A new “Star Wars” trilogy outside of the Skywalker Saga is in the works

Simon Kinberg, who directed "Dark Phoenix" and was heavily involved in many of Fox's other Marvel films, will write and produce the trilogy.

Star Wars is heading back to the big screen.

A new trilogy of movies in George Lucas' galaxy far, far away is in the works from Simon Kinberg, whom Entertainment Weekly has learned will write and produce the trio of films. Deadline, which first reported the news, noted that there were conflicting reports on whether Kinberg's films will constitute episodes X to XII of the Skywalker Saga, and EW has learned that these movies will be the start of a new saga rather than the continuation of the numbered Star Wars films.

Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy will produce the films alongside Kinberg, who previously directed the X-Men film Dark Phoenix and wrote and produced Fox Marvel projects like Josh Trank's Fantastic Four and X-Men: Days of Future Past. Although most of Kinberg's credits are for producing films like The Martian, Chappie, and Murder on the Orient Express, Star Wars fans should recognize his name from the small screen, as he created and executive produced the animated series Star Wars Rebels.

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Although Rebels ended its four-season run in 2018, its characters have persisted in a variety of more recent Star Wars projects. Last year, most of the show's core players had prominent supporting roles in the live-action series Ahsoka, which was helmed by Kinberg's Rebels co-creator Dave Filoni. Other characters briefly appeared in the live-action film Rogue One, the live-action streaming series Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Mandalorian, and the animated shows The Bad Batch and The Clone Wars.

The next Star Wars project to hit theaters will be Jon Favreau's The Mandalorian and Grogu, a feature-length continuation of the Mandalorian Disney+ series starring Pedro Pascal and the internet's favorite puppet that will premiere in theaters on May 22, 2026. It will be the first theatrical Star Wars project in the seven years since 2019's The Rise of Skywalker.

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Disney also has a number of other theatrical Star Wars films in various stages of development. Ms. Marvel's Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is developing a movie continuing the story of Daisy Ridley's Rey, who served as the protagonist of Episodes VII through IX in the 2010s. Meanwhile, Logan director James Mangold is working on a prequel film about the earliest days of the Jedi order, and Taika Waititi is still set to helm another movie in the Star Wars universe after directing an episode of The Mandalorian.

Additionally, Donald Glover is reprising his role as Lando Calrissian from Solo in a movie that he's co-writing with his brother Stephen Glover. The project was first announced as a streaming series from Dear White People creator Justin Simien, and then as a series from the Glover brothers before being retooled into a movie.

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In the 2020s, Star Wars has exclusively released projects for the small screen, with series like The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, Ahsoka, and The Acolyte all hitting Disney+ in the period since the franchise's last theatrical film. Several more streaming series will hit the platform in the near future, including Skeleton Crew and a second season of Andor.

Reporting by Dalton Ross.

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