After a five-year detour, the Star Wars saga is finally heading back to the big screen. Lucasfilm has had a handful of theatrical projects in the works since 2019, and not all have come to fruition. But with the franchise’s efforts on Disney+ more or less paying off — and its biggest serialized success, The Mandalorian, set to inspire a film of its own — Lucasfilm’s new slate of feature films might just make it to the finish line.
Apart from The Mandalorian and Grogu, there are at least three stories on the go. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is working on a sequel to Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker, while Dave Filoni will round out the Mando-verse with his own take on the non-canon novel Heir to the Empire. But the most ambitious of these projects might be Dawn of the Jedi, a prequel from Logan director James Mangold.
The filmmaker pitched the project as “a Ten Commandments about the dawning of the Force,” comparing it to the biblical epics of Hollywood’s golden age. It’ll certainly be a departure from the tone fans have come to expect from Star Wars, but Lucasfilm has been playing it safe for long enough. Dawn of the Jedi could be just the shot in the arm the franchise needs, and according to Mangold himself, it could be coming sooner than we think.
Mangold has dedicated 2024 to A Complete Unknown, a Bob Dylan biopic starring Timothée Chalamet. With the film set to hit theaters this Christmas, Mangold will soon be free to pursue other projects on his to-do list. In a new interview with Empire (via World of Reel), Mangold confirmed that Dawn of the Jedi will be his next film, and that shooting could begin sometime in 2025.
There’s no telling precisely when Dawn will enter production, as the film is still in the early stages of development. Mangold was “pecking away” at the concept earlier this year, but he likely hasn’t had the chance to completely commit to the script until recently. Andor writer Beau Willimon was chosen to co-write Dawn of the Jedi in April; whatever progress he’s made with Mangold is a mystery, but more updates could emerge sooner rather than later.
Either way, it’s nice to know that a new Star Wars movie is actually on track. It’s been years since fans have been treated to a blockbuster event in that galaxy far away, but with The Mandalorian and Grogu set to hit theaters in 2026, and Dawn of the Jedi not far behind, Lucasfilm might be back in a big way.
