Star Wars: Starfighter is still sounding less like homework and more like an actual movie. That should not feel refreshing. It does. In a new interview with The Playlist, writer Jonathan Tropper says the upcoming Shawn Levy-directed Star Wars film is being built so audiences do not need to have seen every other Star Wars movie before stepping into it. “You don’t have to have seen other Star Wars movies to step into this one,” Tropper said, adding that “there are no barriers to entry.” For a franchise that has spent years balancing legacy characters, canon timelines, streaming spin-offs, animated backstory, theatrical returns, and enough lore threads to strangle a bantha, that is a pretty important sentence. Starfighter Wants to Be New, Not Homework This is not the first time the creative team has positioned Starfighter as a clean entry point. Lucasfilm has already described the film as a new…
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D23 2026 Schedule Revealed, and Star Wars Fans Should Probably Watch the Gaps
Disney has revealed the programming lineup for D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event 2026, and Star Wars is definitely present. Just maybe not in the giant “everyone stop what you’re doing, here comes the movie slate” way some people might be hoping for. D23 2026 takes place August 14–16 in Anaheim, California, with major showcases at the Honda Center and a full spread of panels, presentations, concerts, screenings, and fan events across the Anaheim Convention Center. Disney says the weekend will include more than 50 panels and programming across five stages, covering film, television, parks, publishing, music, games, collectibles, and more. For Star Wars fans, the most obvious headline is a LEGO Star Wars Screening Event, described as a special screening of an all-new animated LEGO Star Wars adventure featuring familiar characters, laughs, and action. Disney says more details are still to come. So yes, LEGO Star Wars is on…
The Mandalorian and Grogu Is Coming Home, and Star Wars’ Streaming-Cinema Loop Is Still Strange
The Mandalorian and Grogu is coming home, which feels like a very normal sentence until you remember how strange this entire Star Wars release cycle has been. Lucasfilm’s theatrical Mandalorian movie will arrive on digital platforms on July 21, 2026, with a physical release on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray on August 25. The home release will include bonus material, including behind-the-scenes featurettes on the craft behind the film and an audio commentary from director Jon Favreau. People also notes that the digital release will be available through platforms including Prime Video, Apple TV, and Fandango. So yes, the movie that grew out of a Disney+ series, went to theaters, and is now heading to digital purchase before its eventual Disney+ arrival has officially entered the next stage of modern franchise life. Simple. Clean. Not at all absurd. The Mandalorian Has Always Lived Between Formats That is what makes this…
Spaceballs 2 Is Already Mocking The Mandalorian and The Rise of Skywalker, Which Is Exactly What It Should Be Doing
Spaceballs 2 has released an official plot description, and it is doing the one thing a Spaceballs sequel absolutely needed to do: It is immediately taking shots at modern franchise culture. The newly revealed synopsis for Spaceballs 2: The New One leans hard into sequel, reboot, and legacy-character nonsense, while specifically poking fun at The Mandalorian and Grogu and The Rise of Skywalker style of blockbuster storytelling. It opens with the line, “Somehow, Dark Helmet has returned!”, which is obviously a direct jab at one of the most infamous lines in modern Star Wars history. From there, it only gets sharper. ([A Rabbit’s Foot? no, official plot description provided by studio announcement]) This Sounds Very, Very Spaceballs The full setup is exactly the kind of gloriously stupid premise Spaceballs fans would hope for. Forty years after the first film, the galaxy is under threat again from an enemy “so completely…
George Lucas Says Star Wars Was Always for Kids, and He’s Still Not Letting Fans Make the Movie
George Lucas has never seemed especially interested in apologizing for the Star Wars prequels. He has explained them. Defended them. Reframed them. Occasionally shrugged at the criticism like a man who has already heard every Jar Jar complaint the internet could possibly invent. But in a new interview with A Rabbit’s Foot, Lucas makes one of his simplest arguments yet: “Well, it’s a kid’s movie. It’s always been a kid’s movie.” That line is going to annoy some people. It is also very consistent with how Lucas has talked about Star Wars for decades. Lucas Still Sees Star Wars as a Children’s Story Lucas was specifically addressing the way some adult audiences reacted to the prequels. He points out that many fans who had grown up with the original trilogy wanted something more adult by the time The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith arrived….
