Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023 revealed that the Star Wars franchise is finally returning to the big screen, with three theatrical live-action Star Wars films getting announced by Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. These films, the first Star Wars installments to grace theaters since 2019, will span the entirety of the Star Wars timeline and pivot the franchise away from the television-exclusive direction it took in the aftermath of the fanbase-splitting Sequel Trilogy. Here’s everything we know about the three new Stars Wars films.
Everything We Know About The Next Star Wars Movies
James Mangold’s Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi
The first of the new Star Wars films to be unveiled, Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi is set further back in the timeline than any installment and acts as the introduction of the “Dawn of the Jedi” era that precedes the much-beloved Old Republic era by several thousands of years. The film will be helmed by James Mangold, the director of Logan and the latest installment in the Indiana Jones series, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
Described by Manfold as “a Biblical epic,” inspired by The Ten Commandments, Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi will explore how the first generation of Jedi learned to wield the Force and formed the organization that protected the galaxy for over a thousand generations. The film is set to hit theaters in December 2025 and marks the beginning of a new initiative to expand the Star Wars timeline into the past and future.
Dave Filoni’s Untitled New Republic Film
The second new Star Wars film to be announced is set in the New Republic era, which falls between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. Dave Filoni, the visionary mastermind behind Star Wars: The Clone Wars, The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and the upcoming Ashoka series, is slated to direct.
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Filoni, who has been working in the Star Wars franchise for over a decade, has stated that this new film will end the “New Republic” era of the timeline. The film is set to be the culmination of various plot points that have been set up across Filoni’s Disney+ Star Wars productions, with Filoni teasing that the film will feature an “epic battle” between the fledgling New Republic and the remnants of the Galactic Empire that will significantly affect the timeline.
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s New Jedi Order Film
Acting as the final installment of this unofficial trilogy, the last of the newly-announced Star Wars films will be set after the events of The Rise of Skywalker. Directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, director of the Academy Award-winning documentaries Saving Face and A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness, this film will be the first set in the “New Jedi Order” era, the latest in the timeline.
Closing out Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023, Obaid-Chinoy confirmed that this film follows “a powerful Jedi Master” as they restore the Jedi Order to its former glory. Seconds after this announcement, Daisy Ridley walked onto the stage, revealing to the ecstatic crowd that she will be returning to the franchise as an older and more-experienced Rey, who will presumably be the one to guide the next generation of Force-users and bring the light of the Jedi back to the galaxy.
