The Star Wars sequel trilogy, released between 2015 and 2019, is the third trilogy of the main Star Wars franchise, an American space opera created by George Lucas. It is produced by Lucasfilm Ltd. and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Set within the franchise's canon universe, the trilogy consists of episodes VII through IX, chronologically following the prequel trilogy (Episodes I–III; 1999–2005) and the original trilogy (Episodes IV–VI; 1977–1983), serving as the final act of the "Skywalker Saga". Lucas had planned a sequel trilogy as early as 1976, but canceled it by 1981. He produced only the first six episodes, and for a time described these as comprising the complete story. The sequel trilogy concept was revived when the Walt Disney Company entered negotiations to acquire Lucasfilm in 2011. Lucas produced new story treatments, but these were largely discarded. Both the acquisition and plans to produce the trilogy were announced in late 2012.
The first installment, The Force Awakens, was released on December 18, 2015, after a thirty-two year hiatus between the original and sequel trilogies. It was directed by J. J. Abrams who co-wrote the screenplay with Lawrence Kasdan and Michael Arndt. Original trilogy cast members including Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher reprised their roles, co-starring alongside franchise newcomers Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver, and Oscar Isaac. The second installment, The Last Jedi, was released on December 15, 2017, with Rian Johnson as screenwriter and director, and most of the cast returning. The final installment, The Rise of Skywalker, was released on December 20, 2019. It was directed by Abrams, who co-wrote it with Chris Terrio.
The trilogy follows the orphan Rey and the plight of the Resistance against the First Order, which has risen from the fallen Galactic Empire. Rey learns the ways of the Force under Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa, and confronts Kylo Ren—the son of Leia and Han Solo, nephew of Luke Skywalker, and grandson of Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader—who has fallen to the dark side. The first two films received positive reviews from critics, while the third received mixed reviews. The trilogy grossed over $4.4 billion at the box office worldwide, with each film surpassing $1 billion worldwide.
Contents
Background
Early development
According to Mark Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker, Star Wars creator George Lucas told him in 1976 that he planned three or four Star Wars trilogies. Lucas suggested that Hamill could have a cameo appearance role in Episode IX, which he imagined filming by 2011. A Time magazine story in March 1978, quoting Lucas, stated there would be ten Star Wars films after The Empire Strikes Back. Gary Kurtz, the producer of the first two films, was aware of proposed story elements for Episode VII to Episode IX before 1980. At the time of the release of The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Lucas said there were seven further Star Wars films he wanted to make. He said he had "twelve-page outlines" for those films. In an interview with Jim Steranko in Prevue magazine published in late 1980, Lucas described how the expansive scope of Star Wars had started with an overlong screenplay:
So, I took the screenplay and divided it into three stories, and rewrote the first one. ... Then, I had the other two films, which were essentially split into three parts each, two trilogies. When the smoke cleared, I said, 'This is really great. I'll do another trilogy that takes place after this.' I had three trilogies of nine films, and then another couple of odd films. ... It's a nine-part saga that has a beginning, a middle and an end. It progresses over a period of about fifty or sixty years with about twenty years between trilogies, each trilogy taking about six or seven years.
By the time of Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back's release, Lucas had written story treatments for all nine Star Wars episodes. In 1999, Kurtz revealed a brief outline of these treatments:
Episode I would have explored the methodology of the Jedi.
Episode II would have developed the backstory of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Episode III would explain the rise of Darth Vader.
Episode IV had already seen Luke decide to become a Jedi and Obi-Wan's final confrontation with Vader.
Episode V was filmed essentially as written.
Cancellation period
According to Gary Kurtz, details of elements from the discarded sequel trilogy which were incorporated into Return of the Jedi include:
Luke Skywalker becomes a full-fledged Jedi knight.
Luke's sister, who was originally meant to be a new character, was revealed to be Leia.
The Emperor would first appear and Luke would confront him.
