Let's be honest. For the last few years, being a Star Wars fan waiting for a new movie has felt like being stuck on Tatooine staring at two suns, going nowhere. We've had announcements. We've had logos. We've had directors attached and then… not attached. It's been a long, quiet winter in deep space.
And then, suddenly, there's movement. Not just a rumor, but honest-to-god signs of life from Lucasfilm's theatrical division. Two very different ships are finally warming up their hyperdrives: Taika Waititi's long-marinating mystery project and Shawn Levy's seemingly-on-the-fast-track dogfighting adventure.
It's a tale of two futures for the galaxy far, far away. And one of them has a name that sounds like it was ripped from the cover of a heavy metal album.
The Auteur's Anarchic Vision: ‘Cosmic Doom'
So, Taika Waititi's film. The one he's been “bubbling along on the side” for what feels like an eternity. We finally have a working title, and it is just… perfect.
Cosmic Doom.
You have to laugh. It's so unapologetically Taika. It feels less like a Star Wars title and more like a provocation, a dare. This is, after all, the same guy who promised his film would “piss people off.” With a name like that—and a production codename of Ghost Truck 6, which sounds delightfully bizarre—he's already starting.
But here's where it gets really interesting. The script is being penned by Tony McNamara. Yes, that Tony McNamara. The Oscar-nominated writer behind the acid-tongued, brilliantly weird scripts for The Favourite and Poor Things. That isn't a choice you make if you're planning a straightforward space opera. That's a choice you make when you want to inject some strange, possibly uncomfortable, and deeply human chaos into a universe that can sometimes feel a bit too self-serious.
Kathleen Kennedy seems to get it, bless her. Her quote about Waititi being on “Taika time” is the kind of thing that's either an expression of supreme confidence or the most patient sigh in Hollywood history. “We'll be waiting,” she says. We all are, Kathy. We all are.
What is Taika Waititi's Star Wars movie about? No one outside of his inner circle truly knows, but he's been clear he wants to expand the universe past the familiar. He's looking for that “joy and entertainment” of the originals, but filtered through his own unique, and often disruptive, lens. So, will we get it? Yes. When? When the cosmos aligns and the Ghost Truck is ready to roll. Don't hold your breath for a release date. This is the definition of a slow burn.
The Blockbuster's Return: Shawn Levy's ‘Starfighter'
Then you have the other side of the coin. Shawn Levy's project, now officially titled Star Wars: Starfighter, feels like it's being built in a proper shipyard, not brewed in a madman's lab. This thing has momentum.
They're aiming to start shooting in London this September. They have a wrap date in December. And most importantly, they have a locked-in theatrical release: May 28, 2027. Put that in your calendar. That's a real movie, people.
And the talent involved? Ryan Gosling and Mia Goth. Let that sink in. Gosling has the star power and quiet cool to anchor any galaxy, but Mia Goth in Star Wars? That's an inspired bit of casting. After seeing her in films like Pearl and Infinity Pool, you just know she's going to bring an unhinged, hypnotic intensity that the franchise has never seen before. I can't wait.
Starfighter is set five years after The Rise of Skywalker, giving it a clean slate to tell a new story with “all-new characters.” It's the smart play. It allows them to explore the fallout of the final battle against Palpatine without getting tangled up in the legacies of Rey, Finn, and Poe. It's a chance to truly begin again, in a part of the timeline we know nothing about. It feels… professional. Calculated. And after years of uncertainty, maybe that's exactly what the franchise needs on the big screen.
So there you have it. The two paths forward. One is the chaotic, auteur-driven fever dream of Cosmic Doom. The other is the star-powered, meticulously scheduled blockbuster machinery of Starfighter. One is art-house anarchy; the other is populist entertainment.
And you know what? For the first time in a long time, I'm excited for both. The silence has been broken. The ships are leaving the bay. The question is no longer if we're getting more Star Wars movies, but what kind we're getting. And the answer seems to be… all of them.
What do you think? Are you more excited for Taika's cosmic weirdness or Levy's high-flying adventure? Let us know in the comments below, and may the Force be with us all. It looks like we're going to need it.
