James Mangold & Dave Filoni Will Each Direct a New Star Wars Movie

Things are finally, finally, finally getting underway on the movie side of things for Star Wars. After years of cancellations, reworkings, firings, and false starts, Disney announced three new Star Wars movies at the Star Wars Celebration in London. Alongside a new movie starring Daisy Ridley as Rey, the studio revealed that two other Star Wars movies would be landing: one from Logan director James Mangold and the other from the man who basically saved the franchise, Dave Filoni.

Mangold’s film will go back some 25,000 years and tell the story of the dawn of the Jedi, a time that hasn’t yet been covered by Disney in any medium as the earliest stories we have currently are from the High Republic publishing effort the company is now running. Meanwhile, Filoni’s film will be a culmination of the multiple Disney+ series he’s involved in, connecting together shows like The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, The Book of Boba Fett, and other series that take place after the fall of the Empire. It sounds like a bit of a victory lap for Filoni, as that means he’ll get to make a movie that basically connects throughout his career of keeping Star Wars afloat as those series all connect back to his original work on Star Wars: The Clone Wars. An epic saga, indeed.

The announcement of the two Star Wars movies was a big surprise, especially with these two massive names of James Mangold and Dave Filoni attached. The real question is — will we get to see them? While Filoni’s film sounds like it should be a shoe-in given he’s already established and has power at Disney, Kathleen Kennedy could always come crashing down once again and rip it away. After all, Mangold’s project is a different thing altogether. Lucasfilm has shown no hesitation in ripping control from directors or canceling high-profile films, so it’s really a toss-up if this ever happens. However, there’s a bit of a glimmer of hope as Mangold has already worked closely with the studio on Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny without being fired. That has to give him some sway, right?