Through the 1980s, Lucas variously hinted at plot elements from his abandoned sequel trilogy, which he said would have revolved around moral and philosophical problems, including distinguishing right from wrong, justice, confrontation, and passing on what one has learned. Ideas which seem to have been used in Disney's sequel trilogy include:
Episode VII would begin 20–40 years after the end of Return of the Jedi (Lucas in 1980 and 1982).
R2-D2 and C-3PO would be the only characters to appear in all nine films (Lucas in 1980, 1981, and 1983).
The key actors, Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Ford as Han Solo, and Fisher as Princess Leia, would appear in their 60s or 70s (Lucas in 1983).
Lucas stated in 1980 that "what happens to Luke ... is much more ethereal. I have a tiny notebook full of notes on that." Hamill said in 1983 that if his character were to return again, it would be "on another plane of existence, or not the same character."
Ideas that were apparently not retained in Disney's sequel trilogy include:
The trilogy would deal with the rebuilding of the Republic (Lucas in 1980).
Sale of Lucasfilm to the Walt Disney Company and renewed development
In May 2011, Lucas was in Orlando, Florida, to celebrate the opening of Star Tours – The Adventures Continue at Walt Disney World. He was invited to breakfast by Disney CEO Bob Iger, who asked Lucas if he would be willing to sell his company to Disney. Lucas had begun to consider retiring, but was not ready to do so at that time. Lucas considered directing Episode VII for a May 2015 release and then selling his company. But by then, despite his plans for three more Star Wars films, he had decided that he wanted to make the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art (which eventually opened on September 22, 2026) and he knew that he was running out of time. So he decided to leave the franchise in the hands of other filmmakers, announcing in January 2012 that he would step away from making blockbuster films.
In early 2012, after being disappointed by the weak performance of Red Tails, Lucas announced to The New York Times that he was planning to retire. While he was in New York, he asked Kathleen Kennedy to lunch. He asked if she would be a co-chair at Lucasfilm with him, with the intention of transferring leadership entirely to her after about a year. She began working for him on June 1, 2012; Lucas soon proposed that they work together on the sequel trilogy. They brought in Michael Arndt to write a draft of Episode VII based on Lucas's synopsis. Star Wars screenwriting veteran Lawrence Kasdan was hired to support Arndt. After making an appearance at Star Wars Celebration VI in late August, Lucas took Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher to lunch and asked if they would be willing to reprise their roles for the new films. They agreed, as did Harrison Ford after being promised that Han Solo would be given meaningful closure.
Details of his sequel trilogy treatments included the conclusion of the Skywalker family's story, with its third generation being portrayed in their twenties. Lucas hoped to explain concepts he had imagined when he originally drafted his saga in the 1970s. Most specifically he revealed the "symbiotic relationships" between the Jedi, the Force, midi-chlorians (microscopic lifeforms, first mentioned onscreen in 1999's The Phantom Menace), and the Whills (all-powerful creatures first mentioned in the title of the original outline of Star Wars, Journal of the Whills):
[The next three Star Wars films] were going to get into a microbiotic world. But there's this world of creatures that operate differently than we do. I call them the Whills. And the Whills are the ones who actually control the universe. They feed off the Force. Back in the day, I used to say ultimately what this means is we were just cars, vehicles, for the Whills to travel around in. We're vessels for them. And the conduit is the midi-chlorians. The midi-chlorians are the ones that communicate with the Whills. The Whills, in a general sense, they are the Force. ... But it's about symbiotic relationships. I think, personally, one of the core values we should have in the world, and kids should be taught, is ecology, to understand that we all are connected. (Lucas, 2018)
Films
Unlike the previous two trilogies, whose films were released approximately three years apart ahead of Memorial Day weekend, the sequel films were released two years apart from each other in December. Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released on December 18, 2015, and introduces the 19-year-old orphan, Rey, who is drawn into the conflict between the Resistance and the First Order, a ruthless military faction commanded by Kylo Ren—the son of Leia Organa and Han Solo. In The Last Jedi, released on December 15, 2017, Rey is trained by Luke Skywalker, the last living Jedi, while again facing Ren and the First Order. The Rise of Skywalker was released on December 20, 2019, and features the conclusion of the age-old conflict between the Jedi and Sith, with Rey confronting the resurrected Emperor Palpatine.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
About 30 years after the destruction of the second Death Star, Luke Skywalker has vanished. The remnants of the Empire have become the First Order, which seeks to destroy Luke and the New Republic. The First Order is opposed by the Resistance, led by General Leia Organa. On the planet Jakku, Resistance pilot Poe Dameron obtains a map to Luke's location, but he is captured by First Order enforcer Kylo Ren—the son of Leia and Han Solo. Poe's droid BB-8 escapes with the map and encounters a scavenger named Rey. Rey and BB-8 team up with a defecting stormtrooper, Finn, along with Han Solo and Chewbacca, to deliver the map to the Resistance.
