Jon Watts in Talks to Direct New ‘Star Wars’ Movie

(Left) 'Star Wars: Skeleton Crew' director Jon Watts. (Right) Daisy Ridley as Rey in 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker'. Photo: Lucasfilm.

Preview:

Jon Watts will reportedly direct the tenth main ‘Star Wars’ movie.
Simon Kinberg wrote the script.
It would continue the story of Daisy Ridley’s Rey.

For a while there, it looked like ‘Ms. Marvel’ director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy would be handling the next iteration of ‘Star Wars’ adventures for Daisy Ridley’s Rey character.

But that version of the movie, seemingly stuck in development like Luke Skywalker’s leg in a Hoth cave ceiling by a peckish Wampa, has reportedly been quietly shelved by Lucasfilm. Knight Edge Media broke the news (since followed up by the trades) that ‘Spider-Man’ director Jon Watts (who previously dipped a toe in the Galaxy Far, Far Away via Disney+ show ‘Skeleton Crew’) is now aboard to direct the movie.

Untitled Simon Kinberg Star Wars Film 1

Science Fiction

And it would appear he’s handling the next launch of a trilogy, working from the script that ‘The Martian’ producer/ ‘X-Men: Dark Phoenix’ writer/director (and genre stalwart) Simon Kinberg has been busy cranking out.

What’s the story of the new ‘Star Wars’ movie?

Daisy Ridley as Rey in 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens'. Photo: Lucasfilm.

Like hazy Force visions, it’s not clear at this point exactly what the story of the new movie will be. It’ll follow Rey in some capacity, and the previous planned film had her assuming the role of Jedi Master and mentor to a new crop of Padawans. How much of that is in Kinberg’s script remains to be seen.

As mentioned, this has been through the wringer so far, with writers including Damon Lindelof (‘Lanterns’) and Steven Knight (‘Peaky Blinders’) among those taking a crack. Let’s see if this one can finally make the leap to production lightspeed.

What else is on the way from the ‘Star Wars’ galaxy?

(L to R) DIrector Shawn Levy and Ryan Gosling present 'Star Wars: Starfighter' at D23 2026. Photo: Disney.

Next up is the second season of Disney+ series ‘Star Wars: Ahsoka,’ created by Lucasfilm co-chief Dave Filoni, which will debut on January 20th, 2027.

That’s followed by big screen outing ‘Star Wars: Starfighter,’ starring Ryan Gosling and directed by Shawn Levy, due on May 28th, 2027.