How to watch the Star Wars movies in order: chronological and release date

Publish date: 2024-09-01

A long time ago, watching the Star Wars movies in order was as simple as dusting crops. Before The Force Awakens brought George Lucas's galaxy far, far away back to the big screen in 2015, all you had to do was work your way through the movies of the Prequel Trilogy and Original trilogy, and – if you were a completist – the animated The Clone Wars TV show. 

These days, however, keeping track of the 47-year-old franchise has become a challenge to rival navigating the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs. Since Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012, there's been an explosion of space-faring content on Disney Plus, as TV shows like The Mandalorian, Ahsoka and the upcoming The Acolyte line-up alongside film classics like A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back.

This in-depth guide explains how to watch the Star Wars movies in order, from the beloved 1977 original through to 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker – taking in the numerous TV shows along the way. As well as discussing release date, chronological and machete orders, we rank the films by IMDb user rating, and explain how new Star Wars TV shows and movies such as Skeleton Crew and The Mandalorian & Grogu will fit into the wider universe.

How to watch Star Wars movies in order: chronological

A long time ago, it was easy to know how to watch the Star Wars movies in order – until 1999, all of the movies fit into the timeline of a galaxy far, far away in the sequnce they landed in theaters. 

Then the Prequel Trilogy made things more complicated, by going back in time to tell the story of Anakin Skywalker before he turned to the Dark Side and became Darth Vader. These days, the first Star Wars movie ever released (A New Hope) is actually the fourth movie in the Skywalker Saga. The Skywalker Saga is the term Lucasfilm uses to describe Episodes I-IX, in which Anakin Skywalker and his descendants have a surprising amount of influence over the fate of an entire galaxy.

Meanwhile, the fourth movie to hit cinemas (The Phantom Menace) comes first in chronological order. And when you add the standalone Solo: A Star Wars Story and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story to the list, A New Hope actually becomes the sixth movie in the overall chronology – in other words, it quickly becomes obvious that navigating the timeline isn't as easy as it used to be.

You'll find every live-action Star Wars movie to date in the list below – the Prequel Trilogy, the Original Trilogy and the Sequel Trilogy that launched with 2015’s The Force Awakens, as well as Solo: A Star Wars Story and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

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We've used A New Hope as an anchor point in the timeline, which tends to be how the timeline is measured officially in the fictional universe. In-universe dates are traditionally defined relative to the Battle of Yavin, the famous assault on the Death Star that brings A New Hope to a spectacular close. 

You'll only find live-action Star Wars movies on this list, which is why you can't see the 2008 The Clone Wars movie – while it got a theatrical release, it was effectively a TV pilot with delusions of grandeur. As such, it doesn't really work in isolation from the long-running CG-animated TV show that followed.

If you'd like to watch Star Wars in order with canonical TV shows (such as The Mandalorian, Ahsoka and Andor thrown in, we've got that, too: you'll find our Star Wars Ultimate Order list further down this page. For now, however, the movies make a fun binge on a rainy weekend – especially as they're all easily viewable on Disney Plus, one of the best streaming services.

Here's how to watch the Star Wars movies in canonical order:

Prequel Trilogy:

Standalone "Star Wars Stories":

Original Trilogy:

Sequel Trilogy:

How to watch Star Wars movies in order: release date

Watching the Star Wars movies in release date order isn't necessarily the optimal way to follow the story of the saga – though, for anyone who's yet to watch the Original Trilogy, the big reveals (you know the ones we mean, Luke...) do work best if you're not familiar with the events of the Prequel Trilogy.

Here's how to watch the Star Wars movies in release order, going back a remarkable 47 years to A New Hope in 1977.

The Star Wars movies Machete Order explained

The Machete Order is a well-known viewing sequence for Star Wars movies created by Rod Hilton in 2011. It's a way of watching the films that ignores the much maligned The Phantom Menace. Although George Lucas's prequels have been somewhat rehabilitated in recent years, the theory went that missing out on Episode I was a significant improvement on the overall story.

The Machete Cut changes how the saga is told to focus entirely on Luke Skywalker's character arc, the idea being that it preserves The Empire Strikes Back's big Darth Vader-shaped twist. 

