Blast off

The Star Wars movie series hasn't seen a new release since 2019's The Rise of Skywalker. While the venerated sci-fi series created by George Lucas is resting, it's far from over. Lucasfilm and Disney are plotting a bunch of new Star Wars movies to usher in a new era of films, beginning with The Mandalorian & Grogu from director Jon Favreau in 2026.

Details remain scant on plans beyond that, but we do know a little about what's on the horizon, including a film that brings back Daisy Ridley as Rey and another about the dawn of the Jedi. In this gallery, we're rounding up everything we know about all the upcoming Star Wars movies. But first, some history.

Disney acquired Star Wars from Lucas in 2012, and the company quickly got to work on capitalizing on its $4.05 billion investment. Star Wars: The Force Awakens kicked off the Disney era of Star Wars in 2015, and it was a smash hit with more than $2 billion worldwide at the box office. The Last Jedi followed in 2017 and The Rise of Skywalker capped off the Skywalker Saga in 2019, but each sequel was less successful than the last at the box office. In between, Disney released standalone live-action films Rogue One (2016) and Solo (2018), meaning there was a new Star Wars movie every year from 2015 to 2019. Some remarked that Disney flooded the market and ought to give the series a rest and a rethink before coming back.

The Star Wars film series went on hiatus after The Rise of Skywalker, and Disney focused on Star Wars TV shows to help prop up the then-upstart Disney+ service. The company launched titles like The Mandalorian (2019), The Book of Boba Fett (2021), Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022), Andor (2022), Ahsoka (2023), and The Acolyte (2024) with varying degrees of success, and Skeleton Crew is coming next this December.

Shifting back to the film front, while there are a number of confirmed films in the works, some were originally planned and later fell apart. For example, Game of Thrones creators D.B. Weiss and David Benioff were working on their own trilogy, but later jumped ship and signed a deal with Netflix to create content for them instead. Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins was plotting a Rogue Squadron movie, but it didn't materialize either. (It's worth noting, though, that Jenkins said earlier this year that she, in fact, is still committed to making her Rogue Squadron movie.)

There were even discussions about Guillermo del Toro making a Jabba the Hutt film at one point. The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson was originally going to make a new trilogy for Lucasfilm, but it remains to be seen if that will ever happen. He's discussed not giving up yet, but he also just signed a two-movie deal with Warner Bros., and many are taking this to mean he won't return to Star Wars soon, if ever. Beyond all of these, Marvel boss Kevin Feige was said to be making a Star Wars movie, too, but he debunked this.

For now, this gallery will focus on the Star Wars films that at least appear to have a better chance of being made. In Hollywood, though, nothing is certain.

In terms of release dates, only The Mandalorian & Grogu (May 22, 2026) has one. However, Disney has announced that other Star Wars movies will be released on December 18, 2026 and December 17, 2027, so the company is getting back to yearly releases in the future.

The Mandalorian & Grogu – May 22, 2026

The Mandalorian & Grogu is the next Star Wars movie set for release. Due out in May 2026, the film is a continuation of the popular TV series, and will bring back Pedro Pascal as The Mandalorian himself. Plot details remain a mystery for The Mandalorian & Grogu, but Favreau said at D23 in August 2024 that the film will deliver an "all-new adventure following these two characters."

The Mandalorian TV show tells the story of the titular lone mercenary (real name Din Djarin) and his very cute sidekick, Grogu, who is of the same species as the legendary Star Wars character Yoda. He's been affectionately referred to by fans as Baby Yoda. The pair become close on their intergalactic journeys in a story that takes place after the fall of the Galactic Empire from Return of the Jedi.

"I have loved telling stories set in the rich world that George Lucas created," Favreau said about the movie. "The prospect of bringing the Mandalorian and his apprentice Grogu to the big screen is extremely exciting."

Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said, "Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni have ushered into Star Wars two new and beloved characters, and this new story is a perfect fit for the big screen."

