Easily the biggest news from Star Wars Celebration this year was the revelation that Lucasfilm was planning three new movies which would span the length of the mythical timeline that each Star Wars film is connected to. James Mangold will go deep into the past to explore the origins of The Force. Dave Filoni will tell a story in this Star Wars (according to Star Wars movies in order) that will connect plot threads The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, and more. And after Daisy Ridley will return in the role of Rey for a film setting 15 years later Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker. It’s a welcome return to the realm of filmmaking, and Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy explained to CinemaBlend the core concept that got them excited about filmmaking again.
Katheen Kennedy attends Star Wars Celebration 2023 in London and attended a line of press by the Ahsoka, the new Disney+ show starring Rosario Dawson. But she was open about all things Star Wars, including the new movies that had been revealed. Explaining how Lucasfilm balances fan expectations with the types of stories the company wants to tell now, Kennedy went on to reveal:
The interesting thing about Star Wars is that it is an ongoing story. They are not books we pull off the shelf or characters. We are actually telling a continuous story. So what we were interested in with the movies was the Jedi. We started talking and looking at how do we want to deal with these stories? How do we want to see this Star Wars story now, and times that we’re starting to look at, where are the pockets of storytelling?
Looking back at the seasons revealed as part of the presentation, you saw that Lucasfilm wants to delve into periods like Dawn of the Jedi, Fall of the Jedi, Age of Rebellion, Rise of the First Order, and more. These are distinct periods that can be explored through different stories told on film. The MS for Star Wars were the existing trilogies. But now, in TV shows like The Followerwe will visit a time when the Jedi were in power… and there were Wookie Jedi. This is crazy.
As Kathleen Kennedy explained:
We knew we were already doing this and were exploring it in TV and streaming. And realizing that this is now a reality. You know, five years ago, streaming didn’t even really exist. Now we are deep into it. How does this relate to what we do in the future? It is an evolving process.
The development seems to tie into the current Jedi theme. Which is encouraging to me because during the Sequel trilogy, Luke was hiding and Ben Solo was embracing the Dark Side of The Force. The Mandalorian has been the hot new show in the Star Wars universe, but focusing on the Mandalorians, the Jedi have taken a back seat. The new movies announced seem poised to bring the Jedi back into the spotlight, whether it’s Mangold exploring the first person to call himself a Jedi, or Rey returning as the new Jedi Master, ready to lead Star Wars into the future.
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