Star Wars Episode 10 has found its director
Disney and Lucasfilm have signed on a director for an upcoming Star Wars film that will continue the Skywalker saga. It is Jon Watts, best known for his work on the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Spider-Man trilogy.
Star Wars Episode 10: What is known so far
On September 26, The Hollywood Reporter and Knight Edge Media revealed that Jon Watts will direct the first Star Wars film, which is said to be part of “the next phase of a potential new Skywalker saga.” The film is reportedly part of a trilogy being written by Simon Kinberg. Kinberg wrote the screenplays for X-Men: The Last Stand, Days of Future Past, and Apocalypse before directing the infamous film Dark Phoenix. Disney has not yet given the film a final greenlight, so no plot details are currently being released.
A potential tenth episode is already in development, and Disney is very familiar with Jon Watts’ work. Watts played a key role in integrating Spider-Man into the MCU and directed “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” and “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” He then turned to Star Wars, working on the underrated Disney+ series “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew,” which apparently impressed Lucasfilm so much that Watts was given a film in the Skywalker Saga.
However, I wouldn’t get my hopes up too soon until we know for sure that Episode 10 is in production. Since Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker brought the overarching storyline of the series to a rather unpleasant close in 2019, Lucasfilm has been hesitant to continue its flagship film franchise. Numerous projects have been developed, but none have been realized in the almost seven years since. Most new releases have come as Disney+ series or video games.
Although “The Mandalorian and Grogu” were released in theaters in May, they fell short of expectations. Shawn Levy and Ryan Gosling’s “Star Wars: Starfighter” opens next May and will show how successful a movie outside the Skywalker saga can be. Should it underperform, Disney and Lucasfilm may have no choice but to resort to a hypothetical tenth Star Wars episode to save the franchise.