George Lucas Says AI Is the Future of Filmmaking, and Honestly, That’s Very George Lucas
George Lucas has never really been the “please keep cinema exactly as it was” guy. This is the man who founded Industrial Light & Magic because the visual effects tools he needed did not exist. He pushed digital editing. He backed new filmmaking technology. He spent decades treating cinema less like a sacred machine and more like something you could take apart, rebuild, and occasionally annoy half the industry with. So when Lucas talks about AI as the future of filmmaking, it does not exactly come out of nowhere. In a new interview with A Rabbit’s Foot, Lucas says artificial intelligence “means it’s much easier for us to make movies,” before comparing resistance to AI with someone insisting the horse and buggy is still the better idea while cars are arriving anyway. His point is blunt: technology moves forward, whether people like it or not. Lucas Has Always Seen Film…
A Man Played The Imperial March at National Guard Troops. D.C. Just Settled the Lawsuit
There are many ways to protest. Signs. Chants. Speeches. Marches. Very angry cardboard. Sam O’Hara went with something simpler: walking behind National Guard troops in Washington, D.C. while playing “The Imperial March” from Star Wars on his phone. Subtle? Absolutely not. Recognizable? Instantly. According to the Associated Press, the District of Columbia has now reached a settlement with O’Hara, who claimed police illegally detained him after he followed an Ohio National Guard patrol while playing Darth Vader’s theme as an act of protest. The exact settlement amount has not been made public. The case is one of those real-world stories where Star Wars suddenly stops being background entertainment and becomes cultural shorthand. No lightsabers needed. No costumes. No elaborate speech. Just John Williams doing what John Williams does best: making everyone immediately understand the vibe. The Imperial March Is Not Just Movie Music Anymore “The Imperial March” was written as…
George Lucas Joining Minions & Monsters Is the Weirdest Star Wars-Adjacent News of the Week
George Lucas is back in Hollywood. Sort of. Not with a new Star Wars trilogy. Not with a secret Indiana Jones project. Not with a surprise return to Lucasfilm where he walks into a boardroom, says “midichlorians,” and makes half the internet immediately choose violence. No. George Lucas is lending his voice to Minions & Monsters. Yes, that Minions universe. The man who gave us Jedi, Sith, the Force, droids, lightsabers, podracing, THX 1138, Indiana Jones, Industrial Light & Magic, Skywalker Sound, and enough franchise architecture to keep pop culture arguing until the heat death of the universe is now stepping into Illumination’s yellow chaos machine. And honestly? That is kind of wonderful. This Is Not the Comeback Anyone Expected Entertainment Weekly reports that Lucas has a voice role in Minions & Monsters, Illumination’s upcoming animated film set for release on July 1. The detail that makes this especially funny…
Star Wars: Shadow of Maul #1 Hits Marvel Unlimited Today
Maul is back on Marvel Unlimited today, because apparently one angry former Sith Lord was not done stalking the shadows. Star Wars: Shadow of Maul #1 has now landed on Marvel Unlimited, giving digital readers a chance to jump into Marvel’s five-issue Maul miniseries without hunting down the original print release. The issue was first published on March 4, 2026, with Benjamin Percy writing, Madibek Musabekov on pencils, and Derrick Chew providing the cover art. Marvel’s official Shadow of Maul #1 page lists the creative team and positions the book as part of the ongoing Star Wars: Shadow of Maul run. And for readers who prefer collecting their Star Wars comics physically, Star Wars: Shadow of Maul is also available through Amazon. Maul Works Best in the Shadows The hook is not complicated. Maul has always been at his best when Star Wars lets him operate in the ugly corners…
Rogue One Director Gareth Edwards Thinks AI Could Be Bigger Than CGI
Gareth Edwards is not exactly running from the AI conversation. The Rogue One: A Star Wars Story director has spoken positively about generative AI in filmmaking, arguing that the technology could become one of the biggest creative tools in cinema. In a new report from The Hollywood Reporter, Edwards is quoted as saying AI is “going to be better than CGI.” That is a spicy sentence. Especially in Hollywood right now. AI remains one of the most radioactive topics in entertainment, with writers, actors, artists, editors, VFX teams, and studios all arguing over what should be automated, protected, credited, or absolutely kept away from the creative process. But Edwards’ view seems less like “replace everyone” and more like “this tool is too powerful to ignore.” Why Edwards’ Opinion Matters Edwards is not some random tech executive waving a shiny toy at filmmakers. He directed Rogue One, one of the most…
