At any given point Lucasfilm has several different projects in the works, and we know they currently have several movies at various stages of development.
In her recent interview with Deadline, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy spoke to a number of them, but perhaps the most interesting part of it pertained to the trilogy of movies that Simon Kinberg will be writing and producing. Some Star Wars movies are standalone spinoff films (that’s what Shawn Levy’s upcoming movie will be), while others are more following the ‘main’ storyline. Kinberg’s films, it seems, will be the latter.
“This is the next iteration, the new saga that moves us into the future”, Kennedy said when asked about that.
At the time the news of Kinberg’s trilogy was announced last fall it was suggested that this trilogy could be viewed as episodes 10-12, though that was disputed. But the mere fact that there was some indications of this possibly being the case hinted at this series of movies being quite significant to the overall Star Wars storyline, and Kennedy’s statements back that up. While she’s not portraying them as the continuation of the Skywalker saga, it does seem that this will be the brand new era of Star Wars that things will center around.
The post-The Rise of Skywalker era is one that Kennedy said Lucasfilm is actively exploring with these projects, alongside the era where The Mandalorian takes place. These settings, it sounds like, will be a key focus moving forward. Lucasfilm already has lined up the return of Rey for a movie, has Levy’s film taking place 5-6 years after the sequel trilogy, and has Kinberg’s trilogy moving things forward. How much overlap there will be between these movies, and how many returning stars from the sequel trilogy, are not yet known.
But work on Kinberg’s trilogy is already well underway – in fact, Kennedy revealed it’s going to script.
“We’re absolutely rolling fast and furiously,” she said. “That has gone exceptionally well, and he’s literally going to script as we speak. We’ll see something probably around June. Simon, if you remember, he did some work with us years ago with the animated show, which was a really wonderful collaborative experience. And he then got very, very busy with X-Men and then recently became available again, and he segued into this space beautifully. We’re really excited about where that’s headed.”
Kinberg is no stranger to Star Wars, as Kennedy alluded to his work on animation. He co-created and executive produced Star Wars Rebels with Dave Filoni, also writing several episodes of the series (including some of the best). Kennedy’s comments in this interview not only serve as public confirmation of the trilogy’s place but also give insight into how significant it’s being treated in-house, as it is viewed as the next core trilogy in the franchise. I’m excited to learn more.
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