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Earlier this week online rumours began spreading that Dave Filoni’s upcoming movie, a movie that’s set to act as the crossover event of multiple Star Wars series he’s produced in recent years including The Mandalorian, Ahsoka and more, was titled Heir to the Empire. In the Ahsoka teaser trailer which released last month, the titular can be heard calling Grand Admiral Thrawn the heir to the empire, which at the time set tongues wagging and fans and outlets began speculating that Filoni’s movie could sport that title and that the film itself could be a loose adaptation, or at least inspired by, the novel of the name that was released in 1991.
If you’re unfamiliar with Heir to the Empire, it was a novel written by Timothy Zahn and is the first instalment of a book trilogy which has been dubbed the Thrawn trilogy due to the trilogy introducing the cunning villain Grand Admiral Thrawn, who made his way into cannon in the Star Wars Rebels animated series and will feature as the villain in the Ahsoka series and MandoVerse crossover movie. Heir to the Empire is one of the most iconic and beloved Star Wars legends novels, as is the Thrawn trilogy itself, with Empire selling over fifteen million copies worldwide. Heir to the Empire is set five years after Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, the Imperial remnant is being controlled by Grand Admiral Thrawn from thousands of light-years away, reading what remains of the Empire for war against the fragile heart of the New Republic.
After a week of rampant rumours that Dave Filoni’s crossover movie could sport the Heir to the Empire title, a reputable insider and journalist is claiming that this is not the case. Jeff Sneider, one half of The Hot Mic podcast and editor-in-chief of Above the Line took to his podcast this week to shutdown the rumour. Sneider was the first to break that Dave Filoni was directing a Star Wars movie and that the news would be announced at Star Wars Celebration 2023, which it was. Sneider has also been a strong source for news of the Damon Lindelof written Star Wars movie, which is now being helmed by Steven Knight, and will see Rey Skywalker building a new Jedi order. Sneider was first to report that Lindelof was writing a Star Wars in March of last year and was also first to report that Lindelof had exited the project two months ago.
In the latest episode of Sneider’s The Hot Mic, a viewer asks if he’d heard anything new regarding upcoming Star Wars projects, with his Hot Mic co-host chiming in and asking about the rumour floating around that Dave Filoni’s movie is titled, Heir to the Empire. Sneider shut down the rumour without hesitation, telling his co-host and viewers straight, that according to his reliable Disney sources, Dave Filoni’s Star Wars movie is not titled Heir to the Empire.
“Okay, I’ve just got this in. This is just in. No. No is the answer. I’m hearing that it’s not called Heir to the Empire. It’s not true.” – Jeff Sneider via The Hot Mic.
Dave Filoni’s MandoVerse crossover movie is still a few years away, with The Hollywood Reporter previously revealing that the Lucasfilm and Disney are looking to release the flick in December 2026, but that the timeline was dependant of the fourth season of The Mandalorian and a possible second season of Ahsoka which had not been greenlit, and likely wouldn’t be until after the first season of the show was released, likely to see if the show is successful enough to invest in a second season. However this week it was revealed that Lucasfilm are delaying production on The Mandalorian season four due to the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike. The fourth season was due to start filming later in September of this year, but would be delayed to an unknown time. Given how Mando 4 and it’s timetable is important to the Filoni crossover movie’s release, there’s a chance that The Mandalorian’s production delay could have a knock on effect on both the possible second season of Ahsoka and subsequently Dave Filoni’s movie, which could result in a release date delay.
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