Update: On Friday, November 11 at Studio Ghibli wrote on Twitter (opens in a new tab) single image of a small Yoda figurine. Moments later, the official Star Wars Twitter account retweeted the post along with the “eyes wide open” emoji, which almost confirms that Ghibli is developing some form of Star Wars themed movie or TV show, presumably centered around everyone’s favorite Jedi Master diminutive.
Check out the tweet below:
The original story follows.
Ghibli may soon become a Ghibli fan after the iconic Japanese animation studio teased the potentially huge team at Lucasfilm.
Posting a 15-second teaser on its official Twitter account, Studio Ghibli set the internet on fire by dropping a major hint that it’s working on something Star Wars-related.
Check out the trailer below:
At this stage, we have no idea what the cooperation between the titanic companies will look like. The video teaser simply shows the logos of the two entertainment giants before ending, but we’re sure fans of Ghibli and Star Wars will be theorizing frantically about what this collaborative project will be like.
And it certainly is. Lots of Star Wars and Ghibli fans have already taken to social media, and many share the same thing we do – i.e. Ghibli needs to work on a Star Wars movie. If you’re interested, learn more about every Star Wars movie and TV series currently in development by checking out our new Star Wars TV shows and movie guide.
Whatever the collaboration really is, Lucasfilm is clearly open to collaborating with other studios – film and TV studios or otherwise – over the next few years. Recently, Lucasfilm’s gaming division confirmed it was co-developing a new Indiana Jones title with Machine Games, the video game studio behind the Wolfenstein revival. Star Wars: Eclipse, a game set in the High Republic era, is also from Quantic Dream. This is alongside a growing list of Lucasfilm Star Wars TV shows set to debut on Disney Plus in the coming years.
There are currently three Star Wars TV series set to air in 2023: The Mandalorian season 3, standalone series Ahsoka Tano and The Bad Batch season 2. Other TV shows in the works include Skeleton Crew and The Acolyte, the last of which recently went into full production and received a significant cast update.
As for Studio Ghibli, the legendary Japanese animation company is working on How Do You Live?, its next big movie. Cult director Hayao Miyazaki is writing and directing, while frequent collaborator Joe Hisaishi is producing the music.
Analysis: What could a Studio Ghibli-Lucasfilm collaboration look like?
Apparently, the combination of Studio Ghibli and Lucasfilm is big news. They are the titans of the global entertainment industry, so any collaboration between them would be worth watching.
The most obvious project would be a Star Wars-led project, with many fans suggesting an anime-style movie or TV show could be in the works. But what if it’s not as big as this? Ghibli may just be making an episode of the second season of Star Wars: Visions, another entry in the Disney Plus animated anthology show that originally launched in September 2021.
What are the other alternatives? Other Lucasfilm franchises include Indiana Jones, which will receive a fifth installment in 2023, and Willow, which will receive its own Disney Plus series (a sequel to the 1988 fantasy film of the same name) on November 30. Maybe Ghibli is teasing a partnership with Lucasfilm for one of these IPs instead. The fantasy world of Willow lends itself to such an anime adaptation, but as Star Wars: Visions has shown, Ghibli can easily turn a universe like Indiana Jones into some kind of anime.
Unfortunately, Ghibli’s original tweet doesn’t indicate when we’ll find out what he’s working with Lucasfilm for. Hopefully we’ll hear something official soon, but until then we’re sure both companies will sit back and enjoy the amount of speculation this tease has already generated.
For more Ghibli-based content, read our ranking of all Studio Ghibli movies so far. Or you can read our guide to the best anime to watch or learn how to watch the Star Wars movies in order.