Tag: Star Wars

New 'Star Wars' Film Trilogy In Development From 'Rebels' Co-Creator Simon Kinberg
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New ‘Star Wars’ Film Trilogy In Development From ‘Rebels’ Co-Creator Simon Kinberg

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

'The Mandalorian & Grogu': Sigourney Weaver In Talks For Secretive Part In Jon Favreau's 'Star Wars' Movie
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‘The Mandalorian & Grogu’: Sigourney Weaver In Talks For Secretive Part In Jon Favreau’s ‘Star Wars’ Movie

Writer/director Jon Favreau is gearing up to shoot the very first live-action “Star Wars” movie to be released in theaters since “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” back in 2019. His feature film spinoff of the Disney+ series, “The Mandalorian & Grogu,” is assembling a cast that could feature veteran actress Sigourney Weaver in a mysterious role as The Hollywood Reporter is backing up claims she’s in the mix for the project.

Weaver isn’t unfamiliar with sci-fi or franchise roles, having played Lt. Ellen Ripley in the “Alien” franchise (her “Aliens” co-star Michael Biehn already appeared in the TV series incarnation of “The Mandalorian” in that Ahsoka episode) in four feature films (a fifth installment from Neill Blomkamp was scrapped by Ridley Scott/20th Century Fox), is a key figure from the “Ghostbusters” movies, featured as a villain in the Netflix/Marvel Television series “The Defenders,” and is currently part of James Cameron’s “Avatar” franchise including those other three sequels.

You might remember that “The Mandalorian” originally started out in the first season as an original bounty hunter tale focusing on Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin. But quickly pivoted toward becoming a full-blown fan-service cameo factory for Dave Filoni’s animated characters from “Clone Wars” and “Rebels” to make their live-action debuts. This led to Bo-Katan and Ahsoka becoming key figures in the television realm, eventually removing the bounty hunter element altogether from “The Mandalorian” in the process.

Returning cast members from the series are sort of dwindling after the passing of Carl Weathers (“Predator”), the sexual misconduct allegations levied against comedian Horatio Sanz that likely pulled him from the “Star Wars” franchise entirely, and the very public firing of Gina Carano by Disney for some bizarre antisemitic posts connected to her own defense of posts understood to be transphobic in nature.

Meanwhile, we’ll keep our fingers crossed that Paul Sun-Hyung Lee is able to reprise his role as Captain Carson Teva in the film. There is an expectation that folks such as Katee Sackhoff’s Bo-Katan and Giancarlo Esposito’s Moff Gideon will be back though.

Disney’s Bob Iger had previously announced that “The Mandlaorian & Grogu” would be heading into theaters on May 22, 2026.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

'Shōgun' Star Hiroyuki Sanada Wants A Crack At 'Star Wars' Universe
Posted on in Film News, News, Television News

‘Shōgun’ Star Hiroyuki Sanada Wants A Crack At ‘Star Wars’ Universe

Japanese action star Hiroyuki Sanada (“Westworld,” “Sunshine”) isn’t a stranger to Hollywood genre work, briefly appearing in Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame” as a sword-wielding Yakuza desperately trying to fight off Clint Barton’s revenge-seeking Ronin and even played a scheming corporate villain in James Mangold‘s “The Wolverine.” In his new Hulu samurai series, “Shōgun,” the veteran actor is getting a lot more stage time, and it’s led to some serious buzz around the show alongside the authentic touches across the production thanks to Sanada’s creative involvement as a producer. However, it sounds like Sanada is itching to travel to a galaxy far, far away.

‘Yeah, all of them. Especially ‘Star Wars’ I’m a big fan of them…I can’t wait. I can’t say [one favorite character] because [the] world itself is amazing,” Sanada told Variety (See video below) on the red carpet at the Hulu On Disney+ launch event Friday.

Twinsand — Hiroyuki Sanada in John Wick 4 (2023)

It’s worth mentioning that Sanada has long been trained in sword work, which was displayed in both “The Wolverine” and “John Wick 4” (has a sword fight versus “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” actor Donnie Yen) So, in theory, playing a stoic Jedi master would feel like a perfect casting choice.

