Star Wars Anthology Series

"We’re extremely excited about these...we're going to be calling them Anthology films."

- Kiri Hart

The Star Wars Anthology Series is the banner title for a series of upcoming stand-alone Star Wars films, beginning with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story in December 2016. It was first announced at Celebration Anaheim on April 19, 2015.

Films

 * Rogue One: A Star Wars Story &mdash; December 16, 2016
 * Untitled Han Solo film &mdash; May 25, 2018
 * Untitled Star Wars film &mdash; 2020

Development
"It's certainly exciting as a filmmaker, the notion that we can explore these stories that genuinely have a beginning, middle and an end, and don't necessarily have to tie into something specific."

- Kathleen Kennedy

News that the Disney-Lucasfilm brand was developing several theatrical pictures separate from the core, episodic Star Wars saga was reported in 2013, with Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg slated to write their own individual spinoff films. While director Gareth Edwards' then-untitled Rogue One: A Star Wars Story project was announced in 2014 as the first of these standalone features, it was not until the following year on April 19 at Celebration Anaheim that the announcement was made that the spinoff films would collectively be known as the Star Wars Anthology Series.

Josh Trank signed on to direct an Anthology film in 2014 but left the project after a year to pursue other opportunities.

On July 7, 2015, Lawrence Kasdan's Anthology film was given a release date of May 25, 2018, with Christopher Miller and Phil Lord attached to direct, and Kasdan's son Jon Kasdan contributing to the script as well. The film will follow the story of a young Han Solo. On June 20 2017, it was announced that Lord and Miller were stepping away from the project. on June 22, it was announced Ron Howard would assume directorial duties on the film.

Future possibilities
In July 2015, director Guillermo del Toro, who was at one point considered to direct Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens, commented that he pitched an idea for a film about Jabba Desilijic Tiure, and in 2017, it was reported that the idea was one of the many projects considered by Lucasfilm Ltd. In August 2017, several sources rumored that a film focusing on Obi-Wan Kenobi was in development, with Stephen Daldry in negotiations to direct it and with Ewan McGregor potentially reprising his role. It was also reported that Lucasfilm was considering various spin-off films focused on many beloved Star Wars characters like Boba Fett or Master Yoda. Addiotionally, in September 2017, Ian McDiarmid expressed his desire to reprise again his role as Darth Sidious in a future Anthology films, also stating that he doesn't want to see the character being recast.