The future of Star Wars after The Rise of Skywalker is something of a mystery, and that's the subject of a new report, which discusses the future of the movies after the conclusion of the Skywalker Saga. The Hollywood Reporter says that the untitled next Star Wars movie, previously scheduled by Disney for December 2022, will be announced in January, and it has a director lined up. It clarifies that this is not the film being worked on by The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson.

It's possible this is the same film that Game of Thrones creators DB Weiss and David Benioff were working on before they walked away from the project, which was supposed to mark the beginning of a new trilogy launching in 2022. But either way, the situation is unclear from the outside looking in.

The article otherwise explores the current state of Star Wars, discussing the possibility of Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy's exit from the company when her contract expires in 2021. It maybe paints a slightly grimmer picture of Star Wars' current state than you might expect. While Star Wars has certainly had its share of director juggling, with Phil Lord and Chris Miller departing Solo only for Ron Howard to take over, and directors Josh Trank and Colin Trevorrow both leaving Star Wars projects, the end results have actually been pretty good.

Next in line

One box office flop aside in Solo, the last few years of Star Wars movies have offered up mostly great blockbusters. And Solo's own disappointing performance is probably due to its timing – it came out a month after Avengers: Infinity War, and less than six months after The Last Jedi. Meanwhile, The Mandalorian offers a really thrilling hint at what Star Wars TV on Disney Plus is going to be like (expensive, stylish, and well worth watching), and that came under Kennedy's watch.

The article also discusses the idea of Jon Favreau taking more control of the Star Wars universe, but the only clear details in there are about the 2022 movie. By no means is this an official confirmation, then, but it makes sense we'll start finding out about this next year.

The Rise of Skywalker, meanwhile, is due to release on December 19.