The Force is strong with Simon Kinberg.
Lucasfilm has hired the prolific writer and producer to write and produce a new trilogy of “Star Wars” films. An early report insinuated are that this will actually be chapters 10 – 12 of the Skywalker Saga, continuing the path that most recently concluded with “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” in 2019. But there are others that insist this is a standalone series, something akin to the trilogies that David Benioff and D.B. Weiss and, separately, Rian Johnson, were working on for the company. It is being referred to as a “new saga.”
Kinberg is no stranger to “Star Wars.” Following the acquisition of Lucasfilm by Disney, Kinberg was part of a small brain trust that was working on new projects for the studio. He consulted on J.J. Abrams’ “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and co-created the animated series “Star Wars: Rebels” with Dave Filoni.
The filmmaker has been involved in a number of franchises, from working on several “X-Men” films beginning with 2006’s “X-Men: The Last Stand,” to writing Guy Ritchie’s “Sherlock Holmes” movie, to being a producer on “Deadpool” and “Logan.” (He was also nominated for an Oscar for producing Ridley Scott’s “The Martian.”) Most recently he produced “A Haunting in Venice” for Kenneth Branagh and produced F. Gary Gray’s Netflix action movie “Lift.”
Earlier this year, Kinberg signed on to produce a new “Star Trek” movie for Paramount, written by Seth Grahame-Smith and directed by “Andor” filmmaker Toby Haynes.
Since “The Rise of Skywalker’s” release in 2019, a number of “Star Wars” film projects have been announced but have yet to materialize, including a standalone film from Taika Waititi, a movie centered on Rey (Daisy Ridley) from the latest trilogy and a “Lando” movie from Donald Glover. A “Mandalorian” spin-off movie, however, went into production this year for release in 2026.
Elsewhere in a galaxy far, far away, a live-action series, “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew,” premieres next month on Disney+. And a second season of “Andor” is scheduled to premiere next month.
