Another Star Wars project "on hold" as cancellation rumors persist

Both Lucasfilm's Star Wars franchise and Marvel Studios' Marvel Cinematic Universe film series have somewhat struggled to maintain their previous levels of success outside of their original stories. While the MCU began to hit a bit of a wall with certain titles after the Infinity Saga concluded, that galaxy so far, far away ended up doing the same towards the conclusion of its Skywalker Saga.

The arrival of the Disney Plus streaming service (and the subsequent shows produced for both franchises to stream on it) has run the risk of watering both franchises down a little bit, but the issues were noticeable on the big screen too, with both Lucasfilm and Marvel Studios taking some steps to course-correct.

From a low-performing prequel movie to multiple recent rumored cancellations (and an actual cancellation, too), Star Wars has hit some speed bumps in its journey through space in recent years. Though it has plans in place to chart a course back to success, there are some rather disappointing updates when it comes to specific projects that are a part of the franchise. Unfortunately, another one has surfaced (although there is a silver lining).

Star Wars' Rey movie on hold (but only for now)

According to reliable industry insider Daniel Richtman, the Star Wars movie focusing on Rey is on hold for now. This supports months of rumors that the film wasn't going to come to fruition as soon as fans were hoping, but the good news is that it also confirms that the film is still getting made. Richtman insists that the Rey movie has not been cancelled and that it will film sometime next year.

Yes, the idea of the film being delayed isn't great but this is actually a good update as it dispels any rumors of its cancellation (and, unfortunately, there have been a few of those rumors in recent months). That's a good thing, as it means that we will see Rey venture onto the big screen once again in the near-future.

Rey is portrayed by Daisy Jones and she first made her debut in 2015's Star Wars: The Force Awakens before going on to become the protagonist of the Sequel Trilogy, returning in sequels Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019). She is set to return in this long-gestating solo movie, which is rumored to be called Star Wars: Jedi Order.

Since the Sequel Trilogy concluded with the third movie, the Star Wars franchise has been at a bit of an impasse. There haven't been any more movies in the saga since, with Lucasfilm shifting its focus to producing Star Wars TV shows for Disney Plus. The first of those shows, The Mandalorian, has gone on to become one of the streamer's biggest ever shows and fans consider it the peak of the franchise's Disney Plus era. But that hasn't stopped the franchise from revisiting classic characters in the likes of Obi-Wan Kenobi and introducing live-action versions of fan-favorites in the likes of Ahsoka.

But the galaxy returns to the big screen in 2026 with The Mandalorian and Grogu, a movie that is reportedly set to serve as a finale to The Mandalorian TV series, which has controversially resulted in the show's premature end (the movie was originally set to be the show's fourth season). Though certainly not confirmed in any respect, it wouldn't be surprising if the fast-tracking of that film has had an impact on any of the other movies that Lucasfilm had in development.

Similarly, Taika Waititi's long-teased Star Wars movie is also on indefinite hold, but as the director acknowledged over a year ago that it would be a long time before that one hit theaters, that one isn't too surprising.

Even so, we'll be happy when we see Rey leading the charge as the Star Wars franchise eventually returns to the big screen.