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All 3 Star Wars Movie Announcements: Story, Timeline, Cast, Directors & More
Star Wars Celebration 2023 has kicked off the convention in a massive way by revealing three new films as part of the franchise's cinematic future. Since the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, the theatrical presence of the franchise has been in complete disarray. From the announcement and subsequent cancelation of multiple Star Wars films, such as Rogue Squadron and Kevin Feige's movie, among others, Star Wars' only success since 2019 has come on Disney+.
However, with the Lucasfilm Showcase Panel offering plenty of reveals at Star Wars Celebration 2023, Kathleen Kennedy took to the stage to outline the renewed presence of Star Wars on the big screen. After multiple reveals about Star Wars' upcoming TV universe, Lucasfilm announced three new theatrically released Star Wars films that will span the entire franchise's timeline. Here is everything you need to know about the three new Star Wars films and the future of a galaxy far, far away on the big screen.
What We Know About Star Wars' Dawn Of The Jedi
The first of Star Wars' three new movies comes in the form of Dawn of the Jedi. While the title is still unofficial, Lucasfilm revealed a graphic on stage at Star Wars Celebration spanning the entire timeline, with Dawn of the Jedi being listed as the era before the Old Republic. It was confirmed that a Star Wars film would be set in this period, over 25,000 years before the events of the Skywalker saga. Little is known about the film's cast and story, other than that it will explore the origins of the Jedi Order before the Old Republic. The film will be directed by James Mangold, a continued partnership with Lucasfilm after he helmed Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
The only detail released about Dawn of the Jedi's story is that it will center on the beginnings of the Jedi Order and the first Jedi shown to use the Force. Naturally, a story this broad and philosophical could tie into plenty of wider Star Wars elements. One of these elements could be the realm of Mortis introduced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which was shown as a conduit through which all the Force in the galaxy flows. This could mean an appearance in the Dawn of the Jedi movie, given the first connections between the Jedi and the Force being outlined.
Similarly, the film could delve deeply into the concept of Midi-chlorians. With the Jedi first experiencing the Force and building the Jedi Order, the mysterious Midi-chlorians introduced in the Star Wars prequel trilogy could be expanded on. At Star Wars Celebration 2023, the film was described as a biblical epic by Mangold. This likely means the movie will explore the more religious connotations of the Jedi Order, something briefly touched on in Lucas' prequels. While the film is likely still a few years away, the excitement for Dawn of the Jedi is palpable after the brief details announced at Celebration.
What We Know About Star Wars' The Mandalorian Movie
The second new Star Wars movie will come from Dave Filoni, creator of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, The Mandalorian, and Ahsoka. It was revealed that this film will serve as the culmination of The Mandalorian narrative that Filoni and co-creator Jon Favreau have been building since 2019. Given this brief premise, it is likely that the movie will involve Pedro Pascal's Din Djarin, Rosario Dawson's Ahsoka Tano, and Temuera Morrison's Boba Fett, as they are three of the central characters of that point in the timeline.
Alongside this trio will likely be the live-action version of the Rebels crew, which has been confirmed to appear in Ahsoka. Similarly, it is highly probable that the main antagonist of Filoni's Mandalorian movie will be Grand Admiral Thrawn, with all shows in the Mandoverse seemingly building to this plot point. Further supporting this was the news out of Star Wars Celebration, in which Filoni's movie was described as an "epic battle" that will draw on the events of the Star Wars Expanded Universe/Legends, which first introduced Thrawn.
The film will be set between Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. This tracks with The Mandalorian, which is set somewhere around 10 ABY. It's in this project that the central characters of the interconnected universe set up by Filoni and Favreau come together in the culmination of a war with Grand Admiral Thrawn, the resurgence of the Empire, and potentially detail the rise of the First Order.
What We Know About New Jedi Order & Rey's Star Wars Return
The third and final Star Wars film announced at Star Wars Celebration is New Jedi Order. Similar to the Dawn of the Jedi film, the title is being tentatively associated with the era of the timeline Lucasfilm highlighted. According to the news released at Star Wars Celebration, New Jedi Order will be set 15 years after the events of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and see the return of Daisy Ridley as Rey Skywalker.
The film will focus on the exploits of Rey attempting to rebuild the Jedi Order after the events of the sequel trilogy. Given that Rey is one of the few surviving Jedi at the time of the sequels, it makes sense to have Ridley reprise the role, being described as the Jedi Master of the film. Given Ridley's return as Rey, New Jedi Order could see the return of other sequel characters. It is possible that Mark Hamill and Adam Driver return as the Force ghosts of Luke Skywalker and Ben Solo, respectively, in order to guide Rey's journey.
Similarly, the film could see the return of the other two central characters from the Star Wars sequel trilogy in Finn and Poe Dameron. The Rise of Skywalker hinted that Finn was in fact Force-sensitive, which could mean the character appears either as a student or fellow master of Rey's Jedi Order. With Finn actor John Boyega having somewhat of a divisive experience as part of the sequels, it would be amazing to see the character return and get the story arc he deserves.
Another possible inclusion is Grogu, given that the foundling will have an extremely long life, as established by Yoda. With Grogu training as both a Mandalorian and a Jedi, many have theorized he will be a big part of Star Wars' future. The timeline would match up, too, with over 30 years bridging The Mandalorian and the New Jedi Order film, allowing Grogu to be more than just the somewhat helpless baby he is in The Mandalorian.
The movie will be directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, primarily known for directing two episodes of Marvel Studios' Ms. Marvel. While unclear when the film will release, it will presumably be at some point within the next ten years. This means that more details on casting and story will be announced in future conventions about Star Wars' cinematic future.
