This new ‘Star Wars’ trilogy is definitely going to happen. Seriously.
Fox’s X-Men guru will reportedly take a swing at ‘Star Wars.’ PLUS: ‘Stranger Things’ teases final season, ‘Moana 2’ sails toward massive box office, and we’re getting a ‘Godzilla Minus One’ sequel.
Welp. Welcome to the Friday edition of Popculturology. Hopefully this newsletter can be a tiny distraction for you at the end of this week. Gonna crack open another Coke Zero and get to the news ...
🍪 Wanna add Snackology to your subscription? Update your email preferences on your account page.
“A banner year for animated movies”
I wrote back in March about the Academy’s continued disrespect when it came to treating animated films as worthy of the same praise and accolades of live-action movies. Will The Wild Robot and Inside Out 2 force the Academy to change? Variety’s Clayton Davis writes that “if there was ever a time for things to change, it’s now.” (Variety)
NEWS, NOTES & TRAILERS
Gonna hold off on adding this new Star Wars trilogy to my calendar
Over the decade-plus since Disney bought Star Wars, five new Star Wars movies have been released. That number pales in comparison to the volume of Star Wars movies that have been officially announced and rumored that have never come to fruition.
Rian Johnson’s trilogy. The new movies from the Game of Thrones guys. Marvel Studios’ boss Kevin Feige’s movie. Josh Trank’s Boba Fett movie. Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron movie. (They released an actual teaser for that one!) Taika Waititi’s movie. Donald Glover’s Lando movie. (I’ve definitely forgot at least one.)
It’s not even smooth sailing for the movies that are still on Lucafilm’s docket, with Daisy Ridley’s upcoming post-Rise of Skywalker movie reportedly losing its screenwriter.
All of this leads me to believe that the new Star Wars trilogy being written by Simon Kinberg is definitely, absolutely, seriously happening.
Deadline was the first to report the news on Thursday, revealing that the X-Men: Days of Future Past writer and Dark Phoenix director has a deal in place to write and produce a trilogy of Star Wars films. (No directors were attached to this report.)
There’s definitely some confusion, though, over what these movies will be about. Deadline’s Mike Fleming Jr. that the trilogy will “comprise Episodes 10-12 of The Skywalker Saga” before noting that “insiders disputed my intel that Kinberg will continue that storyline.”
The Hollywood Reporter’s Borys Kit jumped on social media to clarify that his sources say the trilogy is “NOT a continuation of the Skywalker Saga but a new story focused on new characters” and “this is NOT going to be Episodes 10-12.”
The idea that this trilogy would serve as Episodes X, XI and XII of the Skywalker Saga seemed odd to me. Not odd because Lucasfilm promoted Rise of Skywalker as the conclusion to the Skywalker Saga (c’mon, it’ll never end), but because the upcoming movie starring Ridley and directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy also already carved out that niche. Whether or not Lucasfilm wants to promote Ridley’s New Jedi Order story as Episode X, she’s the only remaining Skywalker in Star Wars and that movie can’t be seen as anything but a continuation of where we left things in Rise of Skywalker.
