Star Wars 8, 9 and Rogue One: Releases dates, plots, casts and directors

A Star Wars film will be released every year until at least 2020.

The Star Wars: Rogue One cast (Disney)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens may have only just hit cinemas, but it leaves so many unanswered questions that people are already starting to theorise as to what might happen in Star Wars 8, Star Wars 9 and the spin-off movies.

Here’s what we know about each of them so far.

Star Wars: Episode VIII - released 26 May, 2017

Rian Johnson will write and direct, the man behind Looper and arguably the two best Breaking Bad episodes (you can read more about him here).

Plot details are being kept under wraps, but (spoilers ahead), given how The Force Awakens ends, we can probably expect to see Rey (Daisy Ridley) being filled in and possibly trained by Luke Skywalker, Finn (John Bodega) recovering from his lightsaber injuries inflicted by Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and Snoke (Andy Serkis) establishing a new base.

Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie) is likely to feature more heavily, having been very underused in TFA. Producer Kathleen Kennedy has confirmed that the entire cast of 7 will be back for 8, along with some as yet unannounced new additions.

Apparently the script for Star Wars 8 is so good, Abrams wishes he could come back to direct it. Filming begins in January 2016.

Star Wars: Episode IX - released 24 May, 2019

Johnson will return as screenwriter and is currently developing the story - but this time Jurassic World’s Colin Trevorrow will direct.

Before he boarded franchises, Trevorrow made the comparatively low budget Safety Not Guaranteed, so let’s hope he can bring an indie sensibility to the trilogy.

The plot is anyone’s guess right now. Given the success of TFA though, it’s a certainty that Disney will want to leave the story open enough for another trilogy further down the line.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - released 16 December, 2016

Bridging the gap between trilogy instalments is Rogue One, the first in a series of stand-alone anthology films that will centre on a group of Rebel spies on a mission to steal the plans for the Empire's new weapon, the Death Star.

Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Riz Ahmed, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelsen and Alan Tudyk will star, with Jonathan Aris confirmed to play Senator Jebel.

Godzilla’s Gareth Edwards will direct the film from a screenplay written by Gary Whitta (After Earth) and Chris Weitz (Nutty Professor II: The Klumps). This combo worries me.

The premise is as follows:

‘Following the foundation of the Galactic Empire, a wayward band of Rebel fighters comes together to carry out a desperate mission: to steal the plans for the Death Star before it can be used to enforce the Emperor's rule.’

Principal photography began at Elstree Studios in August 2015, with additional scenes being shot in the Maldives.

Untitled Han Solo film - released 25 May, 2018

The Lego Movie’s Phil Lord and Christopher Miller will direct, with the screenplay coming from long-serving Star Wars scribe Lawrence Kasdan.

Untitled Boba Fett film - released sometime in 2020

No news on cast or crew yet.