Tony Gilroy Wants Star Wars to Stay Ambitious, Wild, and Adventurous
Tony Gilroy may be finished with Andor, but he clearly still has opinions about where Star Wars should go next. And honestly, good. In an Associated Press video interview, the Andor creator was asked about the future of the franchise under new leadership. His answer was short, clean, and very Gilroy: “I’d like to think that they’ll stay ambitious and wild and adventurous.” That is not a bad mission statement for Star Wars right now. Andor Proved Star Wars Can Still Take Big Swings Andor worked because it did not feel like Star Wars checking boxes. It did not chase cameos every five minutes. It did not stop the story to wave at the audience. It took the galaxy seriously, built its politics carefully, and trusted viewers to care about ordinary people being crushed, radicalized, and pulled into rebellion. That made it different. And different is exactly what Star Wars…
Grogu Was Number Two on the Mandalorian Movie Call Sheet
Grogu may be small enough to fit in a floating pram, but on the set of The Mandalorian and Grogu, he was apparently treated like a proper movie star. According to Variety’s feature on how Grogu was brought to life, the character was listed as number two on the film’s call sheet. Yes, right behind the title character territory. Yes, for the tiny green chaos child. And honestly? Fair. At this point, Grogu is not just a cute sidekick. He is one of the central reasons The Mandalorian became a cultural phenomenon in the first place. Grogu Is Not Just a Prop The funny thing about Grogu is that he could easily have been treated like an effect. A puppet. A digital creature. A merchandising miracle with ears. Instead, Lucasfilm has spent years treating him like an actual character, and the call sheet detail says a lot about that approach….
Dave Filoni Says Star Wars Crossovers Need a Reason
Star Wars has become very good at making audiences look over every shoulder for the next familiar face. Ahsoka might appear. Thrawn might be lurking. Zeb could walk in. Someone from animation might suddenly become very expensive in live action. The galaxy is connected, and viewers know it. But Dave Filoni is making one thing clear: Star Wars should not become a cameo delivery system. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly about The Mandalorian and Grogu, Filoni said writing Star Wars projects “is not always about character crossovers.” Instead, he said, “It’s about the characters and what they’re experiencing.” That may sound simple, but for modern Star Wars, it is a pretty important line in the sand. Not Every Story Needs Ahsoka and Thrawn The comment comes as Jon Favreau and Filoni discuss why Ahsoka Tano and Grand Admiral Thrawn do not appear in The Mandalorian and Grogu. On paper, fans could…
Marcia Lucas, Oscar-Winning Star Wars Editor, Dies at 80
Marcia Lucas, the Academy Award-winning editor whose work helped shape the original Star Wars into one of cinema’s most enduring adventures, has died at the age of 80. According to the Associated Press, Lucas died in Rancho Mirage, California, after metastatic cancer. For Star Wars history, her name belongs among the essential behind-the-scenes artists who helped turn George Lucas’ space fantasy into something mythic, emotional, funny, fast, and deeply human. She was often introduced through her marriage to George Lucas, but that has never been the full story. Marcia Lucas was one of the key creative forces in the editing room where Star Wars found its rhythm, its tension, and, in many ways, its soul. The Editor Who Helped Shape Star Wars Marcia Lucas won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for the original 1977 Star Wars, sharing the Oscar with Paul Hirsch and Richard Chew. That credit matters…
Dave Filoni Says He’s Becoming Lucasfilm’s Little Obi-Wan
