Damon Lindelof's 'Star Wars' Movie May Have Surprising Timeline Twist
By Kristin Myers on October 25, 2022 at 9:00 AM EDT
Over the weekend, Deadline reported that a new Star Wars movie was in development from "Lost" co-creator Damon Lindelof, with "Ms. Marvel" filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy already tapped to direct the feature film.
Although the franchise has been revitalized through several Disney+ live-action series, such as "The Mandalorian" and "Andor," which is currently streaming, there hasn't been a Star Wars film to hit theaters since 2019's "The Rise of Skywalker" wrapped up the nine-episode Skywalker Saga.
On Monday night, The Hollywood Reporter dropped a few new details about the project, including the identity of Lindelof's co-writing partner and where the movie is expected to take place in the larger Star Wars timeline.
Damon Lindelof Has Been Working On His 'Star Wars' Movie 'For Months'
Sources told THR that "The Leftovers" creator has been working on this project for months. Although Deadline didn't name the identity of his co-writer, a source came forward to tell THR that Lindelof has been creating the script with Justin Britt-Gibson, who worked as an executive story editor on Guillermo del Toro’s vampire series, "The Strain."
Britt-Gibson also wrote episodes of Starz's "The Counterpart," which is a series that deals with parallel dimensions. However, it seems that Britt-Gibson wasn't a part of the initial meeting, which took place this year after the annual Star Wars Celebration event in Anaheim, California.
Sources told THR that there was a secret writer's room held in July that featured several notable names. Patrick Somerville, who worked with Lindelof on "The Leftovers" before moving on to "Station Eleven" was at the table, as well as Rayna McClendon, who served as a consultant producer on "Obi-Wan Kenobi" and the upcoming Disney+ "Willow" series. Andy Greenwald, who created the 2019 drama "Briarpatch" was also in attendance; McClendon was a story editor on the series as well.
It is possible that Lucasfilm Executive Creative Director Dave Filoni was also present at the meeting, although this has not been confirmed. Several other writers were also reportedly at the creative brainstorming session, which lasted around two weeks as the team worked together to develop an initial plan for what might be the first Star Wars movie back in theaters after a lengthy hiatus.
Damon Lindelof's 'Star Wars' Film To Reportedly Take Place After 2019's 'The Rise of Skywalker'
Right now, sources told the outlet that the movie is intended as a standalone film; however, there is the possibility that more movies could be made if the film proves to be a success. Although this has yet to be confirmed by Lucasfilm, sources told THR that the film will take place after the events of 2019's "The Rise of Skywalker," although it would not be a continuation of the Skywalker Saga.
That being said, characters from the Star Wars sequel trilogy could potentially appear in the upcoming film, such as Daisy Ridley's Rey, John Boyega's Finn, Oscar Isaac's Poe Dameron, or even Adam Driver's redeemed Ben Solo in the form of a Force Ghost.
Although Star Wars released a new movie every year from 2015 to 2019, including 2016's critically acclaimed "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" and 2018's blockbuster flop "Solo: A Star Wars Story," then Disney CEO Bob Iger decided to abandon their plans for future theatrical releases.
The "Obi-Wan Kenobi" movie trilogy was heavily edited and turned into a six-episode limited series for Disney+, while plans for "The Last Jedi" director Rian Johnson's Star Wars movie trilogy still remain tentative as he focuses on his "Knives Out" sequel and subsequent films for Netflix.
That's not the only Star Wars film that has hit delays. "Wonder Woman" creator Patty Jenkins' film "Rogue Squadron" has been taken off the Disney production schedule as she focuses on "Wonder Woman 3," while Taika Waititi has openly admitted that he hasn't started working on the script for his Star Wars film yet.
Fortunately, there are plenty of upcoming Star Wars projects for fans to enjoy on Disney+. "Andor" is currently streaming, with season 3 of "The Mandalorian" scheduled for release in February. "Ahsoka" is expected to drop in late 2023, with "The Acolyte" to follow soon after.
Although there is no telling when a new Star Wars film will be released in theaters, Disney has a slot open for an unnamed Star Wars movie on its release schedule for 2025 and 2017. But will that be Damon Lindelof's unnamed Star Wars project? Fans will just have to wait and find out!
