The new Star Wars film trilogy risks repeating a Disney-era curse for a third time after a decade of false promises

Star Wars‘The newly reported trilogy of films risks repeating a curse of the Disney era for a third time – how many false promises can a studio make before audiences turn against them? Since the divisive release of Star Wars: The Rise of SkywalkerLucasfilm had trouble defining Star Wars‘ theatrical slate. Many directors and writers have come and gone, with films announced and later canceled or simply flopping, never to be seen again. All of this finally started to change in Star Wars Celebration 2023 in London, when no fewer than four new Star Wars films have been officially announced.

Interestingly, though, all of these films are individual, unique stories – even the ones centered on Rey New Jedi Order film. While The Mandalorian and Grogu and the still unnamed MandalorianThe era film will certainly be tied into the overarching narrative of the New Republic, they are not part of an ongoing film series, and James Mangold’s film Dawn of the Jedi will explore a completely unknown period of Star Wars timeline. These films are exciting, but Star Wars it was built in trilogies. This is why there are rumors that Simon Kinberg Star Wars trilogy is such an intriguing prospectand yet there is a certain level of apprehension as well.

This is the third reported new trilogy

Before the financially successful but widely criticized release of The Rise of Skywalker, Lucasfilm had big plans. In 2017, Lucasfilm announced a trilogy led by none other than Rian Johnsonwho directed the equally controversial second film in the sequel trilogy, Star Wars: The Last Jedi. While Johnson’s trilogy was never canceled outright, it also didn’t go anywhere. Since then, Johnson has worked on hits such as Knives out, Glass Onionand poker faceand there were no other developments. Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy stated that she would still like to work with Johnson in the future.

So, in early 2018, the studio announced a Star Wars trilogy led by Game of Thrones’ showrunner duo David Benioff and DB Weiss. Famously, of course, the Game of Thrones the final season and its finale were heavily criticized, and her star power began to decline. After the duo announced a major Netflix deal, the Lucasfilm deal was officially canceled in October 2019. It’s impossible to say whether this was just due to how they handled Game of Thronesbut it is certainly plausible.

Now, it was recently revealed that Simon Kinberg, who co-created Star Wars Rebels and worked on major franchises such as Fox X-Menwill be developing a new Star Wars trilogy. Details about the Kinberg trilogy are scant and even conflicting – some reports say this trilogy will consist of episodes 10-12, while others say it will feature something entirely new – but still. If Simon Kinberg’s films are officially announced node Star Wars Celebration 2025, which will take place in Japan in April, so there’s a real chance that Lucasfilm will be serious about developing this idea. There’s just one problem.

Disney hasn’t even announced this new Star Wars trilogy

Since the sequel trilogy, Disney Star Wars had a real problem announcing projects too early. They languish in development limbo, are canceled due to scheduling issues or actors being fired – as was the case with the Disney+ show New Republic Rangersthat was absorbed The Mandalorian and Ahsoka with varying degrees of success – or financial disappointment. Star Wars originally planned to produce a series of anthology films under the “A Star Wars Story” umbrella, but later Solo: A Star Wars Story failed to deliver at the box office, that idea was also shut down for good.

Almost everyone will agree that Disney should refrain from advertising Star Wars projects until there is clear direction and stories are genuinely developing. This certainly appears to have been the case with the aforementioned Star Wars films now in the works, but this new trilogy is a completely different story. The news of Kinberg’s trilogy wasn’t even officially announced by Lucasfilm, it was simply released in negotiations, with multiple anonymous sources confirming completely different ideas. Disney and Lucasfilm have not yet responded. This news has undoubtedly placed Star Wars in a precarious situation.

Lucasfilm needs to tread carefully to avoid disappointing again

With Star Wars Celebration on the horizon once again, anticipation is reaching an all-time high. If they announced four theatrical releases last time, how will they top that? A new Star Wars the trilogy would certainly be worthy of a big announcement and its own main stage panel. However, if, following this most recent (and unconfirmed) announcement, nothing is revealed about Kinberg’s reported trilogy during SWC, audiences will likely feel disappointed, angry, and perhaps even betrayed.

Hollywood is a fickle machine. Concepts and scripts come and go all the time. Star Warshowever, it has one of the most loyal (and rabid) fan bases in the world – you can often tell them something is going to happen and then trash it a few months later without causing panic or backlash. As far as we know, it is not Lucasfilm or Disney’s fault that the news of Simon Kinberg’s death Star Wars the trilogy apparently leaked early, but they need to proceed with caution.