Jon Watts is reportedly directing Star Wars’ next trilogy opener

Scooper Daniel Richtman reports that Spider-Man director Jon Watts will helm the first film in Simon Kinberg’s Star Wars trilogy.

A report says Lucasfilm has its director for the next Star Wars trilogy.

Jon Watts, who directed the Tom Holland Spider-Man films and Lucasfilm’s Skeleton Crew series, has reportedly signed on to direct the opening installment of the trilogy written by Simon Kinberg.

That comes from industry scooper Daniel Richtman.

Lucasfilm has not announced a director. Disney has not commented.

Richtman is a working scooper with a real track record, though an uneven one. His reports typically arrive through his own Patreon before circulating through fan sites.

Treat this as a report, not an announcement.

Who Jon Watts is

Watts directed all three Holland-era Spider-Man films for Sony and Marvel, a trilogy that finished with Spider-Man: No Way Home grossing $1.9 billion worldwide in 2021.

He then made Skeleton Crew for Lucasfilm, the Disney+ series about a group of kids lost in the galaxy, which drew strong reviews.

So he has already worked inside Lucasfilm, and he has already proven he can deliver a franchise film on a studio schedule.

The Kinberg trilogy is real

Simon Kinberg‘s involvement in a new Star Wars trilogy was first reported in late 2024. He is writing and producing.

Kinberg co-created Star Wars Rebels with Dave Filoni, now Lucasfilm’s chief creative officer, and spent years writing and producing X-Men films for Fox.

Reports in early 2026 indicated the first film in his trilogy had become a top priority at the studio.

This new trilogy is said to continue the “Skywalker Saga “ but none of them are left, and it’s just Rey who gave herself the name and is doing the job fans wanted Luke Skywalker to do.

Given the diminishing returns of Disney’s sequel trilogy, doubling down on Rey might not be the best way to go.

Lucasfilm is hiring directors with a proven track record

The studio’s recent director choices share a profile. Shawn Levy got Star Wars: Starfighter, arriving May 28, 2027. Levy came from the Night at the Museum and Free Guy side of the business, then delivered Deadpool & Wolverine for Marvel.

Watts fits the same mold. A commercial franchise filmmaker who is already familiar with how Lucasfilm operates.

That is a different approach than Star Wars took for most of the last decade, when the studio repeatedly hired distinctive filmmakers and then parted ways with them mid-production.

Hiring directors who have already survived a studio franchise, and in Watts’ case already survived this one, is a deliberate choice.

What Lucasfilm has actually confirmed

Star Wars: Starfighter opens May 28, 2027, the 50th anniversary weekend of the original film’s premiere. Levy directs from a script by Jonathan Tropper. Ryan Gosling stars as Kade Auberon, alongside Matt Smith, Mia Goth, Aaron Pierre and Amy Adams. It was shot with IMAX cameras.

Before that, the original 1977 Star Wars returns to theaters in a new restoration on Feb. 19, 2027, its first IMAX presentation ever.

What nobody knows yet

Almost everything about the trilogy itself.

There is no title, no release date, no casting, no confirmed era or setting, and no public plot information. Kinberg’s script status has not been disclosed.

If the Watts report is accurate, Lucasfilm would presumably confirm it at some point, likely alongside other details. If it isn’t, the report simply fades.

For now, the studio has one Star Wars film dated and a lot of reported activity behind it.

Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.

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Hat Tips:

• Murphy’s Multiverse (Sept. 26, 2026), Charles Murphy’s report on the Watts claim, the Kinberg trilogy background and the Lucasfilm hiring analysis

• Daniel Richtman (September 2026), the original report that Watts is attached to direct

• StarWars.com and Variety (Sept. 8, 2026), the confirmed Starfighter release date, cast and crew, and the Feb. 19 A New Hope IMAX re-release

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