Disney Marking Star Wars 50th Anniversary With Fresh A New Hope Making Of Documentary

Disney has announced its plans for the 50th anniversary of Star Wars, which will include a fresh documentary detailing the making of A New Hope.

George Lucas' original Star Wars film debuted back in 1977, kicking off what would become one of the world's most popular and lucrative film and TV franchises. Half a century on, Disney+ will debut "The Hero Awakens," a brand-new documentary featuring rare archival footage from A New Hope's production, helmed by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker R.J. Cutler.

The Hero Awakens will drop via Disney+ on Star Wars' annual May 4th celebration, following the theatrical re-release of Star Wars on February 19. This will be the rarely-seen original 1977 version of the movie — back when Jabba the Hutt was not a CGI slug and Greedo actually shot first.

In terms of what's actually new for the Star Wars franchise next year, Ahsoka Season 2 will drop via Disney+ on January 20, while Star Wars: Starfighter will land in theaters on May 28.

Both are anticipated, though will arrive at a time of great uncertainty for the Star Wars franchise in general, following the decidedly mixed response to Disney's sequel trilogy, several short-lived Disney+ TV projects, and a lengthy slate of movie projects cancelled or stuck in development hell. Not even a big screen outing for The Mandalorian and Grogu this year could turn things around, as the movie set a rather disappointing record for the franchise's lowest live-action theatrical gross.

Looking further ahead, a press release for Star Wars' 50th anniversary states that 2027 will bring a year of "new project announcements, anniversary merchandise, dedicated fan events, archival releases, and reimagined Disney Parks and Cruiseline offerings." Exactly what these project announcements are remains to be seen, though it seems likely we'll get a sense of the franchise's future before next year is out.

With Ahsoka and Starfighter the only remaining live-action Star Wars TV and movie projects publicly announced, the time has certainly come for Lucasfilm's newly-installed co-president Dave Filoni to map out what's next. Reports suggest that of everything Lucasfilm has previously announced, the new movie/trilogy written by Dark Phoenix's Simon Kinberg is the one currently moving forward.