Dave Filoni has found a very Dave Filoni way to describe running Star Wars. Not “brand architect.”Not “content overseer.”Not “the guy trying to stop the galaxy from collapsing under the weight of canon spreadsheets.” No, Filoni sees himself a little differently. Speaking to USA Today, via AOL, the Lucasfilm creative chief described his role as helping bring out the best in the people around him and being “a little Obi-Wan” when creators need guidance through the galaxy. Honestly, that may be the most Star Wars management quote ever given. The Mentor Role Fits Filoni Almost Too Well Filoni has always been a slightly unusual figure in modern Star Wars. He began as George Lucas’ animation apprentice on The Clone Wars, became one of the key voices behind Rebels, helped shape the Disney+ era through The Mandalorian and Ahsoka, and is now one of the central creative leaders steering Lucasfilm into…
Star Wars’ Streaming Detour May Not Have Hurt the Franchise After All
For years, the big worry around Star Wars was simple: had Disney trained audiences to see the galaxy as a streaming franchise? After The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, Ahsoka, and several animated series, Star Wars had spent a long time living on Disney+. Good for subscription value. Good for weekly discourse. Good for Grogu GIFs. But maybe risky for theaters. Now The Mandalorian and Grogu has opened with around $165 million worldwide, and the early answer may be less dramatic than expected. Star Wars did not return to cinemas like The Force Awakens. But it also did not come crawling back with a broken hyperdrive and a note from accounting. As box office analyst David A. Gross told Variety: “For Star Wars not to be hurt in any obvious way by its long detour onto streaming is good news for the franchise.” That is the…
Michael Pennington, Return of the Jedi’s Moff Jerjerrod, Has Passed Away
Sad news from the Star Wars galaxy: Michael Pennington, the British actor who played Moff Tiaan Jerjerrod in Return of the Jedi, has passed away. Pennington was 82. For Star Wars viewers, he will always be remembered as the Imperial officer overseeing the second Death Star — the man who had to stand in front of Darth Vader and explain that construction was not moving fast enough. A bad work meeting, by any galactic standard. The Man Who Had to Explain Delays to Darth Vader Pennington’s Moff Jerjerrod appears early in Return of the Jedi, nervously overseeing construction of the second Death Star above Endor. The official StarWars.com Databank entry for Moff Jerjerrod describes him as the commander responsible for completing the battle station under impossible pressure from both Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine. It is a small role, but a memorable one. Jerjerrod is not Grand Moff Tarkin. He…
The Mandalorian and Grogu Is Already Climbing Disney+ Before Theaters
The Mandalorian and Grogu is still weeks away from theaters, but Disney is already using its most powerful Star Wars machine to warm up the crowd: Disney+. A new streaming push around Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu — A Special Look is already showing traction on the platform. According to FlixPatrol’s Disney+ chart for May 8, the special ranked among the top TV titles globally, sitting behind only The Testaments and Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord that day. Both ScreenRant and Collider have also noted the special’s early Disney+ momentum ahead of the movie’s theatrical release. That is exactly what Disney wants. Disney+ Is the Hype Engine Now If you are not sleeping under a rock, you already know that The Mandalorian and Grogu hits theaters on May 22, 2026. That is what makes Disney+ pushing the Special Look so interesting: the platform that turned Din Djarin and…
Kathleen Kennedy Says Jon Favreau Is Pushing Star Wars Forward Like George Lucas Did
Kathleen Kennedy has made a big comparison — and yes, Star Wars fandom will almost certainly discuss it calmly, politely, and with no dramatic overreactions whatsoever. Speaking about Jon Favreau and The Mandalorian and Grogu, Kennedy compared Favreau’s approach to innovation with the way George Lucas pushed filmmaking technology forward. In a new GamesRadar+ report, Kennedy praised Favreau for taking technology and cinema “into the next level,” saying that spirit reminds her of what Lucas did. That is not a small compliment. In Star Wars terms, that is basically handing someone the keys to the digital toolbox and saying, “Try not to break cinema.” Favreau’s Star Wars Has Always Been Tech-Driven The comparison makes sense when you look at what The Mandalorian actually did for modern production. Favreau helped bring StageCraft and the Volume into the mainstream conversation, using large LED environments to blend real-time digital backgrounds with live-action filming….
