The Future of Star Wars: With Three New Films and a Prequel Series, Lucasfilm Takes Its Biggest Gamble Yet

variety.com:

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer The past, present and future of Star Wars was on ample display on Friday at the Star Wars Celebration fan convention, as Lucasfilm unveiled the most robust look yet at the company’s plans for the hallowed franchise.

As studio chief Kathleen Kennedy revealed three new feature films and first looks at four upcoming TV series, Lucasfilm made clear it aims to test just how far it can stretch the Star Wars galaxy: creatively, logistically and even historically.

Starting with “The Phantom Menace” and concluding with “The Rise of Skywalker,” the previous nine “Star Wars” movies have all taken place within a roughly 70-year timeline, straddling the climactic Battle of Yavin in “A New Hope” that has served as the official fulcrum point for the franchise for six decades.

Every live-action and animated spinoff TV series has unfolded within that timeframe, including the shows launched on Disney+: “The Mandalorian,” “The Book of Boba Fett,” “Andor,” “The Bad Batch” and the upcoming shows “Ahsoka” and “Skeleton Crew.” (“Visions,” an animated anthology series launched in 2021, exists outside of Star Wars canon.) Between the hordes of Star Wars tie-in novels, comic books and video games, however, hardcore fans know that the full history of the franchise stretches over tens of thousands of years, and Lucasfilm intends to begin exploiting that vaster narrative landscape in live-action, starting with “The Acolyte.” First announced in 2020, the Disney+ series breaks brand new ground on two fronts: It’s set roughly 100 years before the events of “The Phantom Menace,” and it will track the rise of the Sith during the waning days of the High Republic.  “I really wanted to delve into the Star Wars