Lucasfilm and Disney, in collaboration with S4C and the Welsh government's Creative Wales agency, have produced the first Welsh-language dub of the 1977 film Star Wars, announced on 4 August 2026 at the National Eisteddfod in the Garreg Las area near Cardigan, North Pembrokeshire. The film, titled Star Wars: Gobaith Newydd (New Hope), will air on S4C and its platforms from Christmas Day. The project coincides with the movie's 50th anniversary in 2027.

The voice cast brings together several prominent Welsh actors. Rhys Ifans voices Obi-Wan Kenobi, with his brother Llŷr Ifans voicing C-3PO. Matthew Rhys takes on Han Solo, Aimee-Ffion Edwards voices Princess Leia, Mark Lewis Jones voices Darth Vader, and Osian Morgan voices Luke Skywalker. The Guardian

Lucasfilm co-president Lynwen Brennan, who was born in Pembrokeshire, confirmed that Lucasfilm had never before produced a Welsh translation of Star Wars. Michael Kohn, director of distribution operations at Lucasfilm, said the company was "excited" about the project, which he said aims to preserve and revitalise interest in learning the Welsh language. The Guardian

The announcement at the National Eisteddfod places the project squarely within Wales's premier cultural festival of Welsh-language music, literature, and performance. The Eisteddfod, held in 2026 in North Pembrokeshire, served as the venue for unveiling a production that connects one of Hollywood's largest franchises to a language community of roughly 600,000 speakers, according to the most recent census data.

The Welsh-language Star Wars dub also builds on a longer history between Lucasfilm productions and Welsh locations. In 1979, a full-scale version of the Millennium Falcon was constructed at a hangar in Pembroke Dock, Wales, under the code name "Magic Roundabout," for use in The Empire Strikes Back. Scenes for Lucasfilm's 1988 fantasy film Willow and the 2024 television series Star Wars: The Acolyte were also shot in Wales. The Guardian

The broader context here involves the intersection of minority-language media policy with global entertainment IP. S4C, the Welsh-language public service broadcaster established in 1982, has long relied on a mix of original programming and acquired content dubbed or subtitled into Welsh. Securing a dub of a franchise as commercially significant as Star Wars from a rights-holder as protective of its catalog as Disney and Lucasfilm is unusual for a minority-language broadcaster. The involvement of Creative Wales, the Welsh government's industry development agency, signals that the production was understood not solely as a broadcast acquisition but as a cultural and industrial investment.

Lucasfilm's framing of the project as language-preservation effort aligns with a broader pattern of major studios licensing dubbing rights to minority and regional languages. The decision to cast established Welsh-speaking actors with international profiles, rather than relying on voice artists alone, gives the production visibility beyond S4C's core audience. Rhys Ifans and Matthew Rhys both have substantial careers in English-language film and television, and their participation lends the dub a profile that could attract viewers who are not regular S4C consumers.

The Christmas Day broadcast slot is also worth noting. S4C's holiday scheduling has historically featured high-profile Welsh-language content, and placing Star Wars: Gobaith Newydd in that window positions it as a flagship event rather than a routine acquisition. The timing also feeds into the lead-up to the film's 50th anniversary in 2027, when Lucasfilm and Disney are likely to mount broader commemorative programming across markets.

Whether the Welsh-language dub will be distributed beyond S4C's platforms is not addressed in the announcement. The collaboration between Lucasfilm, Disney, S4C, and the Welsh government opens the possibility of wider distribution through Disney's streaming ecosystem, though no such arrangement has been confirmed.

The production represents a notable instance of a major studio investing in a minority-language localization at a level typically reserved for high-priority international markets, with the Welsh government co-funding the effort through its creative industries arm. For language-policy observers, the project is a test case of whether flagship global IP, backed by public funding, can move the needle on minority-language engagement and media production capacity in Wales.