Andy Weir Has a Pitch for the Next ‘Star Wars’ Movie, and It’s Inspired by World War II Stories

Andy Weir has had a huge year. The author behind ‘The Martian’ saw his novel ‘Project Hail Mary’ turned into a blockbuster film starring Ryan Gosling, which opened in March to $140 million worldwide and quickly became one of 2026’s biggest sci-fi hits.

Weir has also become a go-to voice when it comes to sci-fi franchises. Just last week, he described a playful ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Star Wars’ crossover to Inverse, jokingly calling it “Star Star,” in which Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader end up in the ‘Star Trek’ universe after the Death Star explodes.

Now Weir has shared a more serious idea for where ‘Star Wars’ could go next. In an interview with SlashFilm, he suggested that future ‘Star Wars’ movies should focus on ordinary people living through the Galactic Civil War rather than new galaxy-shaking conflicts.

“I feel like the best way, in my opinion, to do another ‘Star Wars’ movie,” Weir said, would be to tell the stories of other people during that war. He admitted he’s not George Lucas and that it might be a terrible idea, but he believes there’s plenty of room to explore.

He compared it to fiction set during World War II. “We know what happened in World War II, but there are some really good fictional stories” set during that time, Weir explained, arguing that ‘Star Wars’ could treat the Galactic Civil War as established history while still telling new stories within it.

Weir’s pitch comes from a specific frustration with how the franchise has handled its biggest stories. He said one problem with telling a story about a monumental war is what happens after the heroes win. “So it’s very unsatisfying if you roll into a new monumental war,” Weir told SlashFilm. In his view, constantly restarting the conflict takes away the payoff of the original victory.

Believe in the Hail Mary. Watch the final trailer for Project Hail Mary — only in theaters and IMAX, March 20. https://t.co/kh8s2YOFO9

— Project Hail Mary (@projecthailmary) February 8, 2026

By staying within the Galactic Civil War, he believes ‘Star Wars’ could respect what already happened while finding fresh perspectives. That approach would let the franchise expand without undoing the saga’s most important moments. Weir pointed to ‘Andor’ as proof that smaller, more grounded stories can work. He called the series amazing and really good, though he noted that its success came as a TV show.

“But it’s not something that you could make into a movie,” Weir said, suggesting that the slower, more detailed storytelling of ‘Andor’ wouldn’t fit a 2-hour film. His pitch, then, is about finding stories that are personal but still work on the big screen.

Weir made the comments while promoting ‘Exoplanet’, an upcoming Audible original sci-fi series he’s executive producing. The interview took place over Zoom. Meanwhile, the success of ‘Project Hail Mary’ has fans wondering about a sequel. Amazon and MGM haven’t formally started development, but sources say the decision is up to Weir, who has never written a sequel to any of his novels and says his current ideas aren’t developed enough yet.

Weir’s comments show how much ‘Star Wars’ still inspires fellow storytellers. His idea echoes a long tradition of war fiction that focuses on everyday people rather than famous heroes. Whether Lucasfilm ever takes that approach remains to be seen. Still, Weir’s pitch offers an interesting way to keep the galaxy growing without starting another war from scratch.

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