Kathleen Kennedy

Lucasfilm’s latest State of the Star Wars Union address has arrived right on schedule (meaning: It’s been about a month since their last blanket franchise update), with studio president Kathleen Kennedy offering a few tidbits about their upcoming anthology projects. In addition to confirming the absence of a traditional opening crawl for Rogue One, Kennedy sheds some light on Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s approach for the Han Solo spinoff.

Those pesky whisperings of reshoots for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story have been a thorn in the side of the upcoming film, at least amongst those who believe that reshoots can make or break a movie at the box office. The reshoots were rumored to have been ordered to “lighten the mood” of the movie, which, fine, Star Wars is, primarily, all about having fun and believing in yourself, and the dour mood of the prequels didn’t do those movies any favors. Now, Rogue One’s star Felicity Jones is here to reassure us all that the reshoots are really no big deal.

When the Rogue One: A Star Wars Story panel opened at Star Wars Celebration last weekend, it did so with this video, in which the classic opening crawl from Star Wars began to glitch and sputter and then shifted in space. The words flew toward the camera and revealed the full Rogue One logo title treatment, as seen below:

When Lucasfilm initially announced the lineup for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, it wasn’t long before the studio began populating the cast with exciting choices: Daisy Ridley and John Boyega in lead roles, Gwendoline Christie, Oscar Isaac and Lupita Nyong’o in supporting roles, the return of Carrie Fisher — all of which proved the limitless, inclusive potential of a galaxy far, far away. What we didn’t (and couldn’t) know was just how diverse the flagship film in the new era of Star Wars would actually turn out to be, and it’s all thanks to one very simple, very effective casting choice.

It wasn’t a long time ago or a galaxy far, far away. (It was 2012. In Orlando.) That was the site of the sixth Star Wars Celebration, Lucasfilm’s semiannual convention for all things Jedi. The 2012 edition of the four-day nerdstravaganza included autograph signings, photo ops, Star Wars speed dating, droid races, and something called the “Super-Secret Star Wars Panel with Todd, Seth, and Matt.” “Todd” was animator and director Todd Grimes; “Matt” was Matthew Senreich and “Seth” was Seth Green, the co-creators of the stop-motion animated sketch show Robot Chicken. Their secret: The announcement of a Star Wars television series set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope called Star Wars: Detours.

We haven't even had the privilege of seeing Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which will have its world premiere on Monday, December 14 in Hollywood. But that hasn't stopped the press from asking Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and director J.J. Abrams about Rian Johnson's plans for Episode 8 — because we're always onto the next big thing before the current big thing has even had a chance to play out. But if you want some potential Star Wars spoilers, read on.

In case you’d forgotten because you’ve been so preoccupied by The Force Awakens (and who can blame you), there are other Star Wars films on the horizon — an entire series of spinoffs working under the Star Wars Story banner, including Gareth Edwards’ Rogue One and Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s young Han Solo film. We don’t know too much about the plans for this new series of films, but Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has opened the door a bit to explain where they’re headed.

Steven Spielberg has expressed an interest in making another Indiana Jones movie. Harrison Ford is totally down to reprise his classic character. Okay, so, what’s the hold up? It’s this little thing called Star Wars — maybe you’ve heard of it? Lucasfilm and Disney are committed to not rebooting Indiana Jones or recasting Ford’s role, but they’re also a bit busy with a much more massive franchise that’s kind of eating up everyone’s attention at the moment. One thing at a time.

As much as TV folk like us dread being pulled into the galaxy’s worth of Star Wars coverage at every turn, still looming is the possibility of a live-action TV series to complement the films. George Lucas once upon a time sought to bring us a Star Wars: Underworld series as well, but might the new Lucasfilm bosses revisit the scripts the bearded one supposedly developed?

Every Star Wars film has been written and directed by a man, and although The Force Awakens and Rogue One boast women in lead roles, Lucasfilm has yet to hire a woman to write or direct a new installment in the franchise. That may be about to change, as a new report reveals that the company is meeting with a few unnamed women to potentially write and / or direct new Star Wars movies.