Forget the Death Star, the most coveted weapon in the Star Wars movie arsenal is the character of Rey Skywalker.
Since the Nov. 7 reveal that Simon Kinberg had signed on to develop and write and produce a new Star Wars trilogy for Lucasfilm and Disney, debate has focused on whether or not it would be a continuation of the so-called nine-film Skywalker Saga, tying it to the legacy of Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader and storylines first laid out by George Lucas in 1977. The reason for the debate is that the new, hoped-for trilogy would feature Rey in some form or fashion.
Some fans have expressed criticism that Lucasfilm would return to the well to make “episodes,” as they are called, beyond the nine movies that comprise the Skywalker story, which had been billed as concluding with 2019’s Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker. That film grossed $1.077 billion globally but also wasn’t received well by much of the fanbase (it received a B+ grade from audiences polled by CinemaScore and a 51 percent critics tally at Rotten Tomatoes).
But Rey, the scavenger-turned-Jedi played by Daisy Ridley in the last three episode movies, is key to the franchise’s next turn. That potentially puts Kinberg’s trilogy story development, as early in its conceptual stages as it may be, on a collision course with the Rey standalone movie that is actively in the works with director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.
That feature, revealed with fanfare in April 2023 at Star Wars Celebration in London, is to star Ridley and could have already been in production were it not for some unanticipated headwinds, with writers rotating around more than R2-D2’s chrome dome. A new writer search is underway so it’s unclear when that one would go.
Perhaps that is why Lucasfilm was receptive to Kinberg’s multi-story pitch. Anything to move Rey forward. But it does engender rumors in the Star Wars underground of filmmakers jostling for characters. (Ridley, for her part, recently told The Hollywood Reporter, “I feel like the new one/new ones will be so interesting. Time has passed and a lot has changed for me, personally, so it’ll be interesting to come back to someone who I know so well, but in such a different moment.”)
While insiders dispute the notion that there is a battle for Rey, there definitely is internal deliberation within Lucasfilm as to what do with the heir to Skywalker next. “She is the most valuable cinematic asset, in some ways maybe the only one, Star Wars has right now,” one source close to the franchise tells THR. (Pedro Pascal’s Mandalorian and the Yoda-like Grogu are Disney+ creations and will have their big-screen power tested with a feature directed by Jon Favreau, releasing in 2026.)
According to sources, Rey is set to play a role in several movies that are being developed, although which ones remains unclear.
Star Wars movie development has been under scrutiny for several years with Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy taking fire for developing meaningful characters beyond those first created by Lucas prior to the sale to Disney in 2012 for $4 billion. And if the franchise looks forward in its canon timeline, all those beloved characters — Luke, Leia, Vader, Obi-Wan, Yoda and Han — are dead or had their storylines wrapped in prequels or spinoffs. Rey, created in the post-Lucas era, is arguably the only entity with currency on the big screen now. “The closet is a little bare,” says another source.
What the Kinberg hiring lays bare is that development of movies at the company remains its own unique ecosystem in Hollywood. There are numerous Star Wars movies being developed that overlap characters or timelines. They are not related but whatever one were to come out first, could, in a domino effect, then impact the ones after it. (James Mangold’s “Dawn of the Jedi” movie that takes places long before the Skywalkers may be one of the exceptions.)
Some Lucasfilm directors are aware of what others are working on while others are not. For instance, Taika Waititi is working on a Star Wars movie, Shawn Levy has a feature project in the works and Donald Glover’s Lando idea has moved over development from the TV to the film side of Lucasfilm. A Rogue Squadron project is also still in development as a feature.
“It’s a different way of development,” says another insider familiar with the company’s way of working. “There’s so much parallel work going on.”
It also points to the unique nature of Star Wars. To fans, and in this case filmmakers and producers, it is not a brand or a franchise, but something akin to a religion. Unlike Marvel or DC, with decades of stories propelling them forward, or even Harry Potter, with seven fleshed out books, Star Wars at its core has been the original George Lucas movies. And nothing has been codified or been made more canonical in modern times than those three movies. To filmmakers and executives, the first trilogy is the Old Testament.
“You’re being asked to create the new New Testament,” adds one source who worked on previous the movies. “And no one can agree on anything and there’s a lot of second guessing about meanings.”
Another source familiar with the process is more business-minded, noting, “Star Wars is a nostalgia-based enterprise and they are running out of ways to create nostalgia.”
The television side doesn’t appear to have these problems. As several insiders note, that arm has a lot more freedom to expand Lucas’ universe, which is why there’s been a varied slate that runs, for better or worse in the eyes of fans, the gamut from Andor (season two arrives next April) to The Acolyte (not getting a season two), as well as a corner for Ahsoka creator Dave Filoni, the chief creative officer at Lucasfilm.
Adds an insider, “To make standalone movies or continuing the Skywalker Saga in any form is a fundamental question the company faces as it tries to move forward.”