Episode VII began development on October 30, 2012. The screenplay for the film was originally set to be written by Michael Arndt, but time management and creative differences contributed to his departure from the project. On January 25, 2013, J. J. Abrams was officially announced as Episode VII's director and producer, along with producer Bryan Burk and Bad Robot. John Williams was hired to compose the music for the entire sequel trilogy. In October, it was announced that writing duties would be taken over by Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan, co-writer of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
George Lucas was set to provide Abrams with advice as a creative consultant; however, Lucas had no involvement, with his representative stating that he "ideally would love not to see any footage until he walks into the theater next December. He has never been able to be surprised by a Star Wars film before and he said he was looking forward to it." Production began in April 2014; it was released on December 18, 2015. In the US, the film received a PG-13 rating "for sci-fi action violence" and the equivalent M rating in Australia, the second Star Wars film to receive that classification after Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.
The film broke opening weekend box office records in North America with $248 million ($39 million more than previous record holder Jurassic World) and totals of $529 million worldwide, the largest opening ever. The film set another new record by becoming the first movie to break the $1 billion mark in box office sales in just 12 days. It is currently the highest-grossing film of all time in North America and the fourth highest-grossing film worldwide, unadjusted for inflation.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
After finding Luke Skywalker in self-imposed exile, Rey attempts to convince him to teach her the ways of the Force. She also seeks answers about her past and the conflict between Luke and his nephew Ben Solo (now Kylo Ren). Unbeknownst to Luke, Rey starts using the Force to communicate with Kylo. Meanwhile, Leia leads the Resistance as they are pursued by the First Order, led by Supreme Leader Snoke. Rey leaves Luke in an attempt to redeem Kylo and achieve peace. After Kylo kills Snoke, Rey is forced to choose between ruling the galaxy with him, or helping the outnumbered Resistance survive.
On November 20, 2012, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg would write and produce Episodes VIII and IX, but were later confirmed to be writing standalone films. On June 20, 2014, Looper director Rian Johnson was announced as the writer and director of Episode VIII; he confirmed in August that he would direct. On March 12, 2015, Lucasfilm announced that Johnson would direct Episode VIII with Ram Bergman as producer.
In March 2015, Oscar Isaac confirmed he would reprise his role as Poe Dameron in Episode VIII. In July, it was reported that Benicio del Toro was being considered for a villain; he later confirmed that he had been cast. In September, it was reported that Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Tatiana Maslany, Gina Rodriguez, Olivia Cooke, and Bel Powley were on the shortlist for two separate parts. Jimmy Vee was cast as R2-D2, succeeding Kenny Baker, who would die the next year. Some pre-production filming took place in September 2015 on the island of Skellig Michael, Ireland to take advantage of better weather conditions. Abrams revealed that the film's script was completed in a November 2015 interview with Wired. In December, Hamill, Isaac, Christie, and Boyega were confirmed to reprise their roles as Luke Skywalker, Poe Dameron, Captain Phasma, and Finn, respectively. Kennedy announced at the December 17 London premiere of The Force Awakens that most of its cast would return for Episode VIII.
