Remember when Disney bought the Star Wars franchise and promptly began churning out project after project, and it got to a point where Disney eventually decided that maybe they should settle down a bit and steadily build up the next era of this galaxy far, far away, lest it get oversaturated and potentially suffer a case of lost identity?
Of course you don’t. Anyway, the Skywalker Saga apparently isn’t over, because, per Deadline, Simon Kinberg has been recruited to spearhead a brand new trilogy of Star Wars films that will continue the storyline from Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker.
Now, we can go back and forth on whether or not there’s more story to tell in the Skywalker Saga, but the main reason this announcement might cause a few winces is because of Kinberg’s history with IP storytelling, specifically in the form of legacy Marvel productions. His Days of Future Past success should not be overlooked, but between X-Men: Apocalypse, Dark Phoenix, and 2015’s Fantastic Four, he’s contributed to a few too many screenplays that wound up being actively hostile to the concept of cinema.
Moreover, the last two feature-length projects that came from his scripts were The 355 and The Killer’s Game, neither of which inspired much hope on the writing side of things, to say the least.
None of this is to say, of course, that the next Skywalker Saga is ultimately doomed on account of Kinberg’s pen. This will be his first time writing a feature-length Star Wars project, but he knows this franchise; he served as a creative consultant on The Force Awakens and was involved in Rogue One in an admittedly unclear capacity. Most importantly, he created the Star Wars Rebels television series with Dave Filoni and Carrie Beck, and while his episode writing credits are relatively thin, his deep involvement with Rebels and Star Wars as a whole suggests that he may be far better equipped to tackle a film in that franchise than an X-Men movie.
But even if he isn’t able to escape those trappings, it’s not as though Star Wars’ cinematic future is hinging on the next era of Skywalker films. The solo features from James Mangold and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (which will tackle the Dawn of the Jedi and New Jedi Order eras, respectively) are still on the docket, as is Filoni’s New Republic-era film, and The Mandalorian & Grogu, which hits theaters on May 22, 2026.
Elsewhere, Rian Johnson is working on yet another trilogy, Taika Waititi is toiling away on a script of his own, Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron anthology feature is still in development, an animated film called A Droid Story is eyeing a streaming-exclusive release in the future, Shawn Levy’s untitled Star Wars project has begun development, and by ginger, Donald Glover is going to get his Lando movie made if it kills him.
In other words, Star Wars is currently in the midst of an entirely healthy and well-adjusted approach to filmmaking, and they definitely are not stretching anybody — least of all the fans — too thin. Good luck, Kinberg; it’s on you to justify another three Skywalker movies.
Published: Nov 7, 2024 02:14 pm