With Star Wars: Episode VII being prepped for a 2015 theatrical release date, LucasFilm announced today that their animated TV series Star Wars: The Clone Wars is coming to an end after Season 5. They are now developing an untitled series to take its place, with no story details released at this time. Supervising director Dave Filoni appears in a video update, giving fans a sneak peek at some of the upcoming Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 5 episodes as it enters into some of the biggest story arcs the series has ever seen. Also of note, the animated parody series Star Wars Detours is being pushed to a later, unspecified date.

CLICK HERE to visit TVweb and take a look at this video featuring never-before-scene Star Wars: The Clone Wars footage, then read on for the official statement from LucasFilm.

As we enter into an exciting new era focused on the next Star Wars trilogy, Lucasfilm has decided to pursue a new direction in animated programming. We are exploring a whole new Star Wars series set in a time period previously untouched in Star Wars films or television programming. You can expect more details in the months to come.

As part of this shift, we have also made some key decisions affecting Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Detours.

After five highly successful and critically acclaimed seasons of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, we feel the time has come to wind down the series. While the studio is no longer producing new episodes for Cartoon Network, we're continuing production on new Clone Wars story arcs that promise to be some of the most thrilling adventures ever seen. Stay tuned for more information on where fans can soon find this bonus content. In the video above, Supervising Director Dave Filoni offers a peek of what is to come in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

At Star Wars Celebration VI last year, George Lucas gave fans a glimpse at the animated comedy series Star Wars Detours from Seth Green, Matthew Senreich, and Todd Grimes. Star Wars Detours was conceived and produced before we decided to move forward with the new Star Wars trilogy, and in the wake of that decision, Lucasfilm has reconsidered whether launching an animated comedy prior to the launch of Episode VII makes sense. As a result, we've decided to postpone the release of Star Wars Detours until a later date.

We are incredibly proud of the teams at Lucasfilm Animation for creating some of the most amazing animation ever produced for TV. Keep checking StarWars.com for new developments on these and future projects.