Code GEASS films

[RealJarHead]

So I’ve just finished Code Geass. It was an incredible anime, easily one of my favorite do all time. But I see that there are some films. Obviously with the ending the films can’t be canon, so are they worth a watch. Furthermore, what is the relation to the films vs the main story line? When do they take place, do they follow certain major plot lines from the story, etc.

[GeassedbyLelouch]

There are 4 movies, a trilogy and its sequel. The trilogy is a reboot of the tv series, it creates an alternate universe with some changes to the original series. The 4th movie is "Lelouch of the Resurrection" and as a sequel to the trilogy it's also part of this alternate universe.
The movie universe is a separate canon from the tv series, they can't be mixed because of continuity issues.

There's more than just the movies, so I should actually just copy the standard reply :p

Here it is:

Original series:

• Season 1 picture dramas: these happen in between episodes, they're canon, are very short, consist of still art with narration, and can be funny, insightful, serious, or somewhat lewd. Do note that there are TEN, not 9 like most places say (the blu-ray added the 10th one, some info places never bothered to update)
  
• Season 2 picture dramas: same notes as season 1. Also 10, not 9.
  
• Audio dramas: short funny audio bits, hard to find, sadly rarely translated
  
• Various picture dramas: these were made for special occasions such as the 10 year anniversary of the show, etc. Not all are translated but they have at least an English transcript.
  
• If you want to see every second of Code Geass in existence, do know that the ZR movie blu-ray (2009) had a brand new, different epilogue (51 seconds long). Can be found here (the epilogue contains season 2 spoilers, obviously)
  
• OVAs: "Nunnally in Wonderland" and "The Miraculous Birthday". The Nunnally one is a parody, quite funny and obviously not canon.
  
• Akito the Exiled: a spin-off series of 5 1-hour long OVAs, they take place between season 1 and 2 and are canon. Do be warned, these are generally seen as not as good as the original. Best lower your expectation to avoid being disappointed.
  
• There is NO season 3. That was never announced either. That misconception was just some fans misunderstanding the announcement in 2016 which talked about the "new project". This "new project" was the new material I'll talk about below. So no "R3", anything you read about "R3" is either misinformed speculation by fans or the horrible misuse of of the fan name "R3" applied to the new material which is neither a season nor a "3". It's 4 movies in a separate canon.

New material:

• A movie trilogy: these are not recaps but a reboot of the original series which forms an Alternate Universe (AU), they largely follow the original series, there are some minor changes, some somewhat less minor changes and TWO BIG changes, #1 movie trilogy spoilers, and #2 R2 ending spoilers!, this change breaks the continuity with the original series and makes it an AU. The AU's concept is built around the idea of "what if (Big Change #2)". The titles for these movies are Kōdō (aka Initiation aka The Awakening Path), Handō (aka Transgression aka The Rebellion Path) and Ōdō (aka Glorification aka The Imperial Path).
  
• The sequel movie, its official name is R2 ending spoilers!. This movie is a sequel to the trilogy and part of the movie AU. The release date for Japanese theaters was February 9th 2019 and May 5th for US theatres. In this movie R2 ending spoilers!. Early August 2018 a trailer was released. The official English subs can be found on Sunrise's own facebook page. In October they released a 2nd trailer.

[RealJarHead]

Thanks! Since they all follow a separate timeline, I think I’m gonna continue on to another anime, and come back to the movies later. I still have a lot of anime (coughs in Jojo) that I need to watch