‘Star Wars’: Latest News on Rian Johnson and Taika Waititi’s Movies

(L to R) Director Rian Johnson and Carrie Fisher on the set of 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi.'

While ‘Star Wars’ remains in the middle of a fallow period in terms of its movie output, the televisual galaxy on Disney+ seems to be ever expanding. According to Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy, plans are moving forward on both fronts.

Speaking to Vanity Fair as part of a long article about the various big and small screen ‘Star Wars’ projects, Kennedy offered an update on the movie front.

“We have a road map,” Kennedy says, before admitting that Rian Johnson’s planned new movie – announced five long years ago after he made ‘The Last Jedi’ – are essentially in limbo because of other commitments. “Rian has been unbelievably busy with ‘Knives Out’ and the deal that he made at Netflix for multiple movies,” she says, before clarifying that a ‘Wars’ movie from Taika Waititi and ‘Last Night in Soho’ co-writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns is most likely to be first out of the gate in the new era.

‘Rogue Squadron’, which ‘Wonder Woman’ director Patty Jenkins has been developing, is further off, amidst chatter about script issues and Jenkins’ own schedule (she’s also still planning a third outing for Gal Gadot’s DC heroine).

The biggest idea to come out of the Kennedy interview is that Lucasfilm is not looking to continue the breakneck pace that saw the sequel trilogy, plus other titles including ‘Rogue One’ and ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ rattle out within a year (or less) of each other. The latter’s less successful box office was also factor, leading to concerns about a glut of ‘Wars’ stories causing fandom fatigue.

Yet the company is keeping the pipeline flowing on the Disney+ front, with studios in California, London and Vancouver cranking out shows including more ‘Mandalorian’, and various spins on catalogue characters including ‘Andor’ and ‘Ahsoka’.

(L to R) Diego Luna, Felicity Jones and the voice of Alan Tudyk as K-2SO in 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.'

There’s ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ due on May 27th, with ‘Andor’ – following the earlier days of Diego Luna’s Resistance fighter from ‘Rogue One’ – late in the summer.

Season 3 of ‘The Mandalorian’ will follow that in late 2022 or early 2023 with all the Baby Yoda you might want, and ‘Ahsoka’, starring Rosario Dawson as the titular Jedi, next year.

Further away is the intriguing likes of ‘The Acolyte’, which is being led by filmmaker Leslye Headland. Set 100 years before the events of ‘The Phantom Menace’, it chronicles the time of the High Republic.

“We’re taking a look at the political and personal and spiritual things that came up in a time period that we don’t know much about. My question when watching ‘The Phantom Menace was always like, ‘Well, how did things get to this point?’” says Headland. "How did we get to a point where a Sith lord can infiltrate the Senate and none of the Jedi pick up on it? Like, what went wrong? What are the scenarios that led us to this moment?”

Describing her series as a mystery thriller set in a prosperous and seemingly peaceful era, when the galaxy is still sleek and glistening, she explains that the Jedi will be different from how we’ve usually seen them. “The Jedi uniforms are gold and white, and it’s almost like they would never get dirty. They would never be out and about,” Headland says. “The idea is that they could have these types of uniforms because that’s how little they’re getting into skirmishes.”

Headland has Amandla Stenberg starring in her show so far, but even further out from a production point of view is a series from Jon Watts, who has been behind the last three ‘Spider-Man’ movies.

His show is described as a galactic version of classic Amblin coming-of-age adventure films of the ’80s. Casting notices are out for a group of kids, while Watts has been developing the scripts alongside ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ writer Chris Ford. So far, it’s still known by its codename: ‘Grammar Rodeo’, which references a 'Simpsons' episode in which Bart and his schoolmates steal a car and run away for a week, using a phony educational event as an alibi.

Wherever you want to watch ‘Star Wars’, it sounds like you’ll have plenty to keep you busy in the future of that galaxy far, far away.

‘Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Poster Courtesy of Disney+