It’s been six long years since Star Wars graced the big screen in 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker. Here’s a list of all the movies Lucasfilm announced, then either canceled or let languish in development limbo, since then:
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Rogue Squadron |
The Patty Jenkins-directed starfighter pilot movie was announced in 2020, but failed to launch. |
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David Benioff and D.B. Weiss’s trilogy |
The Game of Thrones showrunners inked this deal before wrapping up their HBO show. We’re sure that terrible final season had nothing to do with Disney retracting the offer. |
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Rian Johnson’s trilogy |
The Last Jedi director’s planned follow-up still hasn’t materialized. At this point, he’s more likely to make a Muppets movie than return to the world of Yoda. |
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Taika Waititi’s untitled movie |
Disney apparently put it on “indefinite hold” after Thor: Love and Thunder bombed. We’re gonna go out on a limb and this one ain’t happening. |
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Rey’s sequel |
This might still actually be happening? The movie was announced in 2023 and director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy remains attached to direct, but a script for the film, which is expected to take place around 15 years after Rise of Skywalker, has yet to materialize. |
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James Mangold’s untitled movie |
Pitched as a biblical epic set in Star Wars’ distant past, this mega-prequel hasn’t been canceled yet, but Mangold seems to be occupied with other projects. |
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Dave Filoni’s movie |
The creator of Star Wars Rebels and key producer of The Mandalorian shows is supposed to be working on a big Star Wars film that will presumably wrap up the Mando-verse. The project was first announced in 2020 and has seemingly been stuck in development hell ever since. |
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The Hunt for Ben Solo |
As we recently learned, Steve Soderbergh (Ocean’s 11) teamed up with Adam Driver for a Rise of Skywalker sequel that Lucasfilm approved but Disney execs killed at the last minute. |
I bring this up to prove a point that probably doesn’t need much proving: For the past half decade, Disney and Lucasfilm’s many attempts to make more Star Wars movies have been an absolute disaster. The studio seems to be suffering from total paralysis after The Last Jedi sparked endless controversies. And while The Rise of Skywalker was supposed to stop the bleeding, it instead united 98 percent of the fandom in their hatred for The Rise of Skywalker. Ever since, Lucasfilm has relied on Disney Plus shows to keep Star Wars going, while every new idea for a movie gets second-guessed out of existence. Even those ambitious plans have fizzled out.
But in just a few months, the long wait for a new Star Wars movie will finally end as Disney prepares to take the safest bet possible. The Mandalorian & Grogu from director Jon Favreau arrives on May 22, 2026, bringing the adventures of bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and the animatronic puppet known as Baby Yoda to the big screen.
At first glance, this feels like a no-brainer. The Mandalorian launched with Disney Plus back in 2020, and “Baby Yoda” became an instant meme. The duo are currently Lucasfilm’s most recognizable characters who aren’t either dead or already tied up in development hell. So making a movie should be an easy win for a brand that desperately needs it.
Jon Favreau is also Disney’s most reliable director. Not only did he launch the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Iron Man and Iron Man 2, he also made the “live-action” versions of The Jungle Book and The Lion King, paving the way for countless other “live-action” remakes of animated classics. And with The Mandalorian, Favreau didn’t just legitimize Disney Plus, he also popularized The Volume, ushering in a new era of green-screen filmmaking that Disney continues to use.
This all adds up to a smash hit that will relaunch Star Wars movies for years to come, right? Well… there are a few reasons to wonder if Disney is betting on the wrong Mythosaur. For one thing: Are Mando and Grogu really all that famous? Sure, Baby Yoda went viral, but I’m not convinced your average casual Star Wars fan even knows the little green puppet’s real name is Grogu (a reveal that occurred in The Mandalorian season 2). Will enough people show up to make this movie the hit Lucasfilm desperately needs?
As for Favreau, it’s worth noting he hasn’t directed a film since 2019. That may explain why the first trailer for The Mandalorian & Grogu looks suspiciously like the sequel trilogy’s Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure to the point that Star Wars fans are suddenly feeling nostalgic for the Abrams films. At this point, we still wouldn’t bet against Happy Hogan, but there’s reason to hedge those bets at the very least.
If everything somehow goes according to plan and The Mandalorian & Grogu is a massive hit, that doesn’t mean Star Wars is in the clear either. Come 2027, Lucasfilm plans to keep building momentum with Starfighter, a standalone movie directed by Shawn Levy. Can the director behind big, dumb, fun Ryan Reynolds movies usher Star Wars into a new era of cinematic success? From Stranger Things to Deadpool & Wolverine, Levy’s current mode seems entirely fueled by nostalgia, and it’s a power Favreau has wielded himself over the last decade. Maybe if we’re lucky, some other less #fandom director can finally lock in by then and steer this cinematic starship instead.
Help us James Mangold… you’re our only hope? Those of us still invested in the possibilities of Star wars will look past Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and pray for the best.
