Rumor: ‘Star Wars’ Movies Not Expected to be Announced at D23; No New Movie Before 2024
The Star Wars film hiatus after The Rise of Skywalker is set to continue for at least one year longer than initially anticipated.
After the underperformance of Solo: A Star Wars Story, Lucasfilm hit the pause button on Star Wars films ahead of the ninth Skywalker Saga episode to reassess the situation. Some projects have remained in limbo, such as a potential trilogy of films written and directed by The Last Jedi writer/director Rian Johnson (who has opted instead to focus on making sequels to his whodunit mystery film Knives Out), and a Rogue Squadron adaptation by Patty Jenkins (who has seemingly put the project on pause in favor of working on a third Wonder Woman film, which is expected to be her last). Other projects have been reworked into television series, with planned spin-offs for Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi and Temuera Morrison’s Boba Fett being turned into limited series with potential for more. There have been a number of films that have been placed into the pipeline with no word on whether or not they’ll move forward, such as Taika Waititi’s film (which may film as soon as early next year), and with Damon Lindelof speculated to be writing a Star Wars movie script right now.
Unfortunately, it seems like we’ll have to wait a bit longer to get news on the theatrical front. A recent report from the Puck News newsletter (run by former THR editor Matt Belloni) talked about what to expect at Disney D23 ahead of the opening Friday, and the picture painted says that Lucasfilm want to keep their cards to their vest until they’re completely confident in where to take the franchise next on a theatrical front. In short, don’t expect a new Star Wars movie to come out until 2024 or later. Check out a screencap of the newsletter below:
From Matt Belloni’s Newsletter (Puck News): "No Star Wars movie before 2024" from StarWarsLeaks
It seems that the Star Wars brand will have to continue to persist through live-action and animated efforts on Disney Plus for the next few years, a streaming service that was heavily carried by Star Wars in the first year and change of operations. Lucasfilm has seen several turbulent productions in its history of over 50 years, so it appears that the company wants to sort any potential issues out before the cameras start rolling — or perhaps they believe that a longer wait between theatrical offerings will increase demand for a return to the galaxy far, far away. If nothing else, there’s always the D23 next year, or Star Wars Celebration Europe before then.
For now, Lucasfilm still has three Star Wars movie dates scheduled for December 22, 2023, December 19, 2025, and December 17, 2027. The first date is currently allotted to the Rogue Squadron movie that definitely won’t make that release date, and will probably be filled by another Disney-produced film. (The third Avatar film or one of the live-action Disney remakes seem like possibilities to take that box office real estate.) The other two release dates are certainly achievable, but a 2024 movie could also be on the cards. As for Lucasfilm’s next big screen release, the fifth and final Indiana Jones movie will arrive on June 30, 2023.
Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.
