UPDATE! Rumor: The Next ‘Star Wars’ Movie Will Star a Woman of Color; Lucasfilm Expected to Reveal Movie Slate at This Year’s Celebration
A new rumor indicates that the next Star Wars movie, directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and written by Damon Lindelof, will star a person of color. In addition, the rumor indicates that new Star Wars movies meant to release in 2025, 2026, and 2027 are set to be announced at Star Wars Celebration this year.
Jeff Sneider, who first broke the rumor about Lindelof writing a Star Wars screenplay, spoke on John Rocha’s podcast The Hot Mic about a tip that he’d heard regarding the project, which he believes is targeting the December 19, 2025, release date. At 56 minutes and 14 seconds into the show, he brought attention to an earlier set of tweets that made, talking about a person of color actor who had success on both television and film, but had not led a franchise movie at this time:
On today's episode of THE HOT MIC, I think I'm going to explain this tweet… and offer a BOLD casting prediction for one of the Big 3 universes. We'll also talk about the latest Bond rumors and DC drama. Be sure to tune in at 4pm PT. Who knows what other goodies await? https://t.co/R1ibMigxpe
— Jeff Sneider (@TheInSneider) January 5, 2023
When asked about the tip on-stream, Sneider explained that he had a tip about the lead role of the next Star Wars movie:
“This is what I was getting at… So, I’ve heard that the lead of [Obaid-Chinoy and Lindelof’s Star Wars movie] will be a person of color, and likely – though this is not confirmed – from what I took from [the conversation], it was a man. Couldn’t get a name or anything like that.”
Previously, rumor mill regular Daniel RPK indicated similar details about the untitled Star Wars movie (including the possible involvement of Sequel Trilogy characters in supporting roles) on his Patreon, although he indicated that the film would star a woman of color instead of a man. Jeff Sneider’s wording indicates that there’s a sense of ambiguity with this description, so it may go either way. In any case, Sneider speculated that this role could go to Brian Tyree Henry, but he did not know for sure.
UPDATE!
We interrupt this report to note that Sneider has since made a correction and that the lead character of the film will indeed be a woman of color:
UPDATE to yesterday's HOT MIC podcast. I had predicted Brian Tyree Henry would wind up the lead in a STAR WARS movie, and maybe he will, but for now, I've heard that the POC lead in Lindelof's movie is actually a woman, not a man as I'd originally been lead to believe. Any ideas?
— Jeff Sneider (@TheInSneider) January 6, 2023
But that’s not all, as Sneider also talked about the status of the upcoming Star Wars film slate. At 29 minutes and 34 seconds into the podcast, while discussing the fate of Taika Waititi’s Star Wars project, Sneider explained that he wasn’t sure about the status of it nor the Kevin Feige film:
“I don’t know if it’s dead, but it feels dead. Like I’ve said, I think the Lindelof movie will be 2025, and I think they could have their movies for 2026 and 2027. I don’t know if Taika’s is one of those, but I really get much heat off of that one or Kevin Feige’s, either, for that matter.”
Incidentally, Daniel RPK mentioned that the Feige movie has been put on hold for unspecified reasons, through a Patreon update two days prior to the latest episode of The Hot Mic podcast. It seems likely that the current workload of Marvel Studios productions — which includes 11 announced films, 11 announced shows, and several unannounced films, shows, and television specials — may be taking priority over a spin-off film in another franchise. Feige has been able to multitask before, but Marvel has been his priority, so it’s understandable if his Star Wars movie has to wait for it.
At 30 minutes and 56 seconds into the podcast, Sneider followed up with this talk about the status of Star Wars movies by addressing a rumor that the next movie could film as early as this April. While he was uncertain of the timeframe, Sneider explained that he expected that it will be filming at some point the summer, and that more news on Star Wars movies will be coming soon, and through the official outlet of Star Wars Celebration to boot:
“I don’t know… I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s June. Is it gonna be April? Is it gonna be May? Who knows. I think it’s gonna be shooting soon! I think it’s gonna be shooting by the Summer, and I think we’re gonna find out a lot at Star Wars Celebration… I think of that as where they will reveal the future plans for the next four to five years.”
You can watch the full podcast below:
The next two Star Wars movies are currently dated for December 19, 2025, and December 17, 2027.
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.
