Star Wars Celebration 2023: Every project and update from Lucasfilm's big event

[Cue Star Wars theme] A long time ago (Friday, April 7) in a galaxy far, far away (London, England), Lucasfilm kicked off its Star Wars Celebration weekend with a slew of major new announcements. Head honcho Kathleen Kennedy was on hand to explain the vision for Star Wars’ future, dropping huge news about the upcoming theatrical slate and exciting updates about the upcoming Disney+ series. Lots of actors from Andor, Ahsoka, Skeleton Crew, and more also took the stage, as well as once-and-future franchise star Daisy Ridley. And speaking of, let’s get into what is perhaps the biggest breaking story of the event...

Rey’s return

Daisy Ridley at Star Wars Celebration 2023

Yes, Daisy Ridley will return as Rey in what will be Lucasfilm’s first theatrical Star Wars release since Rise Of Skywalker. The film, written by Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders) and directed by Oscar winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (Ms. Marvel), will reportedly be set 15 years after the events of the sequel trilogy and will focus on Rey as she builds a new Jedi order as a Jedi Master. “My heart is pounding,” Ridley said as she took the stage (per IGN). “I’m very thrilled to be continuing this journey.”

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Obaid-Chinoy cited the hero’s journey as inspiration for this feature, sharing her interest in focusing on a Jedi academy, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “I have spent the better part of my life meeting real heroes who are overcoming oppressive regimes and battling impossible odds,” said the acclaimed documentary filmmaker. “And I think that is the heart of Star Wars.”

James Mangold, Dave Filoni, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy to direct three new Star Wars features

James Mangold, Dave Filoni, and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (who is both the first woman and the first person of color to direct a Star Wars film) was joined on stage by two other newly announced SW directors. James Mangold (Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny) will direct a feature set in the “deep past” about “first Jedi to wield the force,” per Empire Magazine. “When I first started talking to Kathy about doing one of these pictures, what occurred to me was thinking about what kind of genre of movie within Star Wars I wanted to do,” Mangold said onstage (per The Hollywood Reporter). “And I thought about a Biblical epic, like a Ten Commandments, about the dawning of the Force. Where did the Force come from, when did we discover it, when did we learn how to use it?”

Lucasfilm stalwart Dave Filoni will also direct his first feature, described as an “escalating war between the Imperial remnant and the New Republic,” per Empire. According to a blog post from the studio, this climactic cinematic event “will focus on the New Republic, and close out the interconnected stories told in The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and other Disney+ series.” Release dates for all three films have yet to be released.

Kathleen Kennedy unveils Star Wars timeline

To understand the upcoming projects a bit better, Kathleen Kennedy unveiled the official Star Wars timeline at the event. Unlike the classic Kevin Feige Marvel Phases timeline, this image doesn’t track release dates—it’s an in-universe timeline of Star Wars historical events. We have: “Dawn of the Jedi” (the setting for James Mangold’s film), “The Old Republic,” “The High Republic” (The Acolyte), “Fall of the Jedi” (the prequel trilogy), “Reign of the Empire” (The Bad Batch), “Age of Rebellion” (Andor, Star Wars Rebels, Rogue One, and the original trilogy), “The New Republic” (The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and Dave Filoni’s new film) “Rise of the First Order” (Star Wars: Resistance and the sequel trilogy), and “New Jedi Order” (the setting for Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s film starring Daisy Ridley as Rey).

Ahsoka drops trailer and new details

Ahsoka | Teaser Trailer | Disney+

In addition to appearing for his feature, Dave Filoni took the stage as the writer of the upcoming Ahsoka series. Rosario Dawson first portrayed the live-action version of the character (an animated fan favorite from Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels) in The Mandalorian. “I’m staying poised and ready. Because if this does well, maybe we get a second season!” Dawson enthused on stage (via Empire Magazine).

