These days, Star Wars is just getting more and more projects. While the franchise continues to expand with shows on Disney+, there hasn’t been a new movie made since 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker. Given that Disney spent a while figuring out what it wanted to do with the iconic sci-fi property, many films had been announced, only for most of them to get blasted off the company calendar.
But with three new films confirmed to be on the horizon, now is the time to catch up on all the Star Wars films that never came to be.
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins was previously set to helm a film centered around a new generation of starfighter pilots. Her role in the project was announced in 2020, and it was supposed to be released on Christmas 2023.
But after a long time spent in pre-production, Rogue Squadron threatened to delay another film Jenkins was hired to make, so Disney withdrew the project from their release calendar, leaving its future up in the air.
Zack Snyder’s film
Back in the 2000s, director Zack Snyder had pitched an R-rated film to Lucasfilm set in the Star Wars universe that followed a new team of heroes inspired by the works of Japanese director Akira Kurosawa (which had inspired George Lucas while creating the franchise in the first place).
Though discussions for this Star Wars film ended when Disney bought Lucasfilm, Snyder still redeveloped his passion project as the upcoming Netflix sci-fi space opera, Rebel Moon.
Boba Fett-led spin-off
Along with Solo: A Star Wars Story, Disney CEO Bob Iger had announced that a spin-off about Boba Fett’s origins during the original trilogy was in development. It was implied that Chronicle director Josh Trank was meant to be the director, but he had backed out of the project just two weeks after skipping out on Disney’s Star Wars Celebration.
Though Boba Fett never got a solo film, he did get his own miniseries on Disney+ that followed his exploits after Return of the Jedi. The Book of Boba Fett has aired only one season so far, with no second season announced at the time of publication.
David Benioff and D.B. Weiss’s trilogy
In February 2018, Benioff and Weiss, the duo who helmed HBO’s Game of Thrones, were once set to make an entire trilogy of Star Wars films scheduled to premiere in 2022, 2024, and 2026.
Despite this, they both walked away from the project in October 2019 to honor their deal to work on another project for Netflix. Given their overall success in bringing the world of Westeros to life, one can’t help but want to see what Benioff and Weiss would’ve brought to the Star Wars universe.
Kevin Feige’s film
Marvel Studios CEO Kevin Feige seemed to have been in the running to produce a Star Wars movie with Loki writer penning the script. For a while, there had been conflicting reports about whether or not the project was still being developed.
Finally, in March 2023, Kathleen Kennedy said in an interview with IGN that the film was never in development, claiming it was just an idea that was brought up, but that she was open to working with Feige on a Star Wars project if he had an idea.
Damon Lindelof’s Rey film
Damon Lindelof had signed up to write a script for a film following Rey as she rebuilds the Jedi Order after the events of The Rise of Skywalker. Though Lindelof had submitted a screenplay for said project, Lindelof revealed to Esquire that he was “asked to leave” the production, with Spencer writer Steven Knight taking his place.
Though the film technically isn’t canceled, it would’ve been exciting to see what kind of the story Lindelof had swirling around in his head, given that he is the mind behind Lost, The Leftovers, and HBO’s Watchmen, three of the most popular and acclaimed TV shows in history.
Splinter of the Mind’s Eye
Before Star Wars had been released in theaters, George Lucas decided to create a sequel novel that he could adapt into a low-budget film should the original fail at the box office. Written by acclaimed sci-fi author Alan Dean Foster, Splinter of the Mind’s Eye follows Luke and Leia as they search for the mystical Kaiburr crystal after crash-landing on the plant Mimban, leading to both heroes engaging in a lightsaber duel against Darth Vader.
Clearly, with the remarkable success of the first film and the presence of The Empire Strikes Back, the novel never got the Hollywood treatment, with only minor references to the story popping up in the Star Wars universe now and then.
Star Wars: Duel of the Fates
Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow was originally hired to direct Episode IX of the franchise, and his intended version of the film was very different from what audiences saw in J.J. Abrams’s The Rise of Skywalker. In Duel of the Fates, Kylo Ren is the main villain, Rey faces him on the Force planet Mortis, and Finn, Rose, and Poe lead a revolution against the First Order on Coruscant.
Likewise, Emperor Palpatine remains dead, and Rey has no familial relation to him. Though Trevorrow’s early story had some parts that needed fixing, for the most part, it would’ve arguably been a better conclusion for the Skywalker saga than what appeared in theaters.
Exegol-set film
The planet Exegol was introduced in The Rise of Skywalker as a hidden world of the Sith Eternal, where Emperor Palpatine resurrected himself and established the seat of power for his Final Order.
Though Palpatine and the Sith were destroyed by the end of the film, according to Deadline, Disney had started developing a movie that took place on Exegol, with director J.D. Dillard (Sleight) and writer Matt Owens (Luke Cage) involved in the production. But in 2022, Dillard said his mysterious project was no longer a go.
