Since last week there has been much confusion around Lucasfilm’s bevy of Star Wars films that they have in development. It was revealed exclusively by Deadline last week that Simon Kinberg (X-Men: Dark Phoenix, Apocalypse) was developing a new trilogy that would focus on new characters, a new story and be away from the Skywalker Saga, though the outlet believe the trilogy to be episodes ten, eleven and twelve. Other outlets such as Variety and The Hollywood Reporter confirmed the news, but denied that the trilogy was episodes ten to twelve, though THR mentioned familiar faces could appear.
This led fans to debate, speculate and sometimes even squabble about the new Kinberg trilogy and what it could mean for other films in development, namely the Daisy Ridley led New Jedi Order (working title) set to be directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (Ms. Marvel). Earlier this month New Jedi Order lost its writer, Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders) and a search is on for his replacement.
Jeff Sneider of The Inseider took to his newsletter to reveal what he had heard and to make sense of the confusing situation created by the trades and Lucasfilm’s lack of transparency. In his newsletter, Sneider said that he believed the Kinberg trilogy was being positioned internally at Lucasfilm as episodes ten to twelve, that Deadline were correct, and that the trilogy would focus on a new storyline away from the Skywalker Saga with new characters, but revealed that the familiar face that THR mentioned was in-fact Daisy Ridley’s Rey Skywalker, who would take an Obi-Wan Kenobi type role in the Kinberg trilogy.
Sneider expounded upon his reporting on his podcast, The Hot Mic, that the Simon Kinberg trilogy is episodes ten through twelve, but that the project is in early development and that Lucasfilm aren’t willing to confirm the films being the next instalment of episodes until they see how it develops and given their track record, they don’t want to announce episodes ten to twelve prematurely if the project doesn’t come to fruition.
Sneider mentioned that Lucasfilm are still developing New Jedi Order, but that the films cover similar ground regarding Rey. Sneider added that Lucasfilm have hired a new writer for New Jedi Order following the departure of Knight, but The Hollywood Reporter today mentioned that Lucasfilm are still looking for a writer for that project.
This brings us to the latest piece from The Hollywood Reporter which offers us some interesting insight into the current situation at Lucasfilm and their big plans and desires around Rey Skywalker, the “heir” to the Skywalker saga and the character Lucasfilm see as their “most valuable cinematic asset.”
The THR report mentions that Lucasfilm see Rey Skywalker as “key” to the future of the Star Wars franchise going forward and that the studio has multiple films in development that feature the character – the Kinberg trilogy and New Jedi Order. Jeff Sneider previously mentioned that Shawn Levy’s (Deadpool & Wolverine) untitled Star Wars film also features Rey Skywalker, though this Rey is much older in age, elderly, which coincidentally (?) was also set to be the case in Damon Lindelof’s (Watchmen) initial scripts for New Jedi Order before he was replaced by Steven Knight and a Rey in her thirties was brought into the fold.
THR paint the picture that there is a race for Rey at the studio as multiple filmmakers are attempting to create films focusing or featuring the character, adding that Kinberg’s trilogy and New Jedi Order are on a collision course. THR speculate that Lucasfilm were open to Simon Kinberg’s trilogy pitch due to issues with writers on New Jedi Order, adding that a search is currently on for Steven Knight’s replacement and that it is unclear when that flick would be ready to film. According to the report, there is internal deliberation going on at Lucasfilm as to what to do next with their “heir to Skywalker” and that the character is seen as “the most cinematic asset, in some ways maybe the only one, Star Wars has right now.”
According to the THR report, some writers and filmmakers at Lucasfilm are aware of what others are working on, while others remain in the dark, as Lucasfilm continues development in parallel on multiple Star Wars films from various filmmakers including Taika Waititi, Donald Glover, Shawn Levy, Simon Kinberg, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, James Mangold and even mention Rogue Squadron.
THR mention that a source refers to development on this new era, the next trilogy, as being tasked to create “the New Testament” following the films created by George Lucas and that at Lucasfilm, “no one can agree on anything and there’s lots of second guessing about meanings.” Another source told the outlet that the process in creating new Star Wars movies is “business-minded” and that Star Wars is seen as a “nostalgia based enterprise” and that Lucasfilm are “running out of ways to create nostalgia.” However, it seems that this issue is purely on the theatrical side as the outlet mentions that they’d been informed by sources that the TV arm of Lucasfilm has a lot more freedom to expand the universe.
If the reports from Sneider and The Hollywood Reporter can be believed, and given the accuracy of both, I think it’s fair to believe the reporting, it gives fans an incredible look inside Lucasfilm as they look to return Star Wars to the big screen. Some of it I agree with, like developing multiple films at the same time to see what comes to the fruition – I would just prefer if the studio didn’t announce certain films being in development until development is much more advanced. There’s also things that concern me, that the studio is seemingly focused on nostalgia on the film front instead of trying to create new and exciting stories for a new generation. It’s also mentioned that Lucasfilm cannot agree on “anything” and there is a lot of second guessing which likely explains the plethora of movies announced and how often plans were seemingly changed.
I have no issue with Lucasfilm looking to make use of Rey Skywalker, they most certainly should, I just hope they come to a conclusion soon as to where they’re looking to take the character and what filmmakers they’ll trust to do it. It does seem quite bizarre that you have New Jedi Order and the Kinberg trilogy both in development and that both would tackle similar plot points for the character. The Shawn Levy effort I can understand, it’s an elderly Rey, but why is the studio working on that when they’ve yet to nail down what Rey in her thirties is up to, which they clearly plan on doing, and seemingly wanted to move on from the idea of an elderly Rey Skywalker.
I hate to say it, and I’m not a Kathleen Kennedy hater, but this comes down to management and evidently there’s no real, clear vision on the film side and hasn’t been for a number of years, a number of false starts and restarts, announcement after announcement on films being in development with nothing to show for it. Maybe it is time for a new head at the studio, somebody that can wrangle together a plan and a vision for the future of Star Wars on the big screen.
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