Yashida Compound (Wolverine Production Design) | Hugh jackman, Scene photo, Jackman
Hiroyuki Sanada and James Mangold on the set of “The Wolverine”

We’ll keep our fingers crossed that Mangold keeps Sanada in mind for a role in his upcoming Jedi origin movie “Star Wars: Dawn of The Jedi,” which is potentially going to be ready for a December 2027 release. The project recently added Beau Willimon (“Andor,” “House of Cards”) to help Mangold co-write the film’s script, but we’re still waiting on major casting news on multiple fronts for upcoming “Star Wars” movies.

Sanada has plenty of “Star Wars” options beyond “Dawn” with follow-up seasons for “Ahsoka,” “The Mandalorian,” “Star Wars: The Acolyte,” and “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” on the table at Lucasfilm. There are also two other feature films gearing up to begin shooting this year with Jon Favreau’s “The Mandalorian & Grogu” and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s “Star Wars: New Jedi Order” that sees Daisy Ridley reprise the Rey Skywalker role to train a new generation of young Jedi. Dave Filoni (“Ahsoka”) and Shawn Levy (“Deadpool & Wolverine”) are also developing their own features.

“Shōgun” is currently streaming on Hulu (internationally on Star) and is being billed as a limited series, which should allow Sanada to take more franchise roles down the road.

SOURCE: VARIETY

'Star Wars: New Jedi Order' Actress Daisy Ridley Supports Finn Becoming A Jedi: “I Would Love To See That"
Posted on in Film News, News

‘Star Wars: New Jedi Order’ Actress Daisy Ridley Supports Finn Becoming A Jedi: “I Would Love To See That”

Lucasfilm is continuing the Rey Skywalker story with “Star Wars: New Jedi Order” set to bring back sequel trilogy actress Daisy Ridley to pay the young Jedi master as she looks to train a new generation of Jedi in the movie set for release on December 18, 2026. While we’re still in the dark about the return of other established characters like John Boyega‘s Finn, that sort of got short-changed after being set up in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” as the co-lead before taking more of a supporting role in the wake of weird racist/sexist backlash the sequel trilogy installments kept getting from the more unhinged corners of the internet and right-wing media freaking out about women and non-white characters being protagonists in fantasy films.

Ridley while speaking with Screen Rant, isn’t sure if Lucasfilm will ultimately bring Finn back but supports the idea of having him finally make the jump to become a Jedi, even if it’s “above her pay grade” to make that happen. “That is above my pay grade. [Laughs] I would love to see that, but that is not a decision for me,” the “Star Wars” actress told Screen Rant when asked about Boyega finally getting his Jedi wish.

For Boyega’s part, he’s said in the past he’s spoken since the release of “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” with Lucasfilm’s head Kathleen Kennedy, sharing his previous disappointments. He’s also made it clear to media and fans that he’s not interested in reprising the Finn role for a Disney+ project, leaving some wiggle room for a comeback on the big screen. Many were upset that Finn never ended up becoming a Jedi even though they kept teasing his force-sensitives, and he even wielded a lightsaber twice in the first film. Sadly, it felt like Lucasfilm caved to a small vocal group that was incensed that a black actor was playing a Stormtrooper and being given such a prominent role in the film.

There have been rumblings of Finn’s big return, but nothing official has been announced, and we likely would know about something like that closer to a production start. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (“Ms. Marvel”) is set to direct “Star Wars: New Jedi Order” with a tentative release date of December 18, 2026, and it has been suggested that cameras could begin rolling sometime after Jon Favreau‘s “The Mandalorian & Grogu” (heading to theaters on May 22, 2026) kicks-off production in California later this year.

There is also now a sense that James Mangold’s “Star Wars: Dawn of The Jedi” could end up taking the spot on December 17, 2027, reserved for another “Star Wars” movie.

