Why It’s Taking So Long To Get Another ‘Star Wars’ Movie


It’s been a while since we’ve seen any Star Wars media on the big screen. For some, that’s a good thing. Others aren’t happy. The major consolation here is that between shows like Andor and The Mandalorian, we actually have some very solid output. Absence makes the heart grow fonder though, and chances are that if we have to wait longer between entries in the series, the theaters won’t feel flooded with mediocre sequels and spinoffs.

Directors Rian Johnson and Taika Waititi were both supposedly working on Star Wars feature films for the IP. But neither is currently on Disney’s release calendar in any official capacity. Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy recently spoke about both projects, explaining that their directors have different hang-ups that have caused some of the delays in releasing the first new Star Wars movie since 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker.

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Kennedy spoke with Empirewhere she explained what happened to Johnson’s proposed trilogy of Star Wars movies…

Rian and I talk all the time. He just keeps getting more and more successful, and it keeps moving things back further and further. One day we’ll figure this out.

As for Waititi’s film, Kennedy gave this update: “Taika is working away. He’s just, and he won’t get mad at me for saying this, slow. We’ve got a couple of acts, we need a third.”

Kennedy also said that projects starring Lando Calrissian and the Rogue Squadron of X-wing pilots are both “still on the books.” The main goal, Kennedy said, is ensuring the projects are “great,” not just finished in time to hit some arbitrary release date.

“We’re going to make these movies when they’re ready to be made,” she added.

When that will be is anybody’s guess, though. Lucasfilm did announce three additional Star Wars movies last month, including a film for Rey Skywalker, a movie set in the earliest days of the Jedi, and a crossover project that would unite all the heroes of Star Wars‘ various Disney+ shows in one story.

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