Fans rejoiced as her co-star Mary Elizabeth Winstead confirmed she’d be playing another fan favorite character, Hera Syndulla, while Natasha Liu Bordizzo will play Sabine Wren. Dawson was delighted to present the first footage from the Disney+ series in the form of the trailer, which teased the appearance of Grand Admiral Thrawn. The series is slated to premiere in August 2023.

Skeleton Crew first look

Jude Law, Ravi Cabot Conyers, Robert Timothy Smith and Kyrianna Kratter

Also taking the stage in London was the cast of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, which includes Jude Law, Ravi Cabot-Conyers, Kyriana Kratter, and Robert Timothy Smith. Star Wars masterminds Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni also confirmed the full lineup of directors for the series: Daniels, David Lowery, Jake Schreier, Bryce Dallas Howard, Lee Isaac Chung, and Jon Watts (who serves as executive producer and writer alongside Chris Ford). The audience was further treated to the first trailer for the series, footage described by Empire Magazine as “Stand By Me meets The Goonies meets Star Wars.”

“I was six years old when this galaxy, this world gripped me, blew my mind,” Law said (via IGN). “And I feel like I’ve been in preparation ever since. It was a total pleasure, I think one of the highlights was working with the incredible, talented people working behind the scenes. It was a true dream come true.”

The Acolyte first look

Amandla Stenberg and Lee Jung-Jae from The Acolyte | Star Wars Celebration LIVE! 2023

Star Wars Celebration attendees also got a first look at The Acolyte, starring Amandla Stenberg and Lee Jung-jae. The thriller series is set during the High Republic, “the furthest back in time we’ve been in live action,” creator Leslye Headland (Russian Doll) explained at the show’s panel (via IGN). “What I pitched to Kathleen Kennedy was Frozen meets Kill Bill. Shockingly, she didn’t kick me out of the building. … This is when the bad guys are outnumbered. They are the underdogs. I’m really excited for you guys to see things you haven’t seen in live action yet.” The show is slated for a 2024 release.

According to Variety, the series will explore “the emergence of the Sith.” Rounding out the cast are Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Rebecca Henderson, Carrie-Anne Moss, Dean-Charles Chapman, Charlie Barnett and Margarita Levieva (plus, Joonas Suotamo reportedly plays a Jedi Master Wookiee). The outlet reports that the footage includes a fight between Stenberg and Moss that recalls the latter’s Matrix moves, and, among other things, a Jedi temple and “a group of Jedis lighting up their sabers in unison.” While that footage hasn’t yet been released publicly, the cast was also on hand to tease the new series (above).

Andor second season update

Ali Plumb, Kathleen Kennedy, Tony Gilroy, Diego Luna, Adria Arjona, Kyle Soller, Denise Gough, Genevieve O’Reilly and Andy Serkis at the Andor panel

Showrunner Tony Gilroy, star Diego Luna, and more Andor cast members were present for a panel on the acclaimed series, which is shooting for an August 2024 release of the 12-episode second season. The panel included some first-look images, including the forbidding prison Narkina 5, where Cassian and other inmates are forced to build pieces of the Death Star (per Empire Magazine). “We can’t do a prison if we don’t do it better than anyone else ever did it,” Gilroy informed the crowd.

“It took him a year, and he climbed up out of the ditch,” Gilroy further teased of Cassian’s journey in the second season (via Empire). “He went through a number of life experiences. He’s been exposed to the rebellion. He’s led a mini-rebellion of his own in a prison. His mother has finally inspired him. He’s finally joined the rebellion. There’s no going back on that.”

Bonus: Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny trailer

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny | Official Trailer

It may not be Star Wars, but Lucasfilm took advantage of the event for a moment of synergy by sharing a new trailer for Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny—plus the first six minutes of the upcoming fifth film. Stars Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Mads Mikkelsen were on hand to introduce the footage. “Just being part of an Indiana Jones film is a dream come true,” gushed Mikkelsen, who plays the film’s villain.

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