One of the biggest surprises from this year’s “Star Wars” Celebration was the announcement that Dave Filoni would be developing and directing a feature film set in the New Republic era. Filoni already writes, directs and executive produces multiple series on Disney+, including the currently streaming “The Mandalorian,” its spin-off “The Book of Boba Fett” and the upcoming “Ahsoka.”
With his deep ties to these storylines and characters, Filoni is the one man who can bring them all together on the big screen. But he’s also just that — one man. With a feature film looming overhead, will existing streaming shows begin to wind down? Only a fourth season of “The Mandalorian” (which has already been written) has been confirmed. Beyond that, things aren’t as clear.
“They’re interconnected,’ Favreau confirmed to TheWrap during the London celebration. “[Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has] been hinting at doing a culminating story and it’s all being done very thoughtfully because now you have not just the film but ‘Ahsoka,’ ‘Skeleton Crew,’ ‘Book of Boba Fett’ and ‘Mandalorian’ all existing in the same time periods. We have to make sure that it all coordinates well.”
Kennedy added, “The great thing about streaming is that we’ve been able to experiment with some storytelling and introduce new stories and new characters that people haven’t necessarily seen much of or explored. Or in Dave’s case [with ‘Ahsoka’], he’s evolving from the animation he’s been working on. So we have, across the board, everybody that’s working in television and film, it’s all the same people. We’re all talking to one another. We’re all aware of even what’s going on in the gaming world, what’s going on in the publishing world.”
“So what evolves in streaming comes from those discussions, and then moves into the television space,” she continued. “So it isn’t as though we were locked into certain things that are only in television and certain things that are only on the movie side. In fact, I think that’s one of the things that’s exciting about ‘Ahsoka’ is that it will evolve from the streaming space into the movie space.”
“It’s a big group effort in ‘Star Wars,’” added Filoni. “And I think that that’s strengthening us as a team. So, you know, we’ll see. I’m deciding a lot of things now and what goes where, what characters go where, and we’ll see how that all shakes out.”
For now, it seems all but confirmed Rosario Dawson’s double lightsaber-wielding Ahsoka is destined for the big screen.
As for Filoni’s fellow executive producer, Jon Favreau, who mentored the director in live-action, is there a “Star Wars” feature film in his future?
“I’m honestly very happy to be working in streaming the way I am as a writer. It’s great to be able to generate this many stories,” the director of “Iron Man” said. “But even more so that I get to collaborate with other filmmakers, which I don’t get to do in a movie. I will with Dave, as I’m producing with him, but I love being able to work with all the filmmakers. I get to just create a big universe.”
“The Mandalorian” is currently wrapping up its third season, while “Ahsoka” will debut in August. “Skeleton Crew,” starring Jude Law, is set for a 2023 premiere. Filoni’s feature film doesn’t yet have a release date.
