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Another new Star Wars movie has been confirmed to be in development. Despite projects from Taika Waititi, Patty Jenkins, Kevin Feige, Rian Johnson, and J.D. Dillard being in various stages of development, reports signal that a completely separate installment in the sci-fi saga is incoming, scripted by Watchmen's Damon Lindelof and set to be directed by Ms. Marvel's Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.
Rumors of Lindelof's involvement have long been making waves on internet forums, and now Deadline has confirmed the news. The publication adds that the script is still being written, but both Lucasfilm and Lindelof – who also acted as showrunner on Lost and The Leftovers – wanted to find a filmmaker early on in the process, so that their "vision for where they see this story headed gets included in the script."
That person now appears to be Obaid-Chinoy, who acted as director on Ms. Marvel's fourth and fifth episodes – the first of which was action-heavy, the second saw the eponymous superhero travel back in time. Considering Lindelof's love of time-jumping stories, the pairing is quite apt (and exciting for the future of Star Wars). Before Ms. Marvel, Obaid-Chinoy won multiple Emmys and Oscars for her documentary work. She also became the first Pakistani filmmaker to make a computer-animated feature-length film with the fantastical 3 Bahadur.
What story the new Star Wars movie will tell remains to be seen. Details are heavily under wraps, with reports indicating that the project is one of Hollywood's most guarded secrets. There's currently no release date on the movie, though it's certainly still some time off. Deadline adds that, "given how pro-active [executives] were in finding a director for this film, this Star Wars feature seems to have the most momentum out of all the films currently in development at the studio."
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was the last big-screen outing set in that galaxy far, far away. Lucasfilm has since been focussing on Star Wars TV shows, including Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Book of Boba Fett, Andor, and the upcoming return of The Mandalorian. A few months back, Patty Jenkins' Star Wars movie, Rogue Squadron, was set to be coming out in December 2023. That was later delayed due to her work on various other movies, including Wonder Woman 3, plus some reported creative differences with the studio.
Taika Waititi's Star Wars movie was expected to replace Jenkins' project, though speaking to Total Film, Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy remained coy on when to expect the movie: "We haven't locked anything in," she told us. Waititi himself was more open when talking to us earlier this year about his movie: "I would like to take something new and create some new characters," he said. Read the interview here.
Whether Lindelof and Obaid-Chinoy's movie will be the next big-screen Star Wars outing is unclear right now. Whatever the case, Lucasfilm hasn't forgotten about its cinematic projects – it just appears, from an outsider's perspective, that the studio is still working out how to proceed beyond the Skywalker Saga. For more, check out our pieces on the Star Wars timeline and how to watch the Clone Wars in order.