On January 20, 2016, Lucasfilm and Disney announced that the release of the film would be delayed from May to December 2017. Three days later, the release date of December 15, 2017 was confirmed, as well as the title Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Principal photography began in February 2016; additional filming took place in Dubrovnik from March 9 to March 16, as well as in Ireland in May. Principal photography wrapped in July 2016. Carrie Fisher died on December 27, 2016, but had completed filming her role as Leia. Much of the filming took place at Pinewood Studios near London. Kathleen Kennedy and Ram Bergman were the producers and J. J. Abrams executive produced.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
The Rise of Skywalker is the final film of the Skywalker saga, featuring a climactic clash between the Resistance and the First Order, and the Jedi and the Sith. The film is set a year following The Last Jedi and depicts the return of Palpatine, who has been secretly controlling the First Order from the Sith planet Exegol. Palpatine orders Kylo Ren to find and kill Rey, who is revealed to be Palpatine's granddaughter. Palpatine unveils the Final Order, a Sith armada of Star Destroyers, to reclaim the galaxy. Rey and the Resistance learn of Palpatine's return and embark on a quest to find him. They eventually locate Exegol; Rey confronts Palpatine, while the Resistance attack the Sith fleet.
In June 2014, Johnson was announced as writing a story treatment for Episode IX, but later stated he had not been involved with writing the film. In August 2015, Colin Trevorrow was announced as the director of Episode IX, and he, with Derek Connolly, began writing a script draft secretly titled Star Wars: Duel of the Fates. Many elements from that draft survived into the actual film. In February 2016, Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed that pre-production of Episode IX had begun.
Following the death of Carrie Fisher in late December 2016, media outlets speculated on whether her role would be recast for Episode IX and whether the absence of her character would affect the film's plot. A few weeks later, Lucasfilm stated that they would not digitally recreate Fisher's performance for the film. In April 2017, Kathleen Kennedy stated that Fisher would not be in Episode IX, but it was later announced that Fisher would in fact appear using unreleased footage from The Force Awakens. In August, it was reported that Jack Thorne would rewrite the script.
In September 2017, Lucasfilm announced that Trevorrow had stepped down as director, and a week later, it was announced that J. J. Abrams would return to direct Episode IX. He co-wrote the script with Chris Terrio, in addition to producing the film through Bad Robot with Kennedy and Michelle Rejwan. Disney had originally scheduled the film's release for December 2019, in keeping with the previous two sequel trilogy films, but then moved it up to May 24, a time of the year more common to the first six Star Wars episodes. However, after Abrams' return, its release date was moved back to December.
On January 10, 2018, it was reported that John Williams would return to compose and conduct the music for Episode IX. The next month, Williams announced that it would be the last Star Wars film music he would compose.
Themes
According to J. J. Abrams and Chris Terrio, the trilogy's core theme is about learning from the previous generation, akin to the Americans in the War of 1812, who preserved what was fought for in the American Revolutionary War. On the inspiration for the First Order formed "from the ashes of the Empire", Abrams spoke of conversations the writers had about how the Nazis could have escaped to Argentina after World War II and "started working together again."
Polygon considers that The Last Jedi's portrayal of Luke Skywalker as a pacifist Jedi master reflects the Jedi's beliefs as being inspired by the Buddhist religion due to the character's inner conflict towards using a lightsaber and seeing it as a weapon of destruction. The Last Jedi features scenes recalling Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon (1950), utilizing the Rashomon effect when Luke tells Rey that he considered murdering his nephew, Ben Solo, due to sensing his inevitable fall to the dark side. Later, Kylo recounts his perspective, which prompts Luke to tell a third, combined perspective of the event.
According to Adam Driver, Kylo Ren is "morally justified in doing what he thinks is right". The Rise of Skywalker depicts Kylo Ren having his helmet repaired following its destruction in The Last Jedi. Abrams compared the fractured mask to Kintsugi, a Japanese ceramic art of repairing broken pottery which accentuates the breakage. While the helmet obscures his vulnerabilities in The Force Awakens, its fractured form in The Rise of Skywalker instead communicates the fractured nature of his character. Kylo overcomes and kills his father in The Force Awakens before reconciling with his memory of him in The Rise of Skywalker; according to Terrio, this reconciliation represents the "Atonement with the Father" stage of the hero's journey, which the Star Wars films are heavily patterned on.
