“What we’re exploring is the evolution of the Jedi”: Kathleen Kennedy Speaks on Upcoming ‘Star Wars’ Movies

Lucasfilm president, Kathleen Kennedy, is speaking on plans for upcoming Star Wars movies, noting that the upcoming flicks will explore the evolution of the Jedi. However, she also wants the films to feel like “events” with a release schedule that is a bit more spaced out.

With three new live-action Star Wars movies in the works. Kennedy wants the franchise to follow the approach that the James Bond films have taken, spacing each release out.

“I’ve often brought up Bond,” Kennedy tells Empire magazine. “That’s every three or four years. And there wasn’t this pressure to feel like you had to have a movie every year. I feel that was very important to ‘Star Wars. ‘We have to eventize this.”

“It’s much better to tell the truth, that we’re going to make these movies when they’re ready to be made and release them when they’re ready to be released,” she continued.

Exploring the Evolution of the Jedi

With the three new live-action films that are in development, James Mangold, Dave Filoni, and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy are all set to direct. And Kennedy confirms that each project will explore “the evolution of the Jedi.”

“What we’re exploring is the evolution of the Jedi. We’re going very far back, we’re looking at the present, and now we’re moving 15 years after ‘The Rise of Skywalker,'” Kennedy reveals. “The First Order has fallen, the Jedi are in chaos – there’s even a question of how many exist anymore – and Rey’s building the New Jedi Order, based on the text that she was given and that Luke imparted on her.”

Next Upcoming Star Wars Movies “Pretty Far Along” in Development

Kathleen Kennedy, 69, also confirms that the three projects are fairly far along in terms of development.

“We’re pretty far along. These are things, as you can imagine, certainly looking at what Dave’s been doing with Ahsoka, that’ll be at least six, seven years building to what it is we’re going to be doing in a movie.” Kennedy notes.

“As far as Sharmeen, we’ve been working on that for a couple of years already. And with what Jim’s doing, Jim and I, because we had the benefit of doing ‘Indiana Jones’ together, there was a lot of discussion about what the story is,” Kennedy continues.

“What’s great about Jim, is he’s a writer-director, much like David is. So he can move that along at a pretty fast pace. So everything’s kind of moving along. We may have a really nice situation where we have all of these things ready to go. And we can take our time figuring out when we make them.” she adds.

Damon Lindelof “Asked to Leave” 2027’s Star Wars: New Jedi Order

Lost creator, Damon Lindelof, had also been working on a Star Wars project, as first confirmed last October. Disney and Lucasfilm had hired him and Justin Britt-Gibson to pen the script for 2027’s Star Wars: New Jedi Order, in which Daisy Ridley is set to star.

“I was in more than talks to join the ‘Star Wars’ universe. I joined the ‘Star Wars’ universe and was asked to leave,” Lindelof reveals to Esquire.

Despite the exit from the franchise, Lindelof still says he wouldn’t rule out a return in the future.

“Will I get back in line outside the club and try to get back in again? Absolutely,” he adds. “If at first, you don’t succeed, try and try again, or again again try, as Yoda would say.”

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy would direct. However, Lindelof has recently confirmed that he and Britt-Gibson had been let go from the project.

Replacing Lindelof and Britt-Gibson on the project is Steven Knight, creator of Peaky Blinders, who has also written screenplays for Dirty Pretty Things, Closed Circuit, and Locke. Ms. Marvel director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is still expected to direct the movie. However, details about the plot are being kept under wraps.

So What Caused the Departure of Damon Lindelof?

So what caused the departure of Lindelof and Britt-Gibson? While the reasons haven’t officially been disclosed, Lindelof had previously hinted at difficulties.

“I will just say, that for reasons that I can’t get into on this Sunday morning, on this day, the degree of difficulty is extremely, extremely, extremely high. If (the film) can’t be great, it shouldn’t exist,” Lindelof told SlashFilm. “That’s all I say. Because I have the same association with (‘Star Wars’) as you do, which is, it’s the first movie I saw sitting in my Dad’s lap, four years old, May of ’77.”

“I think it’s possible that sometimes when you hold something in such high reference and esteem, you start to get in the kitchen. And you just go, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t be cooking. Maybe I should be just eating.’ We’ll just leave it at that point.” he added.

Further reports indicate that Lindelof’s script would have featured an elderly Rey (Daisy Ridley) with two apprentices 60 years after the sequels. And end this news conflicts with what was announced at Star Wars Celebration 2023, which stated that the film would take place only 15 years after The Rise of Skywalker. 

In the long run, this concept would have created several issues for the franchise. And it would have risked similar controversies Lucasfilm faced with the sequel trilogy. It also would have likely resulted in a recast for Ridley for a time jump, which would have been a major waste for her character.

No word yet on how the writers’ strike has or will impact the development of the upcoming Star Wars movies. But we’ll keep updating as more news surfaces.