The Machete Order starts with A New Hope, moves on to The Empire Strikes Back, then the second and third prequels – Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith – are watched as a flashback to Anakin's story, before returning to the final battle in Return of the Jedi. It's definitely more of an acquired taste than the other Star Wars lists here, but it's worth a look.

To continue the Machete Order from there, watch the sequel saga, too:

The ultimate Star Wars viewing order, including canonical TV shows

Star Wars isn't just about the movies. In fact, the so-called Expanded Universe (EU) has been growing ever since Alan Dean Foster wrote the first Star Wars spin-off novel, Splinter of the Mind's Eye, in 1978. Over the subsequent decades, Lucasfilm produced books, comics and cartoons such as Ewoks, Droids and Genndy Tartakovsky’s original 2D-animated Clone Wars series (the forerunner of the CG-animated show) that added to the mythology we'd seen on the big screen.

But when Disney acquired Lucasfilm and the Star Wars rights from George Lucas in 2012, it reset the Expanded Universe continuity. This old EU material was rebranded under the ‘Legends’ banner, with only the Prequel Trilogy, Original Trilogy and The Clone Wars CG-animated series remaining part of the official canon. 

Disney has added significantly to that continuity since, with most new books, games, comics and TV series (such as Rebels, Resistance, The Mandalorian, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor and The Bad Batch) existing in the same official canon as the Star Wars movies. 

The list below isn't exhaustive, but it'll certainly keep you busy. It contains pretty much every existing movie and TV show collated into one canonical order, and we've also included upcoming TV shows Skeleton Crew and The Acolyte – both currently in post-production – though their exact position in the Star Wars timeline is TBC.

Here's how the various TV series available on Disney Plus fit into the timeline when you're watching Star Wars movies in order.

The Clone Wars slots in between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, detailing the conflict between the Republic and the Separatists prior to Anakin Skywalker's infamous fall from grace. 

Tales of the Jedi is a companion piece to The Clone Wars, an anthology series of standalone stories focusing on Count Dooku and Ahsoka Tano. Season 1 covers more than a decade in the Star Wars timeline – the first of the six episodes shows Ahsoka as an infant (before the events of The Phantom Menace), while the last shows her in hiding after the Emperor ordered the execution of the Jedi in Revenge of the Sith. A second season is in production.

The Clone Wars spin-off series The Bad Batch is set in the aftermath of Revenge of the Sith, as the galaxy comes to terms with the rise of the Empire. If you've ever wondered how and why Clone Troopers were replaced with Stormtroopers, this is the show for you.

Obi-Wan Kenobi picks up the story of the eponymous Jedi Master a decade or so after he relocated to Tatooine to cast a watchful eye over Luke Skywalker. It takes place in a similar timeframe to Solo: A Star Wars Story. 

Star Wars: Rebels functions as a prequel series to A New Hope, telling the story of the formation of the Rebel Alliance. Despite having a very different tone to the animated show, Rogue One spin-off Andor is set in a very similar time period, kicking off around five years before central character Cassian Andor helped steal those infamous Death Star plans. The upcoming second season (expected in 2025) will lead directly into the events of Rogue One.

The first live-action Star Wars TV series to land on Disney Plus, The Mandalorian, is set about five years after Return of the Jedi, in a lawless, post-Empire Outer Rim. Spin-off show The Book of Boba Fett is set immediately after the events of The Mandalorian season 2. According to Vanity Fair, Jude Law-starring coming-of-age story Skeleton Crew will be set in a similar post-Return of the Jedi time period.

A common thread linking The Clone Wars, Rebels, The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett is Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker's former Jedi apprentice, and a key figure in the formation of the Rebel Alliance. She's arguably the most important Star Wars character never to have appeared in one of the Skywalker Saga movies, and her TV show, Ahsoka, sees her reuniting with Sabine Wren, Hera Syndulla and other key figures from Rebels. In 2023, Natasha Liu Bordizzo (who plays Sabine) told SFX magazine (via GamesRadar) that "Ahsoka runs along the same timeline as The Mandalorian season 3". Ahsoka season 2 is currently in the works.

Another proposed Mando spin-off announced in late 2020, Rangers of the New Republic, is now apparently on permanent hold.

Fast-forwarding to a later point in the timeline of that galaxy far, far away, Star Wars: Resistance is to The Force Awakens as Rebels is to A New Hope, an animated series setting the scene for the events of the sequel movie trilogy.

