Report: Daisy Ridley’s Rey in New ‘Star Wars’ Trilogy Amid Kathleen Kennedy Exit
Lucasfilm is once again standing at a crossroads, and the decisions being made behind closed doors could steer Star Wars in a dramatically new direction for years to come.
After months of mounting speculation, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy addressed ongoing questions about her future in 2025, offering clarity on her role while quietly signaling that a leadership transition was already underway. Although Kennedy emphasized she had no intention of leaving filmmaking behind, it was clear that Lucasfilm was beginning to prepare for a post-Kennedy era.
Reports late last year suggested that Kennedy was planning a full retirement, but she firmly rejected that characterization. In an interview with Deadline, the longtime producer explained that stepping away from the studio presidency did not mean stepping away from cinema.
“What’s happening at Lucasfilm is I have been talking for quite some time with both Bob [Iger, Disney CEO] and Alan [Bergman, Disney Entertainment] about what eventual succession might look like,” Kennedy explained. “We have an amazing bench of people here, and we have every intention of making an announcement months or a year down the road.”
She also stressed “loud and clear” that she was not finished with filmmaking, joking that she would “die” making movies.
That announcement has now arrived. Lucasfilm has confirmed that Kennedy will step down as President, closing a chapter that reshaped Star Wars in both celebrated and contentious ways.
Rather than naming a single successor, Lucasfilm is moving to a shared leadership model. Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan will serve as co-heads of the studio, with Filoni overseeing creative direction and Brennan managing business operations. The structure mirrors Disney’s broader strategy of balancing creative voices with corporate oversight, reinforcing a renewed emphasis on filmmaker-driven storytelling.
Even with a packed slate of announcements, Star Wars has struggled to reestablish a consistent theatrical presence. At Star Wars Celebration 2023, Kennedy revealed three new feature films, but shifting priorities and development hurdles quickly reshaped the roadmap.
Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian and Grogu, currently slated for 2026, emerged as the franchise’s next theatrical release at the beginning of 2024. In contrast, James Mangold’s “Dawn of the Jedi” (“on hold”), Dave Filoni’s Mando-Verse crossover, and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s Rey Skywalker project remain in uncertain stages of development.
Looking further ahead, Lucasfilm is planning its first post-sequel trilogy story. Shawn Levy’s standalone feature, Star Wars: Starfighter (2027), is scheduled for release in May 2027 and will star Academy Award nominee Ryan Gosling.
In 2025, Lucasfilm revealed that Simon Kinberg had been brought on to develop a brand-new Star Wars trilogy, signaling a shift away from stop-and-start development toward a longer-term vision. “We’re absolutely rolling fast and furiously,” Kennedy revealed. “That has gone exceptionally well, and he’s literally going to script as we speak. We’ll see something probably around June.”
Kinberg, who previously worked with Lucasfilm on animated projects before becoming a key figure in the X-Men franchise, is now positioned to shape the next cinematic era of Star Wars. “This is the next iteration, the new saga that moves us into the future,” Kennedy said, confirming that the trilogy would move beyond the Skywalker Saga.
Like Levy’s film, Kinberg’s trilogy will also be set after Star Wars: Episode IX–The Rise of Skywalker (2019), roughly five or six years later. “That’s also in the future. It’s all post-[the first] nine,” Kennedy explained. “It’s all pretty much new characters. We may bring some of the characters back from the sequel saga, but pretty much new characters.”
More recently, Kennedy confirmed that the scripts are still evolving.
“He’s working right now. He wrote something that we read in August, and it was very good, but not there.” Kennedy said in her exit interview with Deadline. “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.”
One lingering question is how Kinberg’s trilogy aligns with Daisy Ridley’s long-discussed “New Jedi Order” film, which is also set after 2019’s Star Wars: Episode IX–The Rise of Skywalker. The growing consensus is that the Rey project may ultimately be folded into the trilogy, a theory reinforced by recent casting chatter.
“According to Daniel Richtman, Ridley’s Rey Skywalker will have a major role in the planned trilogy,” Comic Book Movie writes. “However, the focus will be on new leads, indicating that while Rey is going to be placed front and centre, it won’t be as the story’s main protagonist.”
Fueling that speculation further, Kennedy’s exit interview made no mention of the Rey standalone film, despite referencing numerous other projects. Additionally, Disney replaced the December 2026 Star Wars release slot—widely believed to be reserved for the Rey movie—with 20th Century Studios’ Ice Age 6 (2026).
When viewed together, the signs point toward a major consolidation of Lucasfilm’s plans.
Under Kennedy’s leadership, Star Wars achieved record-breaking success with Star Wars: Episode VII–The Force Awakens (2015). However, creative disagreements surrounding the sequel trilogy divided audiences and forced the studio to rethink its approach. In recent years, Lucasfilm has found a steadier footing on Disney+, with The Mandalorian and Andor earning acclaim while other efforts fell short.
Now, with Filoni and Brennan guiding the studio and Kinberg’s trilogy moving forward, Lucasfilm appears poised to redefine what Star Wars looks like on the big screen. Whether that vision reconnects with audiences remains an open question.
What do you think about the Rey movie potentially being cancelled? Let us know in the comments below.
