It has come to light that a new take on Star Wars had entered development but was later shelved by Lucasfilm and Disney. This project has now been reworked outside of a galaxy far, far away and could be hitting cinema screens in the future.
In a new interview with Variety, comedian Simon Farnaby has revealed he had wrote a Star Wars film for Lucasfilm which did not move forward. Farnaby is best known for writing and performing in children’s sketch show Horrible Histories, Wonka and the Paddington films.
Following the commercial success of Paddington 2, Farnaby received offers from Disney and Lucasfilm. One of those offers was for a Star Wars film. Writing partner Paul King was on board to direct whilst the duo co-wrote the film. (Fun fact: Paddington was the codename for LEGO Star Wars The Skywalker Saga.)
The creative told Variety this project had them “distracted for a while”. As for what the film was about, Farnaby told the outlet that it was focused on an “unspecified robot” and did not have any “key” Star Wars characters in it. Farnaby speculates that might have been a reason for the film not panning out. Following this, they turned to making Wonka, the hit prequel to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
“They were like, we really need it to be a ‘Star Wars’ movie, which is probably why it didn’t get turned into a ‘Star Wars’ movie! But we never really nailed it.”
Even though we won’t see that Star Wars film in cinemas, Disney did not dismiss the idea. Instead, they told the pair that “it’s not right for ‘Star Wars,’ but do you want to rework it as a sci-fi film?” As of today, the writing duo are still writing it for Disney.
Farnaby has been part of the Star Wars universe before. He played Blue Squadron member Farns Monsbee (pictured above) in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. He was offered the role whilst he was busy writing Paddington 2.
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