New Star Wars Movie Officially Confirms Next Skywalker Trilogy Director

2019's The Rise of Skywalker may not have been the conclusion of the Skywalker Saga, after all. The nine-film Star Wars epic now looks like it's going up to twelve, as Lucasfilm and parent company Disney prepare a new trilogy of movies. And while the company's future plans have largely been cloaked in shadow, it now looks like they're one step closer to yelling "Action!"

The new trilogy will be penned by Simon Kinberg, who was first attached to the project in 2024. Kinberg has penned a number of X-Men movies, co-created the animated series Star Wars: Rebels, and also served as a creative consultant on the first movie of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, The Force Awakens. Very little has been revealed about the upcoming films, but they will apparently continue the story that concluded in Rise of Skywalker. It is expected that Rey Skywalker (Daisy Ridley), the heroine of the previous trilogy, will appear in the new films; whether any of her cohorts will return as well remains to be seen.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jon Watts is now attached to direct the first film of the proposed trilogy. Watts, who made his directorial debut with the horror feature Clown, is no stranger to blockbuster filmmaking: he helmed three Spider-Man movies for Sony and Disney, all of which dominated the box office. He's also no stranger to Star Wars: he wrote, produced, and directed the Disney+ series Skeleton Crew, which premiered in 2024. His most recent directorial effort was the Brad Pitt-George Clooney comedy thriller Wolfs.

What's Next For 'Star Wars' on the Big Screen?

Next year, with Star Wars celebrating fifty years since its 1977 debut, the silver screen will be full of stars. February 19, 2027, will see the original Star Wars movie, A New Hope, return to the big screen for the first time in thirty years; it will be presented in an all-new restoration of the film's original theatrical cut. And later in the year, Star Wars: Starfighter, an all-new Star Wars film directed by Shawn Levy and starring Ryan Gosling, will premiere on May 28, 2027. Both films will be released not just in standard theaters, but in super-sized IMAX screens, as well.