Star Wars is going home again. After years of streaming series, spin-offs, and start-stop feature plans, Lucasfilm is returning to the numbered chapters that built the franchise, and it has tapped one of the most reliable blockbuster hands in the business to lead the charge.
According to reporting first broken by Knight Edge Media on September 27 and confirmed by both The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline, Jon Watts is attached to direct the first installment of a new Star Wars trilogy written by Simon Kinberg. The film is expected to continue the Skywalker saga beyond 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker, making it, in effect, Episode X. It would be the tenth chapter of a story that began with a farm boy staring at twin suns in 1977.
That is a big swing by any measure. The sequel trilogy ended seven years ago and the conversation around it has never fully cooled. Choosing to pick the numbering back up instead of starting fresh tells you everything about Lucasfilm’s confidence right now: this isn’t a side quest, it’s the main event.
Why Jon Watts makes sense
Watts arrives with credentials few directors can match. His Spider-Man trilogy for Marvel Studios grossed more than $3.9 billion worldwide between 2017 and 2021, and No Way Home remains one of the most beloved franchise films of the modern era. He knows how to balance fan expectation with genuine surprise, and he does it without losing the human story underneath the spectacle.
He’s also a known quantity inside Lucasfilm. Watts co-created Skeleton Crew, the Disney+ series that followed four kids through the New Republic era with the warmth of an Amblin adventure. The show drew a small audience but glowing reviews, and it proved Watts can speak fluent Star Wars.
The industry has noticed the pattern. Watts walked away from the Marvel machine, and this Star Wars assignment explains why. Filmmakers of his caliber don’t leave the biggest franchise on the planet unless the next offer is bigger.
The Kinberg plan and Rey’s return
Simon Kinberg has been quietly writing this trilogy since late 2024. He co-created Star Wars Rebels and wrote X-Men: Days of Future Past, so he understands both galaxy-sized mythology and the character work that makes it land. Per THR, the trilogy is being developed as the next chapter of the Skywalker saga itself, continuing the story of the family that has anchored all nine episodic films.
Daisy Ridley is expected to return as Rey in some capacity, though the size of her role is still unclear. Knight Edge Media reports that Lucasfilm is looking at relatively unknown actors for the male and female leads, with Rey potentially starting in a smaller role that grows across the three films. It’s a smart structure if true: pass the torch on screen the way the franchise once passed it from Luke to Rey.
That approach also appears to resolve the long, winding road of the standalone Rey film. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy was announced as director at Star Wars Celebration 2023, and the script passed through several writers before the project stalled. Several outlets now report that film is on hold so Episode X can move first. One door closes, a much bigger one opens.
What comes next
Let’s keep expectations honest, because the trade reports are careful on this point: Disney has not greenlit the film yet. THR describes the project as still in development, though further along than any Lucasfilm feature other than Starfighter, the Ryan Gosling-led film arriving May 28, 2027. There is no release date and no official title, and Lucasfilm declined to comment.
Still, this is the most concrete the theatrical future of Star Wars has looked in years. Filming could begin as early as next year, according to early reports. And the timing couldn’t be better. The franchise spent the last half-decade rebuilding its television wing; now the big screen gets its turn, with the kind of marquee numbering that turns opening weekends into cultural events.
It mirrors what we’re seeing across the industry. Universal is moving fast on its next Jurassic World chapter, Paramount keeps doubling down on franchise revivals like Miami Vice, and legacy IP is the surest bet in town. Star Wars isn’t following that trend. It started it.
What this trilogy has to get right
The lesson of the last decade is that Star Wars works best when it trusts new voices inside a familiar frame. Skeleton Crew did it on a small canvas. Episode X has to do it at the largest possible scale: honor the Skywalker name without being trapped by it.
Watts has a real gift for that balance. His Spider-Man films kept Peter Parker grounded while the multiverse cracked open around him. If he brings that same instinct to Rey and a new generation of Jedi, the saga’s next act could feel less like a victory lap and more like a genuine new beginning.
There is also a practical reason for optimism. Kinberg has had nearly two years on these scripts. That is not the rushed timeline that burned the franchise before. It is the kind of runway that lets a trilogy actually be planned as a trilogy.
The verdict
This is the announcement Star Wars fans have been waiting for since the sequel trilogy wrapped. A director with a $3.9 billion track record, a writer who knows the lore cold, and a genuine continuation of the Skywalker story. There are still miles to go before cameras roll, but the galaxy finally has a direction again. And for the first time in a long time, that direction feels exactly right.
For a reminder of how the franchise machine keeps evolving, our look at Sam Raimi’s Every House is Haunted landing at a new studio shows just how competitive the IP landscape has become. Star Wars, though, remains the one that started it all.
