As for the experimental-sounding collaboration involving Steven Soderbergh and Adam Driver, that one remains more of an intriguing footnote than a solid plan.
What’s noticeably missing from Kennedy’s comments are two previously announced films: the Rey-focused project from Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Dave Filoni’s Heir to the Empire-inspired movie. Their absence from the conversation is hard to ignore and, honestly, a bit deflating if you were excited about either direction.
On a more optimistic note, Kennedy sounds confident about the future trilogy being developed by Simon Kinberg. While it’s gone through significant changes, it’s far from dead.
“[Kinberg] is working right now,” Kennedy said. “He wrote something that we read in August, and it was very good, but not there. We’ve pretty much upended the story, and then spent a great deal of time on the treatment, which he finished literally about four weeks ago. And it’s a very detailed treatment, like 70 pages. And so he is expected to give us something in March.”
In the nearer term, Star Wars fans still have The Mandalorian and Grogu hitting theaters this year, followed by Star Wars: Starfighter next year. Kennedy also noted that Starfighter was designed as a standalone story, though sequels aren’t off the table if things go well.
So what comes after that? That decision will fall to the next leadership team, but Kennedy did offer a glimpse of how things might shake out.
“Mangold’s is really on the back burner as is Soderbergh’s,” she said. “I think the ones by Taika and Donald are still somewhat alive. That’s going to really be up to the new team to figure out.
“I know that [new Lucasfilm heads] Dave [Filoni] and Lynwen Brennan are very much on board with what Simon’s doing, and that would be a new trilogy. In the timeline of things, that takes you well into 2030 plus. So that’s really what’s up next.”
It feels like a mixed bag. Fans of Waititi’s offbeat style and Glover’s take on Lando have reason to stay hopeful, while those eager for James Mangold’s ancient Jedi story or Rey’s next chapter might need to practice patience.
Still, with scripts circulating and a new creative team ready to chart the course, the future of Star Wars movies isn’t locked down yet. And in this galaxy, that uncertainty might be half the fun.
