The Star Wars franchise is one of the highest-grossing movie franchises in history and has amassed a legion of fans since it first started in 1977 with A New Hope. Created by George Lucas, Star Wars introduced audiences to a world of characters and conflict in a galaxy far, far away. Since A New Hope, there have been 11 movies and multiple Star Wars TV series that have expanded audiences’ knowledge and appreciation of Lucas’ world.
As with any Hollywood production, Star Wars has experienced many ups and downs throughout its history, particularly in the development department.
Updated January 26th, 2023: This article has been updated with additional Star Wars films that have since been canceled, and more information revealed about the various canceled films.
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Although there are three sets of trilogies — Prequels, Originals, and Sequels — and two standalone films, there was a time when Disney promised one Star Wars movie every year, beginning with The Force Awakens in 2015. While the studio kept its promise between 2015 and 2019, the mixed reception of its films, combined with other external factors, have forced the studio to reconsider its promise. The studio has plenty of projects that they have announced that have not been released (but have not officially been canceled), like Patty Jenkins’s Rogue Squadron and Rian Johnson’s new trilogy. Yet even still, there are plenty of Star Wars films that have been announced which never saw the light of day. Here’s a list of Star Wars movies that didn’t happen, and why.
George Lucas’ Episodes VII, VIII, & IX
Disney
Before the original trilogy was complete, George Lucas already had a story that he planned to explore in nine episodes, and this can be traced to after the release of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. The plan was for Episode VII to continue Luke’s journey as a Jedi, while Episode VIII would have introduced his sister (who wasn’t Leia at that point), and Episode IX would have introduced the Emperor and featured Luke’s final battle against him.
The initially planned sequel trilogy would have dealt with the rebuilding of the Republic and would have introduced a romantic partner for Luke. Many of these elements ended up being introduced in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, where Luke became a Jedi Knight as well as the introduction of the Emperor. Other plans that existed for these films included Leia being elected as Queen of the People as well as Luke’s death.
When Lucas sold the rights to Star Wars (and his entire Lucasfilm company) to Disney, he gave the studio notes on his plans for a sequel trilogy. This included Darth Maul being the primary villain of the sequel trilogy and delving deeper into the Midi-chlorians. Disney opted out of Lucas’ plan, although they did maintain his idea over Luke Skywalker having gone into exile.
Colin Trevorrow’s Episode IX
In 2015, it was announced that Colin Trevorrow had joined Star Wars: Episode IX as director, however, in 2017, he dropped out due to reported creative differences. Shortly after the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Trevorrow’s script was leaked, and fans gained an understanding of his vision for the Star Wars franchise. The plot focuses included the First Order cutting off all communications between planets and the Resistance fighting to reopen them, as well as Finn forming his own army of defected Stormtroopers and taking Force-sensitive children to a remote planet to train them.
The movie would have been titled Star Wars: Duel of the Fates, and while fans may have liked what they read realistically the script would have required some rewriting as it was written before the tragic passing of Carrie Fisher.
J.D. Dillard’s Star Wars Movie
In February 2020, it was reported that Sleight filmmaker J.D. Dillard was developing a Star Wars movie with Luke Cage writer Matt Owens. The announcement came shortly after the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and at a point when it was unclear what the future of Star Wars movies would look like. The news arrived just one month before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down movie theaters across the country and the production of various films. No mention of the project was made by Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy during the Disney Investor Call of 2020 where other Star Wars projects were announced. In November 2022, following the release of his latest film Devotion, Dillard confirmed he was no longer working on a Star Wars movie.
Standalone Boba Fett Movie
After the success of the Star Wars trilogies, it was planned that the universe was to expand through the release of standalone, spinoff films so that there was less of a wait between the Star Wars episodes. Rogue One was released in 2016 and was met with critical and commercial success. Similarly, Solo: A Star Wars Story was released in 2018, but was met with less favorable reviews and did not perform well at the box office becoming the first box office bomb in the Star Wars franchise.