SOURCE: SCREEN RANT

James Mangold's 'Star Wars: Dawn Of The Jedi' Adds 'Andor' Writer Beau Willimon
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James Mangold’s ‘Star Wars: Dawn Of The Jedi’ Adds ‘Andor’ Writer Beau Willimon To Help With Script

One of the upcoming “Star Wars” movies gestating at Lucasfilm is a Jedi-origin film taking place 25,000 years in the past with James Mangold (“Logan”) set to direct and write the film. The pic is getting some impressive help on the script as The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that “Andor” writer Beau Willimon (“House of Cards”) is going to co-write alongside Mangold.

Having someone who has contributed to one of the more critically acclaimed “Star Wars” projects is certainly a boom, and we’re all for the “Andor” creative team to have an influence on the feature films. Even more so, “Dawn of The Jedi,” where they won’t be beholden to either the Skywalker Saga or Legends (expended universe source material) as they’ll be sort of creating their own corner of the franchise with a timeline that takes place before The Old Republic or The High Republic. “Dawn” is essentially a blank slate and has an optimistic approach built-in for new things to be created/explored for the Jedi mythos.

It’s unclear when “Dawn of The Jedi” will start filming; the director is busy working with Timothee Chalamet on his dramatic Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,” which means that they have plenty of time to work on the script. He’s also attached to make a new “Swamp Thing” movie for James Gunn’s newly formed DC Studios as they hope to reset their cinematic universe starting with a “Superman” reboot.

As it stands now, the feature film lineup includes Jon Favreau‘s “The Mandalorian & Grogu,” coming out on May 22, 2026, and the Daisy Ridley-led “Star Wars: New Jedi Order” helmed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (“Ms. Marvel”) is coming out on December 18, 2026. With various projects in the works, including “Dawn of the Jedi,” a mysterious film from Shawn Levy (“Deadpool & Wolverine”), and according to director Patty Jenkins (“Wonder Woman”), her “Star Wars: Rogue Squadron” movie about X-Wing pilots is still alive as she owes the studio a new script.

Mangold’s last feature film took a bit of a bath at the global box office as Forbes reports that “Indiana Jones & The Dial of Destiny” has lost Disney over $130 million. This could make things increasingly difficult for Mangold as he attempts to make an equally expensive “Star Wars” film, hoping to attract a large audience. We’re only bringing this up because Lucasfilm has a habit of bailing on directors who have critical or financial hiccups connected to their movies (Jenkins’ “Rogue Squadron” suddenly had issues and went into creative limbo after “Wonder Woman 1984” failed to click with critics/audiences).

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Star Wars’: Jon Favreau’s ‘The Mandalorian & Grogu’ Movie Confirmed For California Shoot As Production Nabs $21.8M In Tax Credits

As soon as Lucasfilm and Disney announced that Jon Favreau (“Iron Man”) would be directing the next big “Star Wars” feature film with “The Mandalorian & Grogu,” it was expected that production would pretty much stick to the same stages and crew working on the Disney+ shows in and around the Manhattan Beach/Los Angeles area in California. Now, that has been cemented with new tax breaks as The Hollywood Reporter revealed the Disney production has landed $21.8 million.

What’s interesting about all this is that star Pedro Pascal is about to begin shooting on Marvel‘s big “Fantastic Four” reboot at Pinewood Studios in England over the summer. This would likely mean his part as Din Djarin will continue to be voice-over related with Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder expected to do the in-suit acting for Mando. Unless he shoots scenes with his helmet off during reshoots ahead of the film’s May 22, 2026 release date, that was inferred by Disney CEO Bob Iger.

Pedro Pascal: The Mandalorian Season 3 Was 'Mostly a Voice Over Gig' - Comic Book Movies and Superhero Movie News - SuperHeroHype

“The Mandalorian” is still getting a fourth season but it’s unclear when that will shoot given the upcoming film shoot.

Directors Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, James Mangold, Dave Filoni, Taika Waititi, and Shawn Levy also have their own feature films in the works. The former will continue the story beyond “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” with the return of Daisy Ridley as Rey Skywalker and the expectation of her training a new generation of young Jedi. There’s been an assumption that Obaid-Chinoy’s movie will debut on December 18, 2026.

