With Star Wars Celebration kicking off on April 7, fans are expecting Lucasfilm to announce Star Wars' long-awaited return to theaters.
While last year's hopes for a big screen announcement never materialized, recent reports suggest Lucasfilm will unveil its movie plans at this year's event.
Now that Kevin Feige's Star Wars film has been shelved, the two projects with the best odds of actually coming to theaters are Taika Waititi's and David Lindelof's directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.
But now, weeks away from Star Wars Celebration, a new report revealed which of these films is expected to arrive in this galaxy first.
Star Wars' Next Theatrical Endeavor
On John Rocha's The Hot Mic podcast, insider Jeff Sneider claimed Lucasfilm decided on what the next Star Wars movie will be and it's "the [Damon] Lindelof movie. Like a hundred percent:"
He went on to confirm that this film is "the one coming out December 2025." Disney's next untitled Star Wars film is slotted for a December 19, 2025 release.
Damon Lindelof penned the hit drama Lost and created the award-winning series Watchmen.
His film's director, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, directed two episodes of Ms. Marvel for Disney+.
It's also worth noting that Jeff Sneider initially reported Lucasfilm's hiring of Lindelof in March 2022; and in early 2023, he claimed the project was casting a person of color as the lead.
When host John Rocha followed up, asking if Damon Lindelof's film is, in fact, the one he's hearing, Sneider replied, "100 million percent, yes."
Jeff Sneider also mentioned that this movie already has talent attached, a director (Obaid-Chinoy), and a script that's "by all accounts, done."
The Force Is Strong With This One
While Taika Waititi's film appears to be moving forward, little has been revealed or even rumored about his project.
On the other hand, in addition to all that Sneider shared in recent months about Lindelof's movie, The Hollywood Reporter claimed that the writer's film takes place after 2019's The Rise of Skywalker and "could" include sequel trilogy characters.
As further evidence, The Mandalorian's Jon Favreau recently confirmed that Star Wars is developing post-sequel trilogy stories.
It also makes Daisy Ridley's surprising Instagram story from Lucasfilm all the more interesting.
If this report proves to be true, Damon Lindelof and Obaid-Chinoy's Star Wars film will be the first to return to theaters after Lucasfilm's six-year absence.
Star Wars fans should expect to hear official confirmation at Star Wars Celebration in London which begins on April 7.