Due to the underperformance of this film plans for these types of spinoff films were shelved, which included a planned standalone Boba Fett movie. The project was announced in 2013 and had Josh Trank linked as director, however, this plan was ultimately scrapped following the negative headlines surrounding Trank before the release of Fantastic Four. James Mangold was rumored to be attached to the project, but by the time those rumors started to circulate, Solo: A Star Wars Story bombed and the film plans were scrapped. Nevertheless, it wouldn’t be until 2021 that fans would get a Boba Fett-focused production in the form of a Disney+ series called The Book of Boba Fett.
Obi-Wan Kenobi Trilogy
In August 2017 it was announced that Billy Elliot director Stephen Daldry was set to direct a spin-off film based on Obi-Wan Kenobi that would be part of Disney’s once-a-year Star Wars film plan. The film was set to be titled Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Star Wars Story and was canceled following the box office disappointment of Solo: A Star Wars Story. One of the film’s writers, Stuart Beattie (Collateral) revealed that they planned an Obi-Wan Kenobi trilogy. The project was eventually reworked into the Obi-Wan Kenobi television series that premiered on Disney+ in 2022, and rumors have circulated that season two is in development.
Zack Snyder’s Star Wars Pitch
Lucasfilm
During the period between Lucasfilm concluding the prequel trilogy and Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm, filmmaker Zack Snyder reportedly pitched the studio his own Star Wars film. Inspired by the works of Akira Kurosawa, particularly Seven Samurai, the movie was intended to be a more mature take on the Star Wars galaxy in line with the director’s other R-rated material like Dawn of the Dead, 300, and Watchmen. Following Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm, the project was reworked into an original idea titled Rebel Moon. The film will be split into two parts, with the first part premiering on Netflix in December 2023.
Splinter of the Mind’s Eye
20th Century Fox
Before the Star Wars franchise became the huge success that we know today, Lucas was not sure how audiences would react and had a backup plan in case the film was not well received. Author Alan Dean Foster was brought in to write the novelization of the first Star Wars movie and its sequel titled Splinter of the Mind’s Eye so that, if the movie was not successful, a lower-budget sequel could be commissioned. The novel featured Luke and Leia ending up on a planet called Mimban as they searched for the Kyber Crystal which can enhance the force powers of the Jedi. Due to Harrison Ford only signing on for one Star Wars film at the time, Han Solo is not part of the script.
Luckily, Star Wars was a huge hit at the box office and Lucas was able to go larger on the sequel with The Empire Strikes Back. The Splinter of the Mind’s Eye novel became the first piece of what is now called The Expanded Universe. Mimban was featured in Solo: A Star Wars Story and the Kyber Crystals became part of Star Wars lore as the piece that powers a Jedi’s lightsaber and also what served as the primary weapon of the Death Star.
Solo 2
Lucasfilm had big plans for Solo: A Star Wars Story. With how successful The Force Awakens, Rogue One, and The Last Jedi were at the box office there was no reason to suspect that Solo would bomb. While no word on Solo 2 was ever made official, both Alden Ehrenreich and Emilia Clarke were contracted to appear in more films. While Ron Howard said Solo 2 was never in development, writer Joe Kasdan did say they developed early plans on what a sequel might include. The writer wanted to explore the character of Qi’ra relationship with Crimson Dawn more and also include Jabba the Hutt.
Sadly Solo: A Star Wars Story bombed at the box office and despite fan campaigns, a sequel does not appear likely. Although the story has continued in the pages of Marvel’s Star Wars comics with Qi’ra reappearing in a story set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and a Lando series is in development at Disney+ with Donald Glover rumored to reprise his role from Solo.
David Benioff & D.B. Weiss’ Star Wars Trilogy
LucasArtsEA
In 2018, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss joined the Star Wars universe with an interest in writing a new trilogy that would focus on either the far future or distant past from the Skywalk Saga. With Game of Thrones being the most successful show on television at the time, it seemed like a great get for the studio. However, in October 2019, the duo departed their planned trilogy. It was reported it was because of their $200 million development deal at Netflix, although some fans speculate Lucasfilm may have gotten cold feet on the duo following the critically disappointing finale of Game of Thrones which aired just five months prior.