Favreau isn’t a stranger to helping build a cinematic universe as his two “Iron Man” movies helped establish the MCU and became important lead-ups to “The Avengers” in 2012. Along with Lucasfilm’s new CCO Filoni, Favreau has been fleshing out their own corner of the “Star Wars” universe and is expected to contribute creatively to most things moving forward.

The next big “Star Wars” project to be released is said to be “The Aloclyte” this summer on Disney+ and takes place during the end of The High Republic era.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in News, Television News

‘The Acolyte’: New ‘Star Wars’ Series Set During The High Republic Coming To Disney+ This Summer

Yesterday, it was announced by “Andor” star Diego Luna that the second season of the “Rogue One” spinoff series has wrapped filming giving us confirmation that the “Star Wars” show is heading into the post-production process alongside things like “Skeleton Crew” and “The Acolyte.” Speaking of the latter it sounds like we might have an early idea of when that The High Republic-era series is expected to be ready to air.

Without an actual release date or even month, Collider now claims that “The Acolyte” is aiming to begin airing on Disney+ sometime this summer. While we would rather get more concrete dates, a release window for the streaming series is better than nothing. Hopefully, Disney+/Lucasfulm will give us a better idea of when those episodes will begin dropping soon.

A mystery-thriller that will take viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era. A former Padawan reunites with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes, but the forces they confront are more sinister than they ever anticipated.

“The Acolyte” hails from showrunner Leslye Headland (“Russian Doll”) with an ensemble cast led by Amandla Stenberg that includes Lee Jung-Jae (“Squid Games”) as a Jedi Master, minted Chewbacca actor Joonas Suotamo returns to the franchise as a new Wookiee Jedi named Kelnacca, Dafne Keen (“Logan”), Rebecca Henderson (“Russian Doll”), Carrie-Anne Moss (“The Matrix”), Dean-Carles Chapman (“1917”), Jodie Turner-Smith (“Without Remorse”), Manny Jacinto (“The Good Place”), and Charlie Barnett (“Russian Doll”).

Headland is expected to have directed episodes alongside Kogonada (“After Yang”) and Alex Garcia Lopez (“Cowboy Bebop”).

This news would suggest that “Skeleton Crew” will be next with online rumblings of a winter release later this year and then the second season of “Andor.” All three streaming shows have yet to be formally dated by either Disney or Lucasfilm.

SOURCE: COLLIDER

Posted on in News, Television News

‘Andor’: Diego Luna Announces Season 2 Of ‘Star Wars’ Series Has Finally Wrapped Filming

“Andor” originally had some skepticism involved with its development as it would attempt to explore the origins of Rebellion spy, Cassian Andor. However, the streaming series starring Diego Luna and overseen by showrunner Tony Gilroy after being behind the extensive reshoots of “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” The show ended up becoming quite the espionage thriller and felt like true character-driven storytelling with excellent writing/performances. Luna has now announced that the second season which had been paused during the Hollywood strikes has finally wrapped filming and likely means we’ll get a release window shortly.

Here is what Luna said in a social media post on Instagram about the show finishing up filming today:

“Today is the last day of filming ‘Andor.’ I could not be more thankful to the entire crew for this amazing experience and the years of hard work. More than 700 people have worked on this production, and it is impossible to say goodbye and thank you to everyone individually, which is why I write here. Thank you for the love and the wonderful experience. See you soon.”

If you’re not aware, “Andor” focuses on the early days of the Rebel Forces working behind the scenes to fund/enact various missions to attack The Empire’s outposts when a bunch of the leadership is in the public view of that fascist regime on Coruscant. This adds to the show’s major push to explore wartime paranoia when it comes to spies working behind enemy lines.

Other cast members expected to return for the second season include Genevieve O’Reilly (Mon Mothma), Stellan Skarsgard (Luthen Rael), Kyle Soller (Syril Karn), Denise Gough (Dedra Meero), Faye Marsay (Vel Sartha), and Adria Arjona (Bix Caleen).

You can view that Instagram post made by Luna today below.

