While we’re still waiting to get more concrete updates on “Star Wars” films from directors Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (“Ms. Marvel”) and Dave Filoni (“Ahsoka”), another big franchise tidbit has made it’s way online. Simon Kinberg, who co-created “Star Wars: Rebels” with Filoni, is reportedly being tasked to write and produce a new trilogy of “Star Wars” for the studio. The news hails from Deadline and others like THR are suggesting this won’t be a continuation of The Skywalker Saga (something Deadline is claiming), but rather something fresh expected to follow a string of new characters with the door being left open for established characters (although, that could change in the coming weeks and months).
Kinberg’s secretive “Star Wars” trilogy is part of a growing wave of projects Lucasfilm has put into play, we’ll see if this actually comes together. Another likely option akin to a lot of other would-be installments, this ends up in development limbo or gets quietly bumped off. One idea could be that Lucasfilm is finally ready to jump feet first into “The Old Republic” era of “Star Wars” that has been explored in Legends via comic books and video games, but not in hard canon live-action projects.
Why we’re not terribly thrilled with this news as James Mangold (“Logan”), Patty Jenkins (“Wonder Woman”), Rian Johnson (“Star Wars: The Last Jedi”), Taika Waititi (“Thor: Ragnarök”), and Shawn Levy (“Deadpool & Wolverine”) have already been announced to have their own “Star Wars” films in development but nothing of substance has really materialized other than some details on Mangold’s project, “Star Wars: Dawn of The Jedi,” seemingly being a Jedi origin film taking place thousands of years before the events of “The Old Republic.” There had also been talk from Stephen Glover that the “Lando” series with Donald Glover (“Solo: A Star Wars Story”) back in the titular role would be morphing into a feature film, however, it’s been a while since we’ve had an update on that one either.
The next big theatrical release for “Star Wars” is “The Mandalorian & Grogu” from director Jon Favreau and is expected to hit the big screen on May 22, 2026. A continuation of the Disney+ series “The Mandalorian.” Actress Daisy Ridley is expected to reprise the role of Rey Skywalker for “Star Wars: New Jedi Order,” from the aforementioned Obaid-Chinoy. It remains to be seen if “New Jedi Order,” “Dawn of The Jedi,” or Filoni’s pic will end up nabbing the other tentative “Star Wars” release date of December 18, 2026.
More recently Kinberg is producing Edgar Wright’s remake of “The Running Man.”
His return to the “Star Wars” universe is certainly a mixed bag given Kinberg’s contribution to “Rebels” (a popular animated series that saw characters make the jump to live-action) but also having a wonky track record with his Marvel movies. You might be more familiar with Kinberg’s work at 20th Century Fox as he was heavily involved with their Marvel films including less-than-stellar projects like “Dark Phoenix” (Kinberg directed and was his second time adapting “The Dark Phoenix Saga”), the long forgotten “Fantastic Four” reboot, “X-Men: The Last Stand,” and “New Mutants.” At the same time, he helped on the “Deadpool” films, “X-Men: First Class,” X-Men: Days of Future Past,” and “Logan.”
We’ll keep our fingers crossed this isn’t Lucasfilm/Disney just adding another distraction announcement to the pile as something is being ready for the chopping block.
SOURCE: DEADLINE