Rey's journey mirrors that of Anakin and Luke in the prequel and original trilogies. The final scene of The Last Jedi depicts servant children playing with a toy of Luke, with one boy using the Force to grab a broom. According to Inverse, this symbolizes that "the Force can be found in people with humble beginnings." A writer for the same website interprets the end of The Rise of Skywalker as seeing Rey "bury the past" and rejecting "any power her grandfather held over her" in a completion of the hero's journey.
Reception
Box office performance
The sequel trilogy experienced diminishing box office returns with each succeeding film. Nevertheless, it is the highest-grossing trilogy of the franchise overall, with The Force Awakens ranking as the sixth-highest-grossing film of all time.
Response from Star Wars filmmakers
George Lucas agreed with critics who considered The Force Awakens too derivative of the original trilogy. In an interview with Charlie Rose, Lucas likened his decision to sell Lucasfilm to Disney to a divorce, and outlined the creative differences between him and the producers of The Force Awakens. Lucas described the previous six Star Wars films as his "children" and defended his vision for them, while criticizing The Force Awakens for having a "retro feel", saying: "I worked very hard to make them completely different, with different planets, with different spaceships ... to make it new." Lucas also likened Disney to "white slavers", which drew some criticism. He subsequently apologized for this remark.
In 2016, responding to the complaints of derivativeness, Abrams said, "What was important for me was introducing brand new characters using relationships that were embracing the history that we know to tell a story that is new – to go backwards to go forwards". The same year, the Disney-produced Star Wars anthology film Rogue One was released, and it was reported that Lucas liked it more than The Force Awakens. In 2017, Lucas described the sequel The Last Jedi as "beautifully made".
Marcia Lucas, George Lucas's ex-wife, who was an editor of all three original films and won an Oscar for her work on the first, criticized the Disney sequels in an interview with J. W. Rinzler for his posthumous final book, Howard Kazanjian: A Producer's Life. She stated that Kennedy and Abrams "don't get" the franchise, particularly criticizing the deaths of Han and Luke, as well as the lack of an explanation for Rey's powers.
Critical and public response
The sequel trilogy has received a generally positive reception from critics, being collectively lauded for its emotional weight, lead performances, and visual effects (including the focus on practical effects). However, several have criticized it for being derivative of the original trilogy. Individually, praise has been directed at The Force Awakens for embracing the spirit of the original trilogy, and The Last Jedi for its direction and willingness to take risks. In contrast, The Rise of Skywalker received criticism for its perceived retconning of the plot, characterization, and themes of The Last Jedi, attributed to appeasing a segment of the fanbase to whom the film had proved controversial.
Retrospectively, critics and publications have labelled the fan response to the sequel trilogy as divisive, particularly as a result of the final two installments. Some have commented on the apparent lack of planning for the trilogy's overarching story, feeling that the films appear inconsistent and contradictory from the differing visions of directors J. J. Abrams and Rian Johnson; the latter was alleged to have been given complete creative control for The Last Jedi. CNBC and Paste Magazine criticized the decision not to use a showrunner to helm the trilogy.
Tie-in media
In addition to a vast campaign of tie-in media including adaptations and the Journey to Star Wars publishing campaign (released in anticipation of each film), a number of other spin-offs have been released, altogether fleshing out characters and story elements from the trilogy (including some which were cut from it) and tying into earlier eras. Some sources have also pointed out that streaming series The Mandalorian and its spin-offs will likely set up the events of the sequel trilogy.
In November 2021, Kathleen Kennedy revealed that Lucasfilm creatives had been having conversations regarding the future of the trilogy's characters. At Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023, a new film directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy was announced that would follow Rey as she attempts to rebuild the Jedi Order 15 years after the events of The Rise of Skywalker. Ridley was set to reprise her role as Rey. Kennedy also hinted at the possibility of other Sequel Trilogy characters coming back.