The untitled Rey Skywalker movie led by Daisy Ridley is reportedly having issues in the creative process and that due to these issues, the writer of film may be on the verge of exiting, and the film itself has suffered an indefinite delay.
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According to a new report from World of Reel, an outlet I’ve followed for a long time and read almost daily, the Daisy Ridley led flick has suffered an indefinite delay. Reel isn’t known for breaking stories on blockbuster franchises such as Star Wars and Marvel, so the name might not be too familiar to my readers, but they get a lot right with smaller movies, which is why I follow their work. For that reason, this report shouldn’t be written off, but just because an outlet is reliable in one field, doesn’t mean they are in another. In their article, World of Reel shares that they aren’t keen on looking for information on Star Wars, but that well informed sources have shared details worth sharing.
World of Reel are reporting that Disney have internally delayed the Rey Skywalker film indefinitely, which is why they’ve pivoted to The Mandalorian and Grogu being the next theatrically released feature film and why that flick was announced just last week. Reel adds that due to creative issues going on behind the scenes, Disney and Lucasfilm are no longer confident that the Rey film will release in the near future.
As mentioned, the problems plaguing the Daisy Ridley led film stem from creative issues. According to World of Reel, Lucasfilm and the films current writer, Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders), are butting heads. Knight has reportedly submitted a draft and Lucasfilm did not like what was turned in, giving Knight so many notes that he would essentially have to start from scratch on a new draft. The outlet goes on to say that Steven Knight’s frustration with the studio has continued to grow and is seemingly at a boiling point, as the writer might not be staying onboard the Rey film. World of Reel adds that Knight has put Star Wars on the back burner, as he’s focusing his efforts on completing the script for his Peaky Blinders movie, which is due to begin filming this Summer (was due last Fall) after suffering a delay in development and production due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.
Last week, MakingStarWars reported that according a source of his, Steven Knight had yet to complete a draft of the Daisy Ridley led feature and added, “I’m not saying he’s going to write it or not – I don’t know.” MSW shared that the “scheduling and stars did not align” for Knight and Lucasfilm.
Development on the untitled Rey Skywalker movie began over two years ago with Damon Lindelof (Watchmen) and Justin Brit-Gibson (Into the Badlands) writing the project. In 2022, Lindelof assembled a writers room for the project, which was envisioned as a standalone film, but if successful, sequels could follow. Members of the Lindelof writers room included Patrick Somerville (Station Eleven), Rayna McClendon (Brairpatch) Andy Greenwald (Legion) and more, as well as some members of the Lucasfilm story group.
In March of 2023, Lindelof and Brit-Gibson exited the project and were immediately replaced by Steven Knight. According to Jeff Sneider, who first broke that Lindelof was writing a Star Wars movie, and was first to break that he’d exited the project, Lindelof’s scripts weren’t good enough, and that Lucasfilm had no intention in working things out with the Lindelof and Brit-Gibson due to the quality of the script. Sneider added that he’d heard of friction between the two writers and Lucasfilm’s president Kathleen Kennedy and the films director, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.
In April 2023, the Rey Skywalker movie was officially announced at Star Wars Celebration. When on stage, Kennedy and Obaid-Chinoy revealed that the film was set fifteen years after the events of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and would follow Rey as see attempted to construct a new Jedi Order. During interviews that followed, Kennedy revealed that Steven Knight was due to submit his draft in mid-May, however this did not come to fruition as the Writers Guild of America strike began on May 2nd, 2023 and ran until the end of September 2023. During this time, Knight was not permitted to work on the script.
In June, Lucasfilm set three release dates for untitled Star Wars movies, May 2026, December 2026 and December 2027. It was widely believed and reported by various insiders and trades, that the untitled Rey Skywalker film would helm the May 22nd, 2026 date and that the movie was Lucasfilm’s priority. In November 2023, the films lead, Daisy Ridley, shared that she believed her Rey movie was the next Star Wars film to be released in theatres, further pointing to the May 2026 release window.
However, last week Lucasfilm announced The Mandalorian and Grogu, a film being written by Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, which the former would also direct. Within its announcement, Lucasfilm revealed that the film is set to enter production later this year and will lead Lucasfilm’s theatrical slate which includes the Rey movie, Dave Filoni’s Mandalorian crossover event film and James Mangold untitled Star Wars movie that focuses on the first ever Jedi. Due to Lucasfilm stating when production is due to start of The Mandalorian and Grogu and that it’s going to lead their theatrical slate, it’s assumed to be taking the May 22nd, 2026 release window.
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