Sigourney Weaver confirmed her involvement in the movie, telling Deadline that it's her next project and that she was excited to meet Grogu the other day on set. There is no word yet on who Weaver might play in The Mandalorian & Grogu, however.

Who else might be in The Mandalorian & Grogu? We don't know. But all of this information should materialize in relatively short order, though, as filming is underway.

The first footage of The Mandalorian & Grogu screened at D23 in August, though it was not published online and has not leaked. GameSpot was in attendance where the footage was shown. Lucasfilm started with a flashback to the first meeting of Pascal's Din Djarin and Grogu from the first episode of The Mandalorian. From there, we saw a glimpse of their further adventures, which include going up against an AT-AT.

Grogu still leaves the shooting to his daddy, but they also spend some quiet time together to share some soup. Zeb from Star Wars Rebels briefly shows up as well. Additionally, Grogu was seen on a ship alongside Babu Fick's species, and Snowtroopers also made an appearance.

Here's to hoping an official trailer is on the way soon.

Jon Favreau, who created The Mandalorian TV series, is coming back to direct and produce The Mandalorian & Grogu. That's likely good news for fans who have enjoyed Favreau's creative direction.

The Rey Movie - Release Date TBA

While we know a lot about The Mandalorian & Grogu (relatively speaking), not much is known about the film that brings back Daisy Ridley as Rey. What is confirmed, however, is that Ridley is returning to play Rey again for the first time since The Rise of Skywalker in 2019 and that Oscar-winning director Sharmee Obaid-Chinoy is lined up to direct.

The film is set after the events of The Rise of Skywalker and follows Rey as she "builds a new Jedi Order."

Chinoy will become the first woman to direct a Star Wars film, dating back to the franchise's origins in the 1970s. Speaking about this, Obaid-Chinoy told CNN that she is "very thrilled" to make the movie and create something that is "very special."

"We're in 2024 now, and I think it's about time we had a woman come forward to shape the story in a galaxy far, far away," she said.

Obaid-Chinoy won Best Documentary, Short Subjects Academy Awards for Saving Face (2012) and A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness (2015).

In 2020, Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy told the BBC that a woman would eventually direct a Star Wars movie, saying that would "absolutely" happen, "without question." Victoria Mahoney was a second-unit director on The Rise of Skywalker, but a woman has never claimed a top directing credit on a Star Wars movie.

On the TV side of things, The Mandalorian has featured a number of female directors, including Deborah Chow and Bryce Dallas Howard. Chow went on to direct the Obi-Wan TV series, too.

Dawn of the Jedi Movie - Release Date TBA

James Mangold, who previously directed the Wolverine movie Logan and later Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, is signed on to direct an upcoming Star Wars film focusing on the dawn of the Jedi. As it happens, D.B Weiss and David Benioff were plotting their own Star Wars movie about the earliest days of the Jedi before their movie series fell apart.

The Dawn of the Jedi was originally a story from the comics that took place over 36,000 years before A New Hope about the first order of Jedi, or Je'daii as they were called.

The movie Mangold pitched to Lucasfilm boss Kathleeen Kennedy was "a Ten Commandments about the dawning of the Force," he said. "It is basically, for fans, a kind of religion. What is it to have found this power and not even understand what it is?"

Kennedy liked the idea and remarked in the interview that Mangold moves "pretty fast" and already has a basic treatment for the film laid out in his head.

Dave Filoni Movie - Release Date TBA

Dave Filoni, known for his work on Star Wars TV shows and now the chief creative officer at Lucasfilm, is making a movie of his own that will focus on the New Republic. The film will also "close out the interconnected stories" from The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Ahsoka.

Filon spoke to Variety about his passion for Star Wars and his vision for the film.

"I grew up with a lot of stories in the expanding universe that were exploring what happened after Return of the Jedi. There has been this, for fans, idea that there was a new Republic and a remnant Empire and the conflict persisted after Return of the Jedi, even though the heroes won and were more in control," he said. "What did that control look like? And since Force Awakens is 30 years on out from Return of the Jedi, we have room then to tell another story. That’s what I’m coalescing into this time period."

