Star Wars gets 3 new movies, Daisy Ridley's Rey to return as Jedi master

Star Wars is ready to explore new corners of the galaxy.

At Friday's massive Star Wars Celebration panel, Lucasfilm unveiled plans for new Star Wars movies, including one that broke the audience's brains: Daisy Ridley's Rey will return for one of these films.

Filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (Ms. Marvel) will direct Ridley, whose character will come back to the big screen now as a Jedi master in a film set 15 years after the events of 2019's The Rise of Skywalker. It'll be "set in a Jedi academy with a powerful Jedi master," Obaid-Chinoy said on stage, referring to Rey, whose mission will be to rebuild the Jedi Order.

Ridley herself made a surprise appearance for the big news on Friday. Two other Star Wars films were announced from directors The Mandalorian executive producer Dave Filoni and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny helmer James Mangold.

Mangold's film will tell the story of the first Jedi to ever wield the Force, while Filoni's movie will be set in the New Republic timeline of Star Wars.

"I'm just excited to make a movie," exclaimed Filoni, who's been busy crafting the Star Wars slate of live-action TV shows.

Since the ill-received Rise of Skywalker, Lucasfilm has largely focused its attention on TV, releasing Disney+ series like The Mandalorian, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, and The Book of Boba Fett. There are multiple other shows in the works, including the upcoming Ahsoka, Skeleton Crew, and The Acolyte.

Jonathan Olley/© 2019 Lucasfilm Ltd. Daisy Ridley's Rey in 'Rise of Skywalker'

But even as the galaxy has continued to expand on Disney+, things have been surprisingly quiet on the film side. After Rise of Skywalker, Lucasfilm announced plans for several theatrical films, but many of those have since been canceled. In December 2020, Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins signed on to develop a Rogue Squadron movie, centering on a group of high-flying pilots, but that film has since been put on the back burner. Meanwhile, Marvel Studios mastermind Kevin Feige was also working on a Star Wars movie pitch, as were Game of Thrones showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff, but those projects have since been canceled, too.

As for Rian Johnson? The Last Jedi director has said many times that he still hopes to return to the Star Wars galaxy and make his planned film trilogy, which was first announced in 2017. But that project has yet to move forward, and Johnson is currently busy with the Knives Out films and his Peacock show Poker Face.

For more Star Wars news, listen to EW's Dagobah Dispatch podcast — featuring episode breakdowns of shows like The Mandalorian  and exclusive interviews with stars like Pedro Pascal, Diego Luna, and more.

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