SOURCE: DIEGO LUNA

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Star Trek’: Paramount Hires ‘Andor’ Director Toby Haynes For Mysterious Prequel Movie Penned By Seth Grahame-Smith

“Star Trek” is indeed coming back to the big screen after some major hiccups with some other projects such as Quentin Tarantino‘s film getting thrown into development limbo and the studio still trying to iron out what they’re doing with their fourth installment that once had Matt Shakman set to direct before moving on to do Marvel’s “Fantastic Four” reboot. A new report from Deadline has revealed that director Toby Haynes (“Andor”) and screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith have been selected by Paramount to make a new mysterious feature film set in the “Star Trek” universe.

While a synopsis and plot details aren’t being made public, the report claims the new film won’t be “Star Trek 4” but rather a story that takes place before the events of the 2009 reboot that had been directed by J.J. Abrams. We’ll likely know a bit more once the studio and folks involved start talking up the project in the press. Abrams’ production company is still going to be involved as Bad Robot is still named as being part of the producing team for the untitled movie.

More to come.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News, News

‘The Mandalorian & Grogu’: Lucasfilm Announces That Jon Favreau To Direct New ‘Star Wars’ Film That Begins Shooting This Year

We’ve been waiting for ages to get some real concrete details about some of the upcoming “Star Wars” movies in various stages at Lucasfilm and there has been a bit of reveal. Today, the studio has announced a new film from Jon Favreau is set to head into production in 2024 and given the new “Star Wars” film the title of “The Mandalorian & Grogu” which clearly establishes his spinoff of the popular Disney+ series will indeed feature the former bounty hunter and the foundling with Jedi abilities.

American actor Pedro Pascal (“The Last of Us“) plays the titular Mandolarian, Din Djarin, the surrogate father of Grogu (aka Baby Yoda) as the two have turned into a family as they go on various adventures across the galaxy which sees them become integral parts of the Mandalorian community. The setting takes place years after the events of “Star Wars: The Return of The Jedi” and we’ve seen two appearances from Luke Skywalker, and there are expectations we could see other original trilogy characters appear in the spinoff movie but how exactly they’ll be present to theatrical audiences isn’t known.

We also assume that likely means that this new movie will replace the fourth season of “The Mandalorian” and means the crew of the show is likely working on the feature as well.

The official “Star Wars” website also includes a piece of concept artwork, and that you can see below.

Pascal had been reportedly in talks to play Dr. Reed Richards in Marvel’s “Fantastic Four” reboot from director Matt Shakman and is expected to go into production before “The Mandalorian & Grogu.” One of the more interesting aspects of the streaming series is that Pascal mostly does voiceover work as Din Djarin with a stunt actor performing a bulk of the in-costume and fight scenes, the character rarely taking off his helmet makes all this possible.

Ahsoka Release Date Confirmed For August On Disney+

Filoni and Favreau are said to be officially in development for a second season of “Ahsoka” too continuing the story of the characters from “Star Wars: Rebels” and the former Jedi from “Star Wars: Clone Wars.” However, given the film is the now main priority for the writer/director it’s unknown when we’ll see “Ahsoka” season two begin shooting. It was previously announced that Filoni would be making his own film as well taking place in the era of the Disney+ series and seemingly could focus on Grand Admiral Thrawn’s return, ala, “Heir To The Empire.” Although, we’re unclear how much of that will impact the second season of “Ahsoka” or if the two will be related at all.

Of course, Favreau isn’t a stranger to cinematic universes after directing “Iron Man,” and “Iron Man 2” for Marvel Studios helping to usher in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to a global audience with a batch of lesser-known Marvel characters. He’s been since working on a fleet of streaming series for Lucasfilm with the aforementioned “Ahsoka,” “The Mandalorian,” “The Book of Boba Fett” miniseries, and the upcoming Jon Watts project “Skeleton Key.”

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (“Ms. Marvel”) is also set to direct Daisy Ridley‘s return as Rey Skywalker in a new film that will see her start a new Jedi school and had been expected to begin shooting this year as well but we’re still waiting on casting news on that front. Other “Star Wars” pics in the works include a Jedi origin film from James Mangold (“Logan”) set ages before the Jedi Order/The Old Republic alongside mystery films from Taika Waititi, and Shawn Levy.

SOURCE: LUCASFILM