Back in April of 2023, Lucasfilm, during Star Wars Celebration, brought out writer-director, James Mangold, to reveal that the filmmaker was set to helm a Star Wars film. Mangold revealed that his flick is set 25,000 years before Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and would explore the origins of the first ever Jedi and has been dubbed Dawn of the Jedi by fans and outlets, though it’s not confirmed to be the title of the Mangold effort.
Mangold at the time was keen to tell various outlets at the event that he would be writing the Dawn of the Jedi movie as well as directing it. It’s now been reported by The Hollywood Reporter that Lucasfilm have hired co-writer for the project, Beau Willimon.
Star Wars fans should be familiar with Willimon’s work, he penned the Narkina Five arc of Andor season one, arguably the best arc of an all round incredible and critically acclaimed series. Willimon is probably best known for being the creator of the hit Netflix series, House of Cards. The writer also penned the Ryan Gosling and George Clooney flick, The Ides of March and was brought on as a writer for the second and third season of the critically acclaimed Apple TV+ series, Severance, with the second season due out later this year.
Many had questioned as to when we could expect to see Mangold’s Dawn of the Jedi on the big screen, Lucasfilm being Lucasfilm won’t confirm a release date. Around the time that it was announced that Mangold was to helm a Star Wars film, it had been confirmed that he was also set to write and direct a Swamp Thing movie for Warner Bros. Discovery and DC Studios, with many questions being raised as to what film he’d shoot and release first. As I mentioned, Lucasfilm have not confirmed a window of release for the Dawn of the Jedi movie, but a report earlier this year from TheInsieder.com claimed that Mangold’s movie is aiming to release on December 17th, 2027.
Lucasfilm and Disney confirmed three release dates in 2023 – May 22nd 2026, December 18th 2026 and December 17th 2027. At the time of writing, the only film that has been given a release date from Lucasfilm and Disney is The Mandalorian and Grogu, a successor film to the hit Disney+ series, which is set to release in May 2026, which was confirmed earlier today by Disney.
Personally I always liked the idea of a Dawn of the Jedi film and I like some of Mangold’s work quite a bit, namely Ford vs Ferrari, Logan and Cop Land, though Mangold’s attachment didn’t thrill me. I really like Mangold as a director, but I was completely sold on the idea of him being the sole writer on Dawn of the Jedi. However, now with the inclusion of Beau Willimon, my anticipation and excitement for this movie has grown tremendously (“My goodness you’ve grown”). I’ve really enjoyed everything I’ve seen from Willimon, I’m happy to see him continue in the Star Wars galaxy and I can’t wait to see what he brings to Dawn of the Jedi
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