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According to an exclusive report from Variety, the creator of the hit BBC series, Peaky Blinders, Steven Knight has been hired to write the screenplay for the untitled Star Wars movie that Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson had been working for over year a year and exited last month after turning in a draft of the script as first reported by Above the Line.
Knight, as mentioned, is best known for his work on Peaky Blinders, but has a bevy of long form storytelling under his built with television series such as BBC’s SAS: Rogue Heroes which starred Jack O’Connell and Alfie Allen, Taboo, a limited series starring Tom Hardy, and the Apple TV+ series See, led by Jason Momoa. In addition to being a decorated television producer, Knight also wrote recent movies such as Spencer, the Princess Diana biopic led by Kristen Stewart, along with Locked Down and Serenity, both of which star Anne Hathaway. Past film credits also include Locke, Closed Circuit, Dirty Pretty Things, and Eastern Promises.
Knight currently has a packed schedule with multiple television and film projects in development, including a Peaky Blinders movie, and was recently linked with writing a script for a Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel sequel before the DC Studios shake-up. However I wouldn’t worry too much about the writers schedule as I’m sure the Star Wars project will become a top priority for Knight given that Lucasfilm supposedly want to start shooting the movie in February according to the initial Above the Line article.
Knight will likely pick up where Damon Lindelof (Watchmen) and Justin Britt-Gibson (Into the Bad Lands) left off in developing the untitled Star Wars movie set to be released December 19th, 2025. Though the original writers exited the project, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (Ms. Marvel) remains on board the project as it’s director. Obaid-Chinoy was reportedly brought on early in development to help shape the story and characters that Lindelof and Gibson had been working on, and it’s likely she’ll be working closely with Knight.
The untitled Star Wars film is reportedly set sometime after the events of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, but the flick would not be part of the Skywalker saga. When Lindelof was attached, the project was being touted as a standalone project, but if successful, it could span a series of sequels. Given Lindelof’s past work on multiple season spanning television series such as The Leftovers and Lost, he felt to an ideal candidate to plan future instalments following the initial film he was developing. Given Steven Knight’s past work, he too has much experience in long form storytelling, and could prove to be a suitable candidate to help shape the possible follow up plans spawning from the 2025 Star Wars release.
The Knight/Obaid-Chinoy Star Wars film is expected to be announced at the Lucasfilm Studio Showcase panel at Star Wars Celebration, which kicks off on April 7th. In addition to the untitled film being formally announced, it’s also rumoured that a title for the project, along with a brief synopsis, will be revealed.
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