It’s hard to believe that six years have already passed since audiences have seen Rey — or any of the sequel trilogy characters — in a new Star Wars movie. Her absence has been especially notable considering Lucasfilm announced plans at Star Wars Celebration 2023 for Daisy Ridley to return for a Rey-centric film, directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.
Development on the film has been quiet since then, other than a rumored title, Star Wars: New Jedi Order, surfacing, and George Nolfi taking over scripting duties at the start of this year. The lack of definitive updates on its status at Star Wars Celebration 2025 even increased the concerns that Rey’s movie has been canceled.
Lucasfilm has instead kept its focus on getting The Mandalorian and Grogu ready for next year and moving quickly on Star Wars: Starfighter so it can come out in 2027. There have been many other movies in development (including the secret, now-dead The Hunt For Ben Solo), with some suggestions that Rey’s future could rest with Simon Kinberg’s upcoming trilogy.
Whether that movie or New Jedi Order is where Ridley returns as Rey for the first time after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, an apparent setback for those plans has now quietly come to the surface.
Daisy Ridley’s Schedule Prevents Rey’s Star Wars Return From Filming Until Late 2026
In the years since the sequel trilogy’s conclusion, Ridley has remained busy professionally, taking on a variety of roles that showcase more of her range and give her opportunities to explore genres beyond sci-fi. This is continuing with news that she’ll star in Killa Bee, a MMA biopic about Byrony Tyrell.
This movie has no direct connection to Lucasfilm and Disney, but Ridley’s involvement does have some impact on what Star Wars can do with Rey. The trade report of the news confirms that production on Killa Bee is expected to begin in Q2 of 2026, which is from April 1 to June 30.
So long as the production dates do not shift, Daisy Ridley’s filming schedule for the project will prevent her from tackling any return for Rey until afterward. The actress likely took on this new project with some understanding of Lucasfilm’s timeline for Rey’s next appearance. With Killa Bee now occupying her time, we can rule out the small chance that New Jedi Order is planning to film in the first half of next year.
That movie, or the first entry in Kinberg’s trilogy, will now have to wait until late 2026 to fit their production into Ridley’s schedule. That is disappointing for anyone, like myself, who really wants Rey to come back. But it does make some sense when looking at Star Wars‘ big picture.
Lucasfilm clearly is not in a position where they’re going to start filming another Star Wars movie by the end of 2025, and there’s no rush to get one going in the first half of 2026 with The Mandalorian and Grogu and Starfighter occupying the studio’s release dates the next two years. Unless they want to move up to two films a year, 2028 is the next available slot for a Star Wars movie.
Rey returning in the 2028 Star Wars film does work with Ridley’s current schedule, too. The movie could start production in late 2026 and have nearly a year and a half to go from the start of filming to release. That’s the same timeline Starfighter is operating with. Lucasfilm could do the same thing with the next Rey movie, if that does wind up being the next film they make.
If the studio wanted to give Rey’s return a bit more time to film before a 2028 release and start filming in the first half of 2026, that’s now a lot more challenging with Killa Bee. And there’s no telling what other movies Ridley is attached to could move forward faster and keep pushing things back.
Having to wait another two-ish years (at least) to see Rey again is disappointing after the 2023 movie announcement, but Ridley has maintained publicly that it will be worth the wait. As she fills up her schedule with other projects until it happens, we’re left to wait and try to piece together the clues on when her Star Wars return will materialize.
