Jon Watts Tapped to Direct Upcoming Star Wars Feature for Lucasfilm

Lucasfilm is ramping up its theatrical pipeline, enlisting director Jon Watts to helm an upcoming Star Wars feature film, according to reporting by The Hollywood Reporter.

The project joins a broader creative push at the studio, where screenwriter and producer Simon Kinberg is currently writing a new trilogy. The Kinberg project is positioned as the next episodic chapter in the overarching Skywalker Saga.

Watts is a familiar face across the Disney ecosystem, having directed all three installments of Sony and Marvel Studios' Tom Holland-led Spider-Man trilogy. He also created the recent Star Wars live-action series Skeleton Crew for Disney+, giving him immediate familiarity with Lucasfilm production practices.

Kinberg similarly holds established ties to the brand. Alongside his extensive tenure shaping 20th Century Fox's X-Men franchise, he co-created the animated series Star Wars Rebels and previously served as a creative consultant on Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

## Rebuilding the Theatrical Slate

For Lucasfilm, locking in experienced franchise directors represents a concerted effort to stabilize its theatrical slate following years of high-profile project stalls and shifting development priorities. Hollywood Tomorrow notes that reviving the mainline Skywalker episodic lineage reflects a deliberate effort to anchor the brand's theatrical return in familiar franchise lore.

Official production timelines, release dates, and narrative details for both Watts' upcoming assignment and Kinberg's trilogy have not yet been disclosed.