New Star Wars Movie and Director to be Announced in January

The state of the Star Wars movie franchise is currently uncertain, but that apparently could be changing soon. In a new report about the future of Lucasfilm after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, there's also mention of when things will move forward, in terms of revealing the next slate of Star Wars movie projects. Three dates have already been locked down for new Star Wars movies in 2022, 2024, and 2026, even though no new trilogy of films, or standalone films, have been announced. Now it's being stated that sources have identified that there's one untitled Star Wars movie indeed on lock for 2022 - and we'll be getting that official announcement in January.

Here's the relevant section of THR's profile on Lucasfilm and studio president, Kathleen Kennedy:

"Sources say Kennedy has a film on deck for 2022, but not the one being developed by The Last Jedi filmmaker Rian Johnson. (No announcement is planned until January.) Kennedy's contract is up in 2021, so whether she will be on the job when this film is completed is not clear."

The recent turnaround at Lucasfilm has seen Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss abandon their plans for a Star Wars trilogy, which many expected to occupy those dates in 2022, 2024, and 2026. Rian Johnson's proposed trilogy was speculated to be getting pushed forward instead, but now it seems that's not the case. The other known candidate would be Marvel's Kevin Feige, who has been brought in to handle a Star Wars standalone project, but as is noted in the report, Feige currently has taken on a role as the center of all Marvel media (comics, movies, TV, games), and is launching the Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase Four movies, and the slate of tie-in TV series coming to Disney+. That seems to be a lot on his plate right now - but it's noted that Feige taking on Star Wars too isn't outside the realm of possibility:

"Fans were thrilled when THR reported that Feige had pitched a Star Wars movie. But for now, his plate is loaded... But a number of industry observers still believe that Feige, 46, is the future. Given his track record, says one film agent, 'If you're Iger, you've got to figure out a way to use that person.'"

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters on December 20th. The Mandalorian is currently streaming on Disney+, with new episodes every Friday.