Entertainment Michael Bay to direct Jake Gyllenhaal in new action-thriller

Release date: December 22, 2023, December 19, 2025, and December 17, 2027

After what felt like an eternity of waiting, Disney finally announced who will direct the next Star Wars movie. Despite the director previously rubbishing reports, Taika Waititi has since been confirmed as the director of an upcoming Star Wars movie, which he will co-write with Krysty Wilson-Cairns, who helped script the Oscar-nominated 1917 and Edgar Wright's upcoming movie Last Night in Soho.

Kevin Bacon set to sizzle in action thriller One Way

Kevin Bacon has joined the cast of Andrew Baird action thriller 'One Way', which also stars Machine Gun Kelly and Travis Fimmel.The 62-year-old actor is set to star in Andrew Baird's motion picture alongside Machine Gun Kelly - whose real name is Colson Baker - and Travis Fimmel.

EXCLUSIVE: After weighing several options, Michael Bay has set his next movie, coming on to direct the action thriller Ambulance with Jake Gyllenhaal in negotiations to star. Bay is fast-tracking the project and is talking to other actors to join Gyllenhaal with plans to shoot top of January.

Los Angeles: Hollywood action master Michael Bay is poised to direct his action thriller , titled “Ambulance” with Oscar-nominated actor Jake Gyllenhaal in negotiations to star. The plot line is being kept under wraps, but sources told Deadline that the film is the vein of the great action thrillers of the

No other details have yet been announced other than the movie will be heading to cinemas in the future. Indeed, there's no official confirmation that Taika's movie will necessarily be the December 2023 release, though this seems likely, especially as location scouting is already underway in Scotland.

Taika will have a lot on his plate. the director is currently working on the script to Thor: Love and Thunder, which will release in February 2022, and a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory animated series for Netflix.

There are, of course, potential other directors who could be helming the next major Star Wars release. Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were originally meant to spearhead the trilogy but were reportedly too busy making shows for Netflix after signing a nine-figure deal with the streaming service in 2019.

There have been rumours that the upcoming movie could be set a few hundred years before the first movie in the prequels, in the time of the Old Republic. The obvious source of inspiration here could be the Knights of the Old Republic video game series – though these are all rumours, with nothing set in stone.

Jake Gyllenhaal in talks to star in Michael Bay's thriller Ambulance

Jake Gyllenhaal is reportedly in talks to star in Michael Bay's upcoming thriller 'Ambulance'.According to The Hollywood Reporter, the 'Spider-Man: Far From Home' actor and 'The Maze Runner' star Dylan O'Brien are being eyed to play siblings, who steal an ambulance with a critical patient inside.

Intriguingly, LucasFilm has announced a new series of books and comics, set in the Star Wars Universe, which will centre on the High Republic. The stories will take place 200 years prior to The Phantom Menace and “will not overlap any of the filmed features or series currently planned for production." Does that mean they are saving the era of the Old Republic, 3,600 years before the Skywalker saga, for the movies? For now, we can hope...

Release date: Unknown

New Transformers movie on the way from Creed 2 director

The Transformers franchise is getting a revampParamount Pictures decided to revamp the franchise at the start of the year, with two scripts simultaneously in development from screenwriters James Vanderbilt and Joby Harold – Harold’s script has now been chosen for the next instalment. The screenwriter also penned Zack Snyder’s upcoming zombie heist movie Army of the Dead and he’s on board for Disney Plus’ Obi-Wan Kenobi spin-off TV show too.

The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson must have impressed someone at Lucasfilm and Disney because, just before Star Wars: The Last Jedi hit cinemas, they announced that the filmmaker would be heading up a brand new Star Wars movie trilogy featuring "new characters from a corner of the galaxy that Star Wars lore has never before explored." And even though The Last Jedi was, shall we say, divisive among the Star Wars faithful, Johnson's still on board, the director having taken to Twitter to respond to rumours the project had been abandoned.

We don't know very much about this new Star Wars movie trilogy, but Johnson will write and direct the first entry. He's previously spoken about the pitch that got him the job and, just to warn you, there's not much to it: "One story told over three movies. Go new places, meet new folks, come up with a new story to tell in the Star Wars universe. The sky’s the limit…" Considering how fresh The Last Jedi felt, we couldn't be more excited to see Johnson let loose in the Star Wars galaxy.

Rita Ora apologises for ‘inexcusable’ party after ‘paying £10k fine’ for breaking lockdown rules

The singer was pictured celebrating her 30th birthday with pals at a London restaurant this weekendIt’s believed that the singer’s secret birthday bash at Casa Cruz restaurant in Notting Hill, West London was attended by more 30 pals including Cara Delevingne and TOWIE’s Vas Morgan, who were seen sneaking into a back entrance with bottles of alcohol.

Release date: Unknown

EastEnders' Jake Wood confirms he could return to show after departure

The actor, 48, who plays Max Branning, confirmed in September he would be leaving Albert Square after 15 years. Speaking on Tuesday's episode of Good Morning Britain, Jake told how Max won't be 'leaving in a coffin' and has the opportunity to return.

