Star Wars Celebration 2023: Every project and update from Lucasfilm's big event

Yes, Daisy Ridley will return as Rey in what will be Lucasfilm’s first theatrical Star Wars release since . The film, written by Steven Knight () and directed by Oscar winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (), will reportedly be set 15 years after the events of the sequel trilogy and will focus on Rey as she builds a new Jedi order as a Jedi Master. “My heart is pounding,” Ridley said as she took the stage (per ). “I’m very thrilled to be continuing this journey.” Obaid-Chinoy cited the hero’s journey as inspiration for this feature, sharing her interest in focusing on a Jedi academy, according to . “I have spent the better part of my life meeting real heroes who are overcoming oppressive regimes and battling impossible odds,” said the acclaimed documentary filmmaker. “And I think that is the heart of Star Wars.”

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (who is both the first woman and the first person of color to direct a Star Wars film) was joined on stage by two other newly announced SW directors. James Mangold () will direct a feature set in the “deep past” about “first Jedi to wield the force,” per . “When I first started talking to Kathy about doing one of these pictures, what occurred to me was thinking about what kind of genre of movie within Star Wars I wanted to do,” Mangold said onstage (per ). “And I thought about a Biblical epic, like a , about the dawning of the Force. Where did the Force come from, when did we discover it, when did we learn how to use it?”Lucasfilm stalwart Dave Filoni will also direct his first feature, described as an “escalating war between the Imperial remnant and the New Republic,” per Empire. According to a blog post from the studio, this climactic cinematic event “will focus on the New Republic, and close out the interconnected stories told in , , Ahsoka, and other Disney+ series.” Release dates for all three films have yet to be released.

To understand the upcoming projects a bit better, Kathleen Kennedy unveiled the official Star Wars timeline at the event. Unlike the classic Kevin Feige Marvel Phases timeline, this image doesn’t track release dates—it’s an in-universe timeline of Star Wars historical events. We have: “Dawn of the Jedi” (the setting for James Mangold’s film), “The Old Republic,” “The High Republic” (The Acolyte), “Fall of the Jedi” (the prequel trilogy), “Reign of the Empire” (), “Age of Rebellion” (Andor, , Rogue One, and the original trilogy), “The New Republic” (The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, , and Dave Filoni’s new film) “Rise of the First Order” ( and the ), and “New Jedi Order” (the setting for Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s film starring Daisy Ridley as Rey).

In addition to appearing for his feature, Dave Filoni took the stage as the writer of the upcoming series. Rosario Dawson first portrayed the live-action version of the character (an animated fan favorite from and Star Wars Rebels) in The Mandalorian. “I’m staying poised and ready. Because if this does well, maybe we get a second season!” Dawson enthused on stage (via ). Fans rejoiced as her co-star Mary Elizabeth Winstead confirmed she’d be playing another fan favorite character, Hera Syndulla, while Natasha Liu Bordizzo will play Sabine Wren. Dawson to present the first footage from the Disney+ series in the form of the trailer, which teased the appearance of Grand Admiral Thrawn (no , though). The series is slated to premiere in August 2023.

Also taking the stage in London was the cast of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, which includes Jude Law, Ravi Cabot-Conyers, Kyriana Kratter, and Robert Timothy Smith. Star Wars masterminds and Dave Filoni also confirmed the for the series: , , Jake Schreier, Bryce Dallas Howard, Lee Isaac Chung, and Jon Watts (who serves as executive producer and writer alongside Chris Ford). The audience was further treated to the first trailer for the series, footage described by as “Stand By Me meets The Goonies meets Star Wars.”“I was six years old when this galaxy, this world gripped me, blew my mind,” Law said (via ). “And I feel like I’ve been in preparation ever since. It was a total pleasure, I think one of the highlights was working with the incredible, talented people working behind the scenes. It was a true dream come true.”

Star Wars Celebration attendees also got a first look at , starring Amandla Stenberg and . The thriller series is set during the High Republic, “the furthest back in time we’ve been in live action,” creator () explained at the show’s panel (via ). “What I pitched to Kathleen Kennedy was meets . Shockingly, she didn’t kick me out of the building. … This is when the bad guys are outnumbered. They are the underdogs. I’m really excited for you guys to see things you haven’t seen in live action yet.” The show is slated for a 2024 release. According to , the series will explore “the emergence of the Sith.” Rounding out the cast are Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Rebecca Henderson, Carrie-Anne Moss, Dean-Charles Chapman, and Margarita Levieva (plus, Joonas Suotamo reportedly plays a ). The outlet reports that the footage includes a fight between Stenberg and Moss that recalls the latter’s moves, and, among other things, a Jedi temple and “a group of Jedis lighting up their sabers in unison.” While that footage hasn’t yet been released publicly, the cast was also on hand to (above).

Showrunner Tony Gilroy, star Diego Luna, and more cast members were present for a panel on the acclaimed series, which is shooting for an August 2024 release of the 12-episode second season. The panel also included plenty of looking back at the show’s first season, including showing off concept art of , and lots of references to the show’s already iconic prison episode, (Including a whole crew of “prisoners” in Narkina 5 outfits chanting “One way out!”) “We can’t do a prison if we don’t do it better than anyone else ever did it,” Gilroy the crowd. “It took him a year, and he climbed up out of the ditch,” Gilroy further teased of Cassian’s journey in the (via ). “He went through a number of life experiences. He’s been exposed to the rebellion. He’s led a mini-rebellion of his own in a prison. His mother has finally inspired him. He’s finally joined the rebellion. There’s no going back on that.”

It may not be Star Wars, but Lucasfilm took advantage of the event for a moment of synergy by sharing a for Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny—plus the first six minutes of the upcoming fifth film. Stars Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Mads Mikkelsen were on hand to introduce the footage. “Just being part of an Indiana Jones film is a dream come true,” , who plays the film’s villain.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Return Of The Jedi, once believed, by the naïve fools of the past, to be the “last” Star Wars film. To commemorate the occasion, , its first official time returning to cinemas since the Special Editions rolled out back in 1997. The film will return to theaters (complete with a brand new poster) on April 28.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was a solid game with some , and thankfully the sequel . One of the reasons for that, as teased in the final trailer, is that main hero Cal will get to visit an even wider array of Star Wars planets—including Coruscant, the Imperial capital and the place where a ton of Cal’s brethren in the Jedi order were slaughtered when he was a kid. Also in this trailer: Cal uses the Force to toss a Stormtrooper into the air and he smashes into a passing TIE Fighter, which is really cool.

The trailer for Disney+’s Ahsoka teased that fan-favorite villain Grand Admiral Thrawn would be making his first live-action appearance for the series, but the trailer notably did not mention who would be playing the evil blue guy. As it turns out, (continuing the family’s gradual Lucasfilm takeover) who provided Thrawn’s voice on Star Wars Rebels. Celebration attendees got to see a longer trailer with him all blue-d up, but the rest of us will have to wait a bit more.