This will surprise literally no one. The mythological Rey movie has now been removed from the release schedule according to the Hollywood Reporter. Star Wars was originally supposed to have two movies in 2026. The Mandalorian & Grogu in May and the Rey movie in December. But with the latter still not having a script and not a writer – yet again (this is the second time now) – it was inevitable that the movie would be removed from the schedule. There simply would be no time anymore to finish the movie in time for a December 2026 release. Click through for a discussion!
Mandatory photo of Rey crying
Now that does not necessarily mean the Rey movie is officially cancelled – but combined with the other recent news that Simon Kinberg (who wrote the 2015 Fantastic Four train wreck and the Dark Phoenix X-Men disaster) is now tasked with writing an all new trilogy (even though it’s not entirely clear if those movies would be connected to the “Skywalker Saga”) the fate of the solo Rey movie looks more and more grim. A solo Rey movie would make no sense if Kinberg indeed wrote episodes X-XII of the Skywalker saga (or any brand new trilogy). Regardless of that any Rey movie seems like a horrible idea. To many the character, and anything connected to the sequels, is unsalvagable. But for Lucasfilm to actually plan a sequel to the sequels directed by an activist documentary maker with literally zero experience making mass market action blockbusters is the definition of insanity.
It may very well be that someone at Disney is trying their best to cancel the Rey movie directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. And while Kennedy can announce all she likes, she still needs money and someone at Disney who actually wants to release her project.
Star Wars is in a really bad place at the moment. All the Disney+ Star Wars shows in 2024 have failed so far and it’s doubtful Skeleton Crew will be a huge hit, but that remains to be seen… even worse however is the complete failure of the merchandise, it’s become so bad, apparently, that Hasbro mentioned Star Wars by name several times in their last earnings report and singled the franchise out as being a major contributer to the overall decline of partner brands sales.
In light of this it’s even more tragic that according to statements by Lucasfilm they actually consider Rey (and actress Daisy Ridley) to be their only and best asset left that they still have. In a way this is true… the original trilogy heroes are either dead or much too old now to carry a movie and even worse, all their Star Wars characters are dead anyway (not that you can work around that). Of course you may argue that Din Djarin and Grogu could maybe fill the hole, and maybe they can, but it will all hinge on a movie following a very lackluster 3rd season that, by the time the movie is released, is three years old, or “ancient history” in the current day and age. And the other route, some CGI/deepfake movie or the inclusion of deepfake OT heroes in the Mandoverse movie(s) is regressive and not the way forward – when everything still culminates in the sequels.
In the end the removal of yet another Star Wars movie from the release schedule is just further evidence of the mismanagement of the franchise under Kathleen Kennedy. The sequels had one job, well two:
1: reignite interest in the movies
2: hand over the baton to a new generation of younger heroes so they can make even more movies going forward
Sadly, five years ago, when The Rise of Skywalker hit theaters, many if not most people were completely finished with the sequels, finished with the characters and the blatant mismanagement of the sequels with the bizarre decision not to map out the trilogy in advance and to let Rian Johnson just do his thing, literally ignoring everything JJ Abrams set up, only to backpedal with the third movie after the immense Last Jedi backlash, resulting in a bizarre trilogy of movies that managed to ruin everything.
The legacy of the original trilogy was destroyed and the new characters Lucasfilm needed to replace the old guard all failed to gain any real traction. And the few all new fans they did gain were all pushed into a ditch when JJ Abrams decided to annoy all the Reylos by killing off Kylo Ren. But then going ahead and turning Rey into the granddaughter of Palpatine was probably the most damaging decision and the death blow to any future movies based on the sequels. And to have Rey assume the Skywalker name just like that in the end felt like peak disrespect to anything that came before. They only had to make Rey the daughter of Luke or maybe Obi-Wan. They did not want that.
And now we are here, five years later. Lucasfilm foolishly say Rey is the best thing they still have. Not realizing that this character is pretty much done for. Who wants to see the adventures of Rey Palpatine founding a new Jedi Order?
Anyway, removing the Rey movie from the schedule will hopefully give someone at Disney the chance to somehow salvage the situation. Star Wars in movie theaters needs a reset. A hard reset. All the Mandoverse movies or shows are ultimately dead ends too. Because they all will lead to the sequels, inevitably. Star Wars needs a fresh start, it needs to remove all baggage, move on and forget about the past… and it may be extremely ironic that one of the most quoted dialogues from The Last Jedi rings true in 2024 “forget about the past, kill it if you have to”… back then they killed the original trilogy, the OG heroes and all of their accomplishments… and now it’s time for the sequels and all the sequel trilogy characters to just die in a whimper. Star Wars can have no future with them.
Removing the Rey movie from the schedule is a very small first step. Now someone at Disney needs to have the guts to finally get rid of Kathleen Kennedy and to come to the sad but inevitable conclusion that Disney needs to start all over with Star Wars if the franchise is supposed to have any real future. None of that can be accomplished by a now 71-year-old woman who is responsible for tanking the Indiana Jones movie and for destroying Star Wars (not forgetting Willow, but Willow was never really a franchise), despite all the good will and hype after The Mandalorian, by making one baffling decision after another after the surprise hit of Mando seasons 1 and 2, culminating in a mean spirited The Acolyte that utterly tanked and genuinely angered many fans and which may have damaged the franchise for good.
Btw. the movie replacing Star Wars in December 2026 is Ice Age 6. A franchise which ran out of steam ages ago. Nothing screams “creative death of Hollywood” more than that.
Box office in the US, thus far, is 12% down compared to 2023, which was already not a great year. Hollywood hopes things like the Wicked musical movie adaptation, Gladiator 2, Moana 2 and yet another Lion King CGI movie will make serious bank in the last few weeks of 2024 and if these movies hit it big 2024 may not turn out to be as much of a disaster for movies after all. And these movies very well may succeed.
We truly get the entertainment we deserve. But maybe there is still some hope for Star Wars. Maybe.
How do you feel about all that? Feel free to also pitch your own plans for how to take Star Wars into the 2030s and beyond!
The Hollywood Reporter article about the changed release schedule
