Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has reportedly lined up a director to helm the next Star Wars movie that is tentatively scheduled for 2022, though no official announcement for this project is expected until the new year.

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Every Upcoming Star Wars Movie and TV Show 13 IMAGES

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According to The Hollywood Reporter , sources have claimed that Kennedy has a currently-untitled Star Wars movie on deck for 2022; however, this movie will apparently not be part of Rian Johnson's new Star Wars trilogy The outlet notes that no movie announcements are planned until January 2020 (at the earliest), giving fans time to speculate over whether this prospective project is a continuation of, or a deviation from, D.B. Weiss and David Benioff's cancelled trilogy The 2022 movie slot was initially earmarked for the Weiss and Benioff project , positioned as the next title in the release line-up after The Rise of Skywalker, but as reported in October, the duo stepped away from the planned series due to other commitments in their busy schedule Whatever the case may be with this new mystery project, Disney seems to be sticking to the original plan of taking "a bit of a hiatus" after the release of Episode IX , with three new Star Wars films slated for release on the pre-Christmas weekend every other year beginning 2022 With Kennedy's Lucasfilm contract up in 2021, a year before the next planned Star Wars movie, it is uncertain what the future holds for both her and the franchise, as she recently opened up about the "incredible challenge" of detaching from the Skywalker saga for the next instalment."We've got various things we're looking at and various ways in which we can begin or not," Kennedy said. "You know, do you go back? Do you go forward? All those questions are being asked. Do we stay in this galaxy? Do we go to another? The universe is never-ending."For now, though, fans can set their sights on the forthcoming release of The Rise of Skywalker , which will hit theaters on December 20, 2019, and will be the longest Star Wars film ever , clocking in at three minutes longer than 2017's The Last Jedi.To catch up with all of the latest on Episode IX , find out how much The Rise of Skywalker is projected to make in its opening weekend , check out this assortment of brand new character posters , and watch the "End" TV spot showing Darth Vader's destroyed helmet

Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter