Next 'Star Wars' Movie Experiences Major Setback
Damon Lindelof's Star Wars movie might be in trouble. Lindelof and co-writer Justin Britt-Gibson have reportedly left the project, although Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is still signed to direct. The news comes weeks ahead of next month's Star Wars Celebration in London, where Disney and Lucasfilm are expected to make announcements about the franchise's future in theaters.
Lindelof and Britt-Gibson sent in a draft for the script in mid-February and left days later, sources told Above the Line. Lucasfilm quickly hired a new writer to work on subsequent drafts, but it's unclear who this is. Production was set to start in February 2024, with a Dec. 19, 2025 theatrical release scheduled. Details on the project are unknown, but Disney might announce the title and share a brief synopsis during Celebration.
Lindelof is best known for his work on ABC's Lost and HBO's Watchmen. While promoting his next project, Peacock's Mrs. Davis, at SXSW, he cast doubt on the future of his Star Wars project in an interview with Slash Film. He didn't share any details on the story but reflected on the importance of the franchise and how difficult it is to make a Star Wars movie.
"I will just say, that for reasons that I can't get into on this Sunday morning, on this day, the degree of difficulty is extremely, extremely, extremely high," Lindelof told Slash Film. "If it can't be great, it shouldn't exist. That's all I'll say, because I have the same association with it as you do, which is, it's the first movie I saw sitting in my dad's lap, four years old, May of '77. I think it's possible that sometimes when you hold something in such high reverence and esteem, you start to get in the kitchen and you just go, 'Maybe I shouldn't be cooking. Maybe I should just be eating.' We'll just leave it at that point."
While Lucasfilm continues to produce hit Star Wars shows for Disney+, with The Mandalorian, Andor, The Book of Boba Fett, and the beloved animated shows all meeting success, the studio has struggled with movies. There still has not been a Star Wars movie since Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker hit theaters in 2019. Earlier this month, Variety confirmed that an unknown project from Kevin Feige and Patty Jenkins' Rogue Squadron movie were shelved. Taika Waititi is still working on his Star Wars film, which he may also star in.
During an appearance at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference earlier this month, Disney CEO Bob Iger admitted that the box office failure of Solo: A Star Wars Story in 2018 has made the studio more cautious about greenlighting Star Wars movies outside the main episodes. "Maybe the cadence was a little too aggressive," Iger said. While Disney is "still developing" Star Wars movies, "we're going to make sure when we make one, it's the right one," Iger said. "So we're being very careful there."
New episodes of The Mandalorian Season 3 and The Bad Batch Season 2 are released on Disney+ Wednesdays. The next live-action series – Ahskoa and Jude Law's Skeleton Crew – are set to debut later this year. The Acolyte, a series set during the end of the High Republic era and starring Amandla Stenberg, will debut in 2024.