LONDON – New adventures are coming for Star Wars fans around the world.
Devotees dressed in cosplay, filmmakers and stars from the universe gathered Friday at Star Wars Celebration, the April 7-10 fan convention where filmmakers discussed the future of the franchise’s films and TV series.
Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy took the Celebration Stage with featured guests to discuss what’s next and revealed a new “Star Wars” movie, one of three, starring a returning Daisy Ridley.
As the stage filled with stars and Star Wars creators alike, a crowd of 10,000 cheered and clapped for a glimpse at previously unseen footage and insight from behind the scenes. Lightsabers raised, the audience welcomed teasers for “Ahsoka,” “Skeleton Crew,” “The Acolyte” and the new season of “The Mandalorian,” celebrating the chance to see some famous faces.
Lucasfilm announces three new ‘Star Wars’ movies, one starring Daisy Ridley as Rey
New “Star Wars” movies are coming to the big screen: Kennedy announced that three films are on the way, with the goal of widening the cinematic timeline from past to present to a “rich” future.
“It’s still very early days,” Kennedy cautioned the crowd as people grew excited. She then invited several of the films’ directors onto the stage. These include James Mangold, who will direct “Dawn of the Jedi,” about the earliest era of “Star Wars.”
Mangold, who is still writing the film, told USA TODAY he was inspired by the idea of a “biblical epic” that explains where the spirituality of the force originates. The film, which was not given a release or start date, will truly be about the “dawning of the religion that drives ‘Star Wars.'”
“It gives you elbow room to create a world,” he said, adding he’s in the process of “designing” everything about this early world, from what characters wear to the ships they will travel in. “So many of the tricks of working within the tighter fabric of the (existing) movies is the realities that have already been set, which can create compromises. For me, it’s about getting to a period of time that connects to the grand story” while standing on its own.
Mangold said he’s excited to bring “Star Wars” back to theaters and reignite the community element of watching the films together.
Director Dave Filoni said his film will explore the New Republic Era, including an epic war.
Pulling threads together between the TV and film worlds is a “big tapestry that’s being woven. I love to think of stories in that context. You’re not bound at all. I hope you walk into that theater and whether you’ve seen a series or not, you enjoy the movie,” he said.
That film will close out the interconnected stories of the Disney+ TV series, including “The Mandalorian,” “The Book of Boba Fett” and “Ahsoka.”
Ridley returns to ‘Star Wars’
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy rounded out the directors’ panel Friday and said she’s spearheading a third film about a “new Jedi order” with a Jedi academy led by a “powerful Jedi master.”
Who will this new master be? The crowd roared as Ridley took the stage. Ridley, Rey in the most recent film trilogy, will play this leader and told the crowd how excited she was to be stepping into the role. The film will be set after “The Rise of Skywalker,” the last “Star Wars” movie.
No release dates were given for the three films.
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In a brief break from the “Star Wars” action, fans were also treated to a new trailer for “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” with star Mads Mikkelsen and Phoebe Waller-Bridge on hand to greet the crowd. The Harrison Ford film, the fifth in the series and also directed by Mangold, is due in theaters June 30.
New details revealed about Season 3 of ‘The Mandalorian’
You may already be keeping up with Season 3 of the “Star Wars” series “The Mandalorian,” which debuted last month on Disney+ and features everyone’s favorite helmet-wearing hero, The Mandalorian, aka Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), racing through the galaxy and intoning, “This is the way.”
In the eight new episodes, Mando and Grogu (Baby Yoda) are back – although not without confusion for fans who may have missed “The Book of Boba Fett,” which streamed in early 2022 and depicts what happened between Seasons 2 and 3 of “Mandalorian.”
This season is all about showing different points of view of the world, said Filoni, who plays Trapper Wolf, especially exploring the idea of what happens when a Mandalorian removes their helmet.
This season is about “examining this idea of culture and what it means to be Mandalorian,” said Rick Famuyiwa, who plays Jib Dodger and has directed and executive produced the season.
Cast members Giancarlo Esposito, Katee Sackhoff, Carl Weathers and Emily Swallow joined the Celebration stage and eight minutes from upcoming episodes were shown to attendees.
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‘Ahsoka’ to launch in August on Disney+ with Rosario Dawson
The first season of the series starring Rosario Dawson is coming in August.
Filoni, donning a T-shirt with his own custom “Ashoka” design, told reporters that he’s known this character since she was 14, so he’s excited to lead her story into its next chapter (and think about its connections with his upcoming film).
“I’ve had so many pinch-me moments,” Dawson said of filming the show. Natasha Liu Bordizzo, who plays Sabine Wren, joined the stage in addition to Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who plays Hera Syndulla. First-look images of the actors in character were displayed on the massive screen above the Celebration stage before the audience watched the first trailer for the series.
‘Skeleton Crew’ shares first footage with Jude Law
A series about a group of kids with “a sense of wonder” is also on the way, Filoni said.
The idea came before Disney+ even launched, said head writer Jon Favreau. But he was inspired to make a show about young people and took it to Kennedy.
“It was meant to be,” Kennedy said, adding past shows haven’t been meant for kids as much as about kids. The show stars Jude Law, who took the stage to chat about working with young actors, and will be directed by Jon Watts, David Lowery, the Daniels, Jake Schreier, Bryce Dallas Howard and Lee Isaac Chung.
‘The Acolyte’ arrives in 2024 with Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae
The “Star Wars” TV epic is also headed to the next chapter, with a new 2024 Disney+ project called “The Acolyte,” created by Leslye Headland. The show explores the perspectives of the villains, Headland told fans, describing it as a “‘Frozen’ meets ‘Kill Bill'” vibe set between the High Republic and the beginning of the prequels.
“This is such an exciting (part) of the timeline, but also when the bad guys are outnumbered. They are the underdogs,” Headland said, promising “lots of Jedi.”
The show is inspired by martial arts films and captures “the spiritual war” going on during this time in the universe.
“The show is female-led,” said Jodie Turner-Smith, one of the stars. “There’s a sense of how important it was … that energy alone coming from behind the camera felt important.”
Actor Amandla Stenberg (“The Hate U Give”) told the crowd she was attracted to the show’s “magical realism,” and co-star Lee Jung-jae (“Squid Game”) said he was “still shaking” from his first experience filming while holding a lightsaber.
Stenberg told USA TODAY she loves most that she plays a figure with “tenacity” and “ferocity.”
Final season for ‘Andor’ set for August 2024
Also coming is Season 2 of “Andor.” Director Tony Gilroy joined the stage with the series’ cast and announced a planned August 2024 release date for what will be the show’s final season.
“If you know your ending, it really helps,” Gilroy said. “We know exactly where we’re going.”
Contributing: Brian Truitt and Kelly Lawler
