Ali Plumb, Kathleen Kennedy, James Mangold, Dave Filoni, and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy onstage during the studio panel at the Star Wars Celebration 2023 Celebration fan convention on Friday, April 07, 2023 in London, England.
Ali Plumb, Kathleen Kennedy, James Mangold, Dave Filoni, and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy onstage during the studio panel at the Star Wars Celebration 2023 Celebration fan convention on Friday, April 07, 2023 in London, England.
After Kathleen Kennedy revealed three new feature films and a first look at four upcoming TV series, Lucasfilm made it clear it was looking to test just how far it could stretch the Star Wars galaxy: creatively, logically, and even historically. formatively.
Kennedy revealed that director James Mangold ("Logan," "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny") will direct a feature film set 25,000 years before the Battle of Yavin, an origin story for The Force.
Starting with "The Phantom Menace" and concluding with "The Rise of Skywalker," the previous nine "Star Wars" movies have taken place within a time span of roughly 70 years.
Every live-action and animated spinoff TV series has appeared within that time frame, including shows that launched on Disney+: "The Mandalorian," "The Book of Boba Fett," "Endor," "The Bad Batch" and the upcoming shows "Ahsoka" and "Skeleton Crew."
All of these interconnected stories leave the overall feeling that these are not separate shows, as they are all one big "Star Wars" series. Those require a constant feed of content to keep Disney+ subscribers on board, but it's a daunting prospect for anyone dedicated to keeping up.
Meanwhile, Lucasfilm is also focusing on the literal future of the franchise by bringing Daisy Ridley to reprise her performance as Rey from the sequel trilogy of films.
In director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Lucasfilm is also banking that the Oscar-winning documentarian — who has never directed a live-action narrative feature — is the right filmmaker to build Star Wars into a new horizon.
First announced in 2020, the Disney+ series breaks brand new ground on two fronts: It's set nearly 100 years before the events of "The Phantom Menace," and it will track the rise of the Sith during the waning days of the High Republic .