Kathleen Kennedy Says New Sequel Trilogy Likely To Move Forward, Movie Is Rumored To Feature Rey
Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy shared that the previously announced new sequel trilogy that would feature Daisy Ridley’s Rey is likely to move forward.
In an interview discussing her tenure at Lucasfilm with Deadline, Kennedy also provided details on a number of Star Wars projects that are in development including a new trilogy that Simon Kinberg is developing.
Kinberg’s trilogy was announced back in November 2024. Deadline’s Mike Fleming Jr., shared, “Lucasfilm has closed a deal with Simon Kinberg to develop a trilogy of Star Wars films. Kinberg will write the trio and produce them with Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy.”
He went on to reveal this would be a new sequel trilogy sharing, “I heard this will comprise Episodes 10-12 of The Skywalker Saga that began with George Lucas’s 1977 first film.”
However, he also said that “Insiders disputed my intel that Kinberg will continue that storyline, saying this instead will begin a new saga, and sit alongside percolating Star Wars projects with James Mangold, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Taika Waititi and Donald Glover.”
In February 2025, Kennedy confirmed the project telling Deadline, “We’re absolutely rolling fast and furiously. That has gone exceptionally well, and he’s literally going to script as we speak. We’ll see something probably around June. … We’re really excited about where that’s headed.”
Deadline then asked Kennedy, “There are spinoffs and then there is the core Star Wars story broken into trilogies. Is this a continuation of that?” She answered, “This is the next iteration, the new saga that moves us into the future.”
Kinberg discussed his approach telling ScreenRant he plans to balance “big, epic science fiction storytelling with intimate, dramatic character work”
To emphasize this he said, “My favorite of the Star Wars movies is Empire Strikes Back, and it's because the balance between the epic and the intimate is so strong in that they're such personal stories. The stakes are really personal, and yet, obviously, there's all kinds of great science fiction. I think Andor did an extraordinary job of that, as well. It was such an emotional, intense, personal show that also had, obviously, massive stakes to it, and politics, and all of that.”
As for where the film is at now, Kennedy said, “[Simon Kinberg’s] working right now. He wrote something that we read in August, and it was very good, but not there. We’ve pretty much upended the story, and then spent a great deal of time on the treatment, which he finished literally about four weeks ago. And it’s a very detailed treatment, like 70 pages. And so he is expected to give us something in March.”
She added, “I know that Dave and Lynwen are very much on board with what Simon’s doing, and that would be a new trilogy.”
And it’s possibility that Kennedy might still be on board to produce it despite stepping down as Lucasfilm President, “I am open to producing any of what it is they need. Certainly in the things that I’ve been involved in, and the filmmakers that I’ve been working with, I’d love to see those through if I could.”
NEXT: Kathleen Kennedy Reveals James Mangold's Jedi And Force Origin Story "On Hold"