Marvel mastermind Kevin Feige has been brought on board to help shape the future of Star Wars. Disney co-chairman Alan Horn said in a statement: "We are excited about the projects Kathy and the Lucasfilm team are working on… With the close of the Skywalker Saga, Kathy is pursuing a new era in Star Wars storytelling, and knowing what a die-hard fan Kevin is, it made sense for these two extraordinary producers to work on a Star Wars film together."

Feige, meanwhile, has apparently approached a "major actor" about a role in the upcoming unnamed Star Wars movie according, to one source close to The Hollywood Reporter. The movie may even lead to a larger position working within LucasFilm for the producer.

Little else is known about the movie and Feige's role at LucasFilm – though expect more reports to emerge over the next few years. Could he pick up where Benioff and Weiss left off? We wouldn't put it past LucasFilm to hand Feige the reigns to their first post-Rise of Skywalker trilogy.

Release date: Unknown

The original plan, when Disney bought LucasFilm for upwards of $4 billion, was to release standalone “Anthology” movies between all the new "Saga” Episodes. That meant the two-year gaps between The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker were to be punctuated by Rogue One and Solo – and at one point it looked like there'd be a third Star Wars Story after The Rise of Skywalker. Then the relatively disappointing box office performance of Solo prompted Disney to rethink the strategy and put the spin-offs on hold.

Solo’s conclusion was clearly setting up a sequel. There were also multiple reports concerning a standalone new Star Wars movie centred on Boba Fett, first with Fantastic Four director Josh Trank at the helm, and later (according to reports that were never confirmed by Disney or Lucasfilm) Logan's James Mangold. However, this morphed into The Mandalorian (more on that later).

The other frontrunner for a standalone movie was Obi-Wan Kenobi. Indeed, there were various (similarly unconfirmed) reports over the last couple of years (one apparently leaking the synopsis) that Disney/Lucasfilm had an Obi-Wan project in the works with Billy Elliot director Stephen Daldry attached. Ewan McGregor, who played Kenobi in the Star Wars prequels, told The View in 2018: "I would totally do it, of course. There's no plans, as such, to do it as far as I know."

Like the Boba Fett solo movie, the Obi-Wan spin-off has also changed into something new: a Disney Plus spin-off series telling the tale of the wise Jedi Knight between Episodes III and IV. But before that, some more on The Mandalorian...

Release date: Season 1 and 2 streaming on Disney Plus.

There's a new gunslinger in town, and his name is Dyn Jarren. Before the first season of The Mandalorian (or, as it's affectionately known, the Baby Yoda show) reached Disney Plus, we had confirmation that season 2 was being developed. Then, months before season 2 started, a third season was announced. Maybe we'll get confirmation of season 4 during the season 2 run? Whatever the case, Disney had faith in The Mandalorian – and for good reason. Baby Yoda's show is a smash hit, and could even lead to a wave of spin-offs. More on that in a second...

Release date: rumoured to be 2022

Hello there! Just a week before Disney's bi-annual D23 expo, reports emerged that an Obi-Wan Kenobi TV show was on the way, with Ewan McGregor back as the Jedi Master. At the event, McGregor joined Kathleen Kennedy on stage to confirm that yes, finally, he would be returning to the iconic role in a new series. The Scottish actor hasn’t played Obi-Wan Kenobi on-screen since 2005’s Revenge of the Sith – although he made a brief return in a voice cameo during Rey’s vision in The Force Awakens.

At this early stage, not much else is known about the Obi-Wan Kenobi series. There have been some rewrites to the scripts, though the details are not known. "They're still shooting towards having the film [show] release when it was going to be originally," McGregor said in an interview. The actor also said he walked around the Mandalorian set in full Obi-Wan costume – a promising sign that things are clearly very underway on the new series.

Release date: rumoured to be 2021

A little less high profile, but still noteworthy nonetheless. There's a Rogue One prequel coming to Disney Plus, with Diego Luna reprising his role as Rebel Alliance spy Cassian Andor and Alan Tudyk returning as the droid K-2SO. The new series is being billed as “a rousing spy thriller will explore tales filled with espionage and daring missions to restore hope to a galaxy in the grip of a ruthless Empire.” Stephen Schiff, of The Americans fame, will act as showrunner.

Release date: 2021

A Star Wars: The Clone Wars spinoff series is coming to Disney Plus in 2021, and it's all about the Bad Batch. We saw the rag-tag of defective clones in the Clone Wars, but now the gang – formed of soldiers who all have unique powers and psychological issues – are getting a spin-off, headed up by Dave Filoni. The series will follow the Bad Batch's journey after Order 66 as they take on daring mercenary missions and struggle to stay afloat and find new purpose. A tentative release date of 2021 has been announced.

Release date: Unknown

Just a week after The Mandalorian season 3 entered development, news emerged that a "female-centric" new Star Wars series is currently being worked on, with Leslye Headland – the co-creator and executive producer of the Netflix series Russian Doll – on board as showrunner. Details of the plot and setting are currently under wraps, but sources say it "takes place in a different part of the Star Wars timeline than other projects". On Star Wars Day 2022, Disney confirmed this series has been commissioned.

There have been numerous rumours that Rosario Dawson joined The Mandalorian cast as Ahsoka Tano and could potentially get her own spin-off series. Likewise, we've heard numerous times that a Doctor Aphra series could be coming. Whatever the case, we're excited to see where the future of Star Wars takes us.