Lucasfilm Confirms Which STAR WARS Movies Are Still Happening

After years of false starts, delays, and “in-development” purgatory, Lucasfilm just gave fans some much-needed clarity on which Star Wars movies are actually still in the pipeline.

At this year’s Star Wars Celebration in Japan, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedyconfirmed the next era of Star Wars films are on the move, and several previously announced projects are still in active development.

While much of the panel focused on Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian & Grogu, which hits theaters in May 2026, it ended with a wider look at what’s coming down the hyperspace lane.

Here’s the rundown: James Mangold (Logan, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny) is still set to direct his Dawn of the Jedi film, which explores the earliest days of the Force.

According to Kennedy, “Mangold had to pause Dawn of the Jedi while he made the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown. With that film out of the way, he’s busy working on his Star Wars script now.”

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is locked in to helm the Rey/ New Jedi Order movie, continuing the post-Rise of Skywalker storyline. That one has been in development for a while, but it looks like it’s finally solidifying as a centerpiece of this new era.

Meanwhile, Dave Filoni is still building toward his New Republic movie, which is a culmination of storylines from The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, and the larger Mando-verse, but he’s prioritizing Ahsoka Season 2 first.

Taika Waititi’s movie is still alive and weird. While some fans speculated it had been quietly shelved, Kennedy cleared that up:

“Waititi… has turned in a first act Kennedy loves, but that script isn’t finished either.” Despite recent flops like Next Goal Wins and the divisive Thor: Love and Thunder, Waititi still has enough creative capital (and Jojo Rabbit cred) to keep fans curious.

And there’s Simon Kinberg(X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Martian) who is developing a Star Wars trilogy. These films had previously been lumped in with the Rey-centric projects, but Kennedy clarified that Kinberg and Obaid-Chinoy are not working on the same thing.

That’s a big shift from late 2024, when the studio was reportedly choosing between “several movies” that featured Rey. Either Kinberg’s story evolved into something new, or Obaid-Chinoy’s film sets the stage for his trilogy.

No release dates were given for these projects. Lucasfilm has a history of high-profile announcements that never materialized, like Rian Johnson’s trilogy. But for the first time in years, there’s an actual roadmap forming, and The Mandalorian & Grogu and Star Wars: Starfighter starring Ryan Gosling and directed by Shawn Levy, hitting May 2027, are kicking it off.

Lucasfilm’s track record with theatrical rollouts has been rocky post-The Rise of Skywalker, but this feels like the studio actually committing to getting back in the game. Sure, Disney+ has kept the franchise buzzing with TV content, but Star Wars was built for the big screen. And if even half of these projects stick the landing, we might be looking at a genuine theatrical renaissance for the galaxy far, far away.