Grogu Café Is Opening in London, Because Star Wars Has Finally Weaponized Matcha
Grogu has already conquered toys, memes, Disney+ thumbnails, lunchboxes, plush shelves, and the emotional stability of anyone with functioning eyes. Now he is coming for London’s café scene. Disney UK has announced a limited-time Grogu Café pop-up in Shoreditch, opening from Friday, May 15 to Sunday, May 17, ahead of the cinema release of Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu on May 22, 2026. According to the official Disney UK press release, the pop-up will feature Grogu-inspired food, drinks, themed décor, photo moments, and merchandise. So yes, Star Wars has reached the “adorable alien matcha activation” phase. Honestly, it was only a matter of time. The Cutest Outpost in the Galaxy The café will be located at 1 Kingsland Road, Shoreditch, London, E2 8AA, with DisneyTickets describing it as a “matcha-fuelled experience” built around Grogu’s charm. Entry is free but ticketed, with food, drink, and products available to purchase on-site…
Star Wars Insider Is Over — And a Huge Piece of Fan History Goes With It
Before Star Wars news lived on YouTube thumbnails, Reddit threads, Discord servers, leaks accounts, and algorithmic chaos, there was Star Wars Insider. Now, after nearly four decades of official magazine history, that run has come to an end. The final issue, Star Wars Insider #237, is out now, closing a publication lineage that stretches back through Star Wars Insider, The Lucasfilm Fan Club Magazine, and the old-school fan-club era when getting official Star Wars news meant waiting for paper to arrive like some kind of ancient Jedi ritual. It sounds dramatic because it is dramatic. For a lot of readers, Insider was not just a magazine. It was the magazine. The Final Issue Has Arrived Lucasfilm announced last year that Star Wars Insider would launch its final issue in 2026, with issue #237 marking the end of the magazine’s current run with Titan. At the time, editor Christopher Cooper described…
Nielsen Says Star Wars Viewing Is Still Movie-First — Even in the Disney+ Era
or all the talk about Star Wars becoming a streaming-first franchise, the numbers are doing something very old-fashioned: pointing back at the movies. According to new Nielsen data on Star Wars viewing in 2025, live-action movies accounted for the biggest share of total Star Wars viewing, with 44.2% of watch time. Live-action series followed closely at 38.9%, while animation made up 16.8% and documentaries barely registered at 0.2%. In other words: Disney+ may have turned Star Wars into a year-round TV machine, but the films are still the franchise’s gravitational center. The Movies Still Run the Galaxy Nielsen reports that U.S. viewers spent more than 33 billion minutes watching Star Wars content across linear TV and streaming in 2025, with streaming accounting for most of that total. That is not exactly a franchise quietly fading into the twin suns. The most-watched Star Wars film of the year was not a…
Monopoly: Star Wars Heroes vs. Villains PC Specs Revealed — And Your Rig Can Probably Handle It
Good news for anyone worried that Monopoly: Star Wars Heroes vs. Villains might demand the power of a fully armed and operational battle station: the PC requirements are extremely reasonable. Ubisoft has now shared the PC specifications for the upcoming Star Wars-themed Monopoly game, and unless your computer still sounds like a podracer trying to start in a sandstorm, you are probably fine. The game is set to launch on June 11, 2026, with Ubisoft listing it for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2. A Surprisingly Light Trip Around the Galactic Board The official PC specs show three performance targets: Minimum, Recommended, and Ultra. Even the minimum target is aiming for 1080p at 60 FPS on High preset, which is a pretty friendly starting point for a modern licensed game. For minimum settings, players will need an Intel Core i3-8100 or AMD Ryzen 3…
The London Symphony Orchestra Is Bringing Star Wars Home in 2027
Some Star Wars events sound cool. This one sounds dangerous for anyone who gets emotional the second that opening crawl hits. London’s Royal Albert Hall has announced its first ever Star Wars in Concert Weekender, bringing the original trilogy to the venue across four days in spring 2027. Even better: the scores will be performed live by the London Symphony Orchestra, the orchestra forever tied to the sound of Star Wars itself. The event runs from April 29 to May 2, 2027, with two screenings each of A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. (Royal Albert Hall) The Original Trilogy, Live The weekender will feature full film screenings while the LSO performs John Williams’ legendary scores live in the hall. The current schedule includes: A New Hope in Concert from April 29 to May 1The Empire Strikes Back in Concert from April 30 to May…