Lando Movie - Release Date TBA

After playing Lando Calrissian in the standalone Solo movie, Donald Glover is coming back to make his own Lando feature film. It was originally conceived as a Disney+ TV series, but Lando is now being made as a movie. Glover is writing the film with his brother, Stephen Glover, and the hope is to make something that bucks the trend, as Glover sees it, of Star Wars being too serious.

Glover said it's understandable that a lot of entertainment these days, including the Star Wars series, is "serious" in nature because of the landscape of the world. But he believes Star Wars can take itself too seriously, and he hopes to change that with his new Lando film.

"As a Star Wars fan myself, I think it's important that there just needs to be fun being had," he said. "It's very hard to have fun right now. It's tough because there are very serious things happening and those are the only things that connect us, weirdly. So I get why things are serious, but part of the human experience, I believe, is we have a responsibility to have enjoyment. And I just feel like we're lacking in that department."

Donald Glover discussed the film earlier this year, saying part of the reason why he signed on was because of the level of control he has been given. He said this level of control allows him to have a "singular" vision for the project.

"I feel like I have enough control. And maybe you get painted as a control freak, but it's like, yeah, control allows for the vision to be singular," he told The Hollywood Reporter. "And if the vision is singular, people want it more. The less it's singular, the less people want it because they feel like they could've made it. Look, we live in a time where anybody can f**king make anything. You go on TikTok, there's literally every type of thing. There's documentaries, there's puppetry, there's yarn stop-motion. So why would you want to see something you feel like you could have made?"

It is seemingly still early days for the standalone Lando movie, and there is no word yet on a cast (beyond Glover as Lando), a director, or release date.

Shawn Levy Movie - Release Date TBA

Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy is making a Star Wars movie, too. He said in an interview that one of his favorite elements of Star Wars is how the films are often about people connecting in special ways to serve something bigger than themselves, and he hopes to achieve this with his own film.

Speaking to Josh Horowitz on the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast, Levy said he also hopes that his Star Wars movie won't be "redundant" to the other films, nor is it his aim for his film to "serve" a different Star Wars film that came before it or is coming up next.

"There's only so many times that Star Wars movies can revisit the same section of the timeline. I don't want to do a Star Wars movie that is redundant to others, nor am I interested in doing one that has to serve another movie," Levy said. "I really wanted to craft something that felt organic to me, both in tone and characters. There is certainly the Force and a connection to something bigger than our individual selves. The way that that can make us powerful. Those themes, combined with visual delight and wish fulfillment, that's Star Wars to me."

Before this, Levy talked up his Star Wars film, saying, "I'm putting everything I have into it, because I love that world, and it is a privilege to get to join that galaxy."

To date, no story details about Levy's Star Wars film have been revealed, nor is there any concrete info about where it falls in the franchise's timeline or when the film will come to theaters.

Taika Waititi Movie

Oscar-winning director Taika Waititi already worked with Disney on multiple Thor movies, and he's staying in business with the company for a Star Wars movie of his own. Waititi has a distinct style and tone for his films, and fans are eagerly awaiting to see how that could translate to the Star Wars universe. Not much at all is known about Waititi's Star Wars movie, however.

Speaking to Business Insider in November 2023, Waititi said the Star Wars movie is "still marinating." He added that the film remains in the writing stage.

In May 2023, Waititi said his Star Wars movie was still early in the development process, adding that he had a "really good idea for it." Before this, Waititi said his Star Wars movie will have an element of sincerity to it, as many of his films do. He said of the movie in 2021, "I like to fool the viewer into thinking, 'Ha it's this' and then them going, 'Damn it, you made me feel something!'"

In April of this year, Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy said Waititi's Star Wars movie is taking some time to come to fruition because he is writing the script himself.

"He doesn't really want to bring others into that process and I don't blame him. He has a very, very unique voice. So we want to protect that and that's what he's doing. But we're going to make that one day," Kennedy said.