From mutants to Jedis, Simon Kinberg is heading deep into the galaxy.
Kinberg has signed a deal to write and produce a new Star Wars trilogy for Lucasfilm. Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm, will produce Kinberg’s three movies.
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There are conflicting reports about the trilogy’s subject matter. Deadline‘s report states that the new trilogy will comprise episodes 10 to 12 of the Skywalker Saga and continue George Lucas’ storyline that began in 1977’s A New Hope. However, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter are reporting that Kinberg’s trilogy will be a fresh story with new characters and not a continuation of the Skywalker Saga.
Kinberg is best known for writing and producing several X-Men movies, including X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Future Past, and X-Men: Apocalypse. Kinberg made his feature film directorial debut on Dark Phoenix.
Though most of his time has been with 20th Century Fox, Kinberg has previously collaborated with Lucasfilm numerous times. Kinberg co-created, wrote, and produced the animated series Star Wars Rebels. Kinberg also served as a consultant on Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker | Final Trailer
In recent years, bringing a film from script to screen has been quite challenging for Lucasfilm. No Star Wars movies have released in theaters since 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker. Several TV shows, including The Mandalorian and Andor, have streamed on Disney+.
The only movie set in stone is The Mandalorian & Grogu, bowing on May 22, 2026. Star Wars has two more dates on Disney’s release calendar: December 18, 2026, and December 17, 2027. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s Star Wars movie starring Daisy Ridley as Rey Skywalker is the rumored selection for the December 2026 date. However, the film reportedly lost its writer, putting a 2026 release in jeopardy.
Other filmmakers developing Star Wars projects include Dave Filoni, James Mangold, Shawn Levy, Donald Glover, and Patty Jenkins.
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Star Wars: Skeleton Crew was originally supposed to be a movie
Lucasfilm is on the verge of debuting its second live-action Star Wars series of the year, Skeleton Crew. Set after the events of Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi, the show follows a group of adventure-seeking kids who end up stranded in space with a starship of unknown origin and are joined on their journey home by a mysterious, potentially untrustworthy adult Force-user (Jude Law). The new series comes from the minds of Christopher Ford and Spider-Man: No Way Home director Jon Watts, and it has the potential to be the Disney+ hit that Lucasfilm has been in desperate need of over the past two years.
As well-suited as it may seem for the studio’s Disney+ model, though, Skeleton Crew was originally pitched to Lucasfilm years ago as a movie, Watts recently revealed. “I pitched it right after the first Spider-Man [Homecoming] movie. It was initially pitched to Lucasfilm as a film, and then I had to go make two Spider-Man movies, because the first one did all right,” the filmmaker told TVLine. “Over time, [Jon] Favreau made The Mandalorian and Disney+ came into existence, so it evolved, as the Spider-Man movies were being made, into a show.”
Dune director Denis Villeneuve isn’t interested in making a Star Wars movie
If there’s one thing that director Denis Villeneuve has proven, it’s that he is capable of pulling off large-scale sci-fi films better than almost any other working filmmaker. He first demonstrated that when he dipped his toes into the sci-fi genre with 2016’s Arrival and did so again a year later when he helmed Blade Runner 2049. His back-to-back efforts directing Dune: Part One and Dune: Part Two have subsequently cemented his status as one of the best sci-fi artists in Hollywood right now.
Despite that, Villeneuve has no interest in ever directing an installment in Hollywood’s biggest and most prized sci-fi franchise, Star Wars. The filmmaker revealed as much during a podcast appearance on The Town when he discussed not only the life-changing impact that 1977’s Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope and 1980’s Empire Strikes Back had on him as a child, but also how disappointed he was by 1983’s Return of the Jedi.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew’s Disney+ release date moved up
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is arriving earlier than expected. The eight-part series will debut with a two-episode premiere at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on Monday, December 2. Subsequent episodes will be released on Tuesdays at the same time, with the season finale airing on January 14, 2025.
Disney also announced the directors for each corresponding episode. Series co-creator Jon Watts will helm episodes 1 and 8. The Green Knight’s David Lowery directs episodes 2 and 3. The Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), the Oscar-winning duo behind Everything Everywhere All at Once, direct episode 4. The remaining three episodes will be directed by Beef’s Jake Schreier (episode 5), Bryce Dallas Howard (episode 6), and Minari’s Lee Isaac Chung (episode 7).
