In April 2023, James Mangold took to the stage at Star Wars Celebration in London and revealed that he was working on an untitled Star Wars film, that he would both write and direct, which would explore the origins of the Jedi, and sported the working title, Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi. But, do we now know the official title?
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Producer, Simon Emanuel, during an interview with SFX Magazine spoke briefly on James Mangold’s upcoming untitled Star Wars flick. Emanuel told the magazine, “James Mangold’s Jedi Prime is set thousands and thousands of years before [the original trilogy] and I’m really excited to see what happens there.”
Jedi Prime? That’s not a name we’ve heard before in relation to the Mangold effort. As mentioned, the working title for James Mangold’s untitled Star Wars film has been Dawn of the Jedi, and has been the names that fans refer to it as. Admittedly, I quite like the name, Jedi Prime, and I hope somebody photoshops Optimus Prime sporting some Jedi robes and wielding a lightsaber, but it’s not as good Dawn of the Jedi in my book and it’s likely also just another working title or what some at Lucasfilm refer to the project as.
Emanuel has served as a producer on two Star Wars film, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Solo: A Star Wars Story, along with producing The Batman and The Witcher. Emanuel most recently worked with James Mangold on Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Mangold’s last directorial effort. Simon Emanuel is also credited as a producer on the upcoming Star Wars live-action series, The Acolyte, which releases on June 4th.
Lucasfilm have not set a date for Dawn of the Jedi/Jedi Prime, though they have two untitled Star Wars movies dated for release on December 18th, 2026 and December 17th, 2027, following the release of The Mandalorian and Grogu on May 22nd, 2026. It’s been believed that Jedi Prime would take the December 2027 slot and an untitled Rey Skywalker film would take the December 2026 window, it was even reported to be the case earlier this year by TheInseider. However, Jeff Sneider of TheInSneider revealed on his podcast yesterday, The Hot Mic, that Mangold’s Dawn of the Jedi and the Daisy Ridley led Rey film could swap dates, meaning Mangold’s effort could arrive in December 2026, an entire year earlier than expected, while the Ridley led effort slips an entire year.
Last month it was revealed that Beau Willimon had joined Jedi Prime/Dawn of the Jedi as a co-writer alongside Mangold. Willimon is probably best known to Star Wars fans for penning the Narkina Five arc of Andor, arguably the best arc of the first season. Willimon also created the critically acclaimed and hit Netflix series, House of Cards, and wrote on the second season of the acclaimed Apple TV+ series, Severance.
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