This will surprise almost no one. The fabulous Rey movie has now been removed from the release schedule, according to The Hollywood Reporter . “Star Wars” was originally scheduled to release two movies in 2026. But since the latter still had no script and no screenwriter – for the second time – the film was inevitably dropped from the schedule. There is simply no time to finish the film in time for a December 2026 release. Click to join the discussion!
Forced photo of Rey crying
Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the Rey movie is officially canceled, but combined with another recent message, Simon Kinberg (2015’s Fantastic Four Trainwreck and Dark Phoenix X-Men Disaster Now tasked with writing an entirely new trilogy (although it’s not entirely clear if those movies are related to the Skywalker Saga), the fate of Rey’s solo movie is looking increasingly grim. If Kinberg did write Episode X-12 of the Skywalker Saga (or any new trilogy), then Rey’s solo movie wouldn’t make sense. Regardless, any Rey movie seems like a terrible idea. For many, the character, and anything to do with the sequel, was irredeemable. But for Lucasfilm to actually plan a sequel directed by a radical documentary filmmaker with next to zero experience making mass-market action blockbusters is the definition of insanity.
It’s likely that someone at Disney is doing their best to cancel the Rey movie, which was directed by Sharmeen Obeid-Chinoy. While Kennedy can announce whatever she likes, she still needs funding and someone at Disney who actually wants to release her project.
Star Wars is in a really bad place right now. With all of the Disney+ Star Wars shows in 2024 having failed so far, it’s doubtful that Skeletor will be a hit, but that remains to be seen… What’s even worse is the complete failure of the merchandise, which, apparently, has become It’s so bad that Hasbro mentioned Star Wars by name several times in its last earnings report, pointing to the series as the main reason for the overall decline in partner brand sales.
In light of this, it’s even more tragic that, according to Lucasfilm’s statement, they actually believe Rey (and actress Daisy Ridley) is the only and best asset they still have. To an extent, this is true…the original trilogy heroes were either dead or too old for the movies, and worse, all of their Star Wars characters were dead anyway (not that you can solve this problem). Of course, you could argue that maybe Din Djarin and Grogu could fill that void, and maybe they could, but it all hinges on a very lackluster third season, and by the time the movie comes out, it’ll be three years or so in this day and age “ancient history”. The other route, some CGI/deepfake movies or including deepfake OT heroes in Mandoverse movies is a step backwards, not a way forward – when everything is still culminating in a sequel.
Ultimately, yet another Star Wars movie was removed from the release schedule, further evidence of the franchise’s mismanagement under Kathleen Kennedy. The sequel has one job and two:
1: Rekindle interest in movies
2: Pass the baton to a new generation of young heroes so they can make more movies
Sadly, by the time The Rise of Skywalker came out five years ago, many, if not most, were already completely done with the sequels, the characters, and the blatant mismanagement of the sequels, and made the decision not to develop a trilogy in advance The bizarre decision to let Rian Johnson do his own thing, completely ignore everything J.J. Abrams had set up, and only release a third film after The Last Jedi received backlash, resulted in A strange trilogy of films that manages to ruin everything.
The legacy of the original trilogy was destroyed, and the new characters Lucasfilm needed to replace the older ones failed to gain any real traction. When J.J. Abrams decided to piss off all the Ryloths by killing off Kylo Ren, the few new fans they gained were thrown into a bind. But then turning Rey into Palpatine’s granddaughter may be the most devastating decision, and a fatal blow to any future movies based on the sequel. Having Rey named after Skywalker in the end felt like a huge disrespect to everything that had come before. They just have to make Rey the daughter of Luke or Obi-Wan. They don’t want this.
Now, five years later, here we are. Lucasfilm foolishly said Rey was the best thing they had. Didn’t realize the role was complete. Who wants to see the adventures of Rey Palpatine founding a new Jedi Order?
Regardless, removing the Rey movie from the schedule will hopefully give someone at Disney a chance to save the day in some way. Star Wars in movie theaters needs a reset. Hard reset. All Mandoverse movies or shows are ultimately dead ends as well. Because they all inevitably lead to sequels. “Star Wars” needs a fresh start, it needs to take off all the baggage, move on, forget the past… And one of the most quoted dialogues in “The Last Jedi” has become a reality in 2024, “Forget the past , killing”, which may be extremely ironic. If you must…that’s when they killed off the original trilogy, the OG heroes and all their achievements…now it’s time for the sequels and all the sequel trilogy characters to die with a whimper. Star Wars has no future with them.
Taking the Rey movie off the schedule is just a small first step. Now, someone at Disney needs to have the courage to finally move on from Kathleen Kennedy and come to the sad but inevitable conclusion: If the Star Wars franchise is to have any real future, Disney needs to start from scratch. None of this is possible for a woman who is now 71 years old and responsible for the failure of the Indiana Jones movies and Star Wars (don’t forget Willow, but Willow was never really a franchise), despite all The goodwill and hype that followed The Mandalorian followed the unexpected success of Mando’s first and second seasons, and he made one confusing decision after another, culminating in a despicable villain. Acolyte , which completely devastated many fans and truly angered many fans, may have damaged the series forever.
By the way. The movie that will replace “Star Wars” in December 2026 is “Ice Age 6.” Nothing screams “Hollywood’s creative death” more than this.
So far, the US box office is down 12% from 2023, which is already not a very good year. Hollywood is hoping movies like the “Wicked” musical adaptation, “Gladiator 2,” “Moana 2” and another “Lion King” CGI movie can make big bucks in the final weeks of 2024 if these If the movie is a hit, the box office revenue in 2024 may not be that high. These movies are likely to be successful.
We truly got the entertainment we deserved. But maybe there’s still some hope for Star Wars. perhaps.
What do you think about this? Feel free to come up with your own plans for how to bring Star Wars into the 2030s and beyond!
The Hollywood Reporter’s article on changing release schedules
