According to The Hollywood Reporter it would appear she is, and while the return of the last Skywalker is hotly anticipated after her starring role in the sequel trilogy brought in $4.47 billion globally (making it the highest grossing trilogy in movie history, an $830 million outlay producing a stellar $1.4+ billion profit) the venerable outlet believe the involvement of Rey is key to the success of future films, a slate they believe could become problematic unless careful management is employed.
Rey, the scavenger-turned-Jedi played by Daisy Ridley in the last three episode movies, is key to the franchise’s next turn. That potentially puts Kinberg’s trilogy story development, as early in its conceptual stages as it may be, on a collision course with the Rey standalone movie that is actively in the works with director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.
Perhaps that is why Lucasfilm was receptive to Kinberg’s multi-story pitch. Anything to move Rey forward. But it does engender rumors in the Star Wars underground of filmmakers jostling for characters. (Ridley, for her part, recently told The Hollywood Reporter, “I feel like the new one/new ones will be so interesting. Time has passed and a lot has changed for me, personally, so it’ll be interesting to come back to someone who I know so well, but in such a different moment.”)
While insiders dispute the notion that there is a battle for Rey, there definitely is internal deliberation within Lucasfilm as to what do with the heir to Skywalker next. “She is the most valuable cinematic asset, in some ways maybe the only one, Star Wars has right now,” one source close to the franchise tells THR. (Pedro Pascal’s Mandalorian and the Yoda-like Grogu are Disney+ creations and will have their big-screen power tested with a feature directed by Jon Favreau, releasing in 2026.)
What do you think? Let us know by emailing us at news@fanthatracks.com and we’ll discuss it on the next episode of Making Tracks, the latest episode of which landed last night.