Meanwhile, upcoming TV show The Acolyte (created by Russian Doll's Leslye Headland, and coming to Disney Plus on June 4, 2024) will go back in time, shifting Star Wars away from its usual Skywalker era comfort zone. The series will be set during the High Republic, more than a century before the trade disputes that kickstarted The Phantom Menace. Although this period in galactic history has featured in numerous novels and comics, The Acolyte will mark its first appearance on screen.

The two seasons of animated anthology show Star Wars Visions (the first of which debuted in September 2021) aren't part of official canon, as each of the animation studios involved was given the freedom to tell their own story, outside the constraints of existing continuity. Younger fans can also enjoy Young Jedi Adventures, although – despite the appearance of Yoda – the series isn't part of official Star Wars canon.

New Star Wars movies

Although Lucasfilm has been concentrating on making Star Wars TV output for Disney Plus in recent years, it hasn't lost interest in the big screen. At Star Wars Celebration in April 2023, three new movies were announced:

Then, in January 2024, we learned that the story of Mando and his young apprentice (you know him as Baby Yoda) will continue on the big screen in a movie called The Mandalorian & Grogu. And, although it appeared to be permanently grounded last year, the Rogue Squadron movie (directed by Wonder Woman's Patty Jenkins) is seemingly back on the launchpad as of March 2024. 

A spin-off movie focussed on Lando Calrissian (originally planned as a TV show), is also in the works, but it's unclear exactly when that's going to be set. Our guess is it'll be connected to the Solo movie in some way, and take place before Lando took control of Cloud City. Star Donald Glover is lined up to return as the galaxy's favorite scoundrel, as well as writing the screenplay with his brother, Stephen.

Finally, Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love and Thunder director (and voice of IG-11 in The Mandalorian) Taika Waititi confirmed in November 2023 that his Star Wars movie is still in the works – and that it's likely to be a departure from other movies in the franchise. “It will be … dramatic pause… a Taika Waititi film,” he told Variety on the red carpet for his latest movie, Next Goal Wins. “It's gonna p**s people off.”

What's the best Star Wars order?

While there's a strong argument for watching the Original Trilogy followed by Prequel Trilogy to preserve those aforementioned big reveals – especially for anyone who grew up on the original movies – chronological viewing is the best, and most logical, way to watch Star Wars movies in order for most people. For one thing, it doesn't take as long to watch as the Ultimate Order, which requires an enormous time commitment that'll be rather too much for more casual viewers. 

Eleven movies is enough for a solid Star Wars marathon, and the two spin-offs from the Skywalker Saga – Rogue One (which, one of our writers argues, is the best Star Wars movie) and Solo – add texture to the universe that you won't necessarily get from Episodes I-IX alone. Then, if you've got the time, adding the TV shows allows for an even deeper dive into the mythology of George Lucas's galaxy.

Star Wars movies on Disney Plus

Disney Plus now has every canonical Star Wars film available to stream, including The Rise of Skywalker and Solo. If you're looking to watch the Star Wars movies in order, all of these are currently available on Disney Plus:

Note that this only applies to Disney Plus in the US, UK and Australia, and that the selection might vary where you are. 

Star Wars Disney Plus shows

If you're wondering what additional Star Wars shows and bits of content are available on Disney Plus, here's a list of the other stuff you can watch – whether it's the kid-friendly Young Jedi Adventures, Lucasfilm's 2022 Grogu-themed team-up with Studio Ghibli, or behind-the-scenes documentaries about the making of The Mandalorian and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

To make it easier to work out what's essential and what's not, we've highlighted where releases are part of official canon

Live action:

2D animation: 

3D animation: 

Behind the scenes:

The best Star Wars movies, ranked

Want to see the Star Wars movies ranked? Below, we've done just that, based on IMDb user scores. We don't think all of the calls below make a whole lot of sense, but that's the price of a public vote – surely no movie featuring the word 'Younglings' (aka Revenge of the Sith) is better than the unfairly maligned The Last Jedi. That said, it's impossible to argue with the top two, both bona fide classics.

For more Disney Plus-based content, read our guides on the best Disney Plus shows and best Disney Plus movies.

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