Earlier this month, Disney revealed that the franchise would take a small break following December’s release of Episode 9.
The next film slated for release is in 2022, kicking off a one-every-two-years pattern taking us up to 2026.
With Rian Johnson and Game of Thrones bosses David Benioff and DB Weiss known to be developing trilogies, fans have been unsure which of the two options Lucasfilm were pushing ahead with first.
Now it seems we have our answer.
Benioff and Weiss will be in charge of the 2022 release, according to Attractions magazine.
Bob Iger, the Disney top boss, is said to have revealed the news during a conference call with investors.
Benioff and Weiss are obviously a hot commodity at the moment: Game of Thrones is building towards its final ever episode, due to air this weekend.
And though this final season has been met with backlash, they’ve certainly managed to build up an incredibly dedicated fan base over the last few years with their adaptation of George RR Martin’s novels.
So what does this mean for Johnson?
It’s unclear right now: Disney haven’t made it explicitly clear that the 2022, 2024 and 2026 movies are all to be from one trilogy, although that is certainly the natural assumption given previous announcements.
Following repeated cancellation rumours – most of which Johnson has debunked – it is an outside possibility that Disney simply won’t move ahead with his trilogy at all.
Alternatively, he could simply be moving forward once Benioff and Weiss are done, or at least once they’ve got the ball rolling.
For now, he hasn’t commented on the situation on social media – but he is continuing to engage in Star Wars conversation around his work on Episode 8: The Last Jedi.
Also today, Disney are reported to have green-lit a third live action Star Wars series, to sit alongside The Mandalorian and the Cassian Andor prequel.
The subject of the new idea is not yet known.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – which has been given a big thumbs-up by John Williams – is out on December 19.