Lucasfilm has reportedly hired a new writer for Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s announced Rey movie as the entire franchise quietly dies.
Borys Kit at The Hollywood Reporter reports that Lucasfilm has hired George Nolfi to write a new script for the New Jedi Order film.
Nolfi replaces Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight. Knight reportedly left the project in October. Matt Belloni at Puck noted that he was “off the new New Jedi Order film project.”
Before Knight, Lucasfilm was working with Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson, and Lindelof had allegedly been working on the script going as far back as March 2022 with Richard Rushfield writing at The Ankler, “Word around Buena Vista St. is that Damon Lindelof, the Emmy-winning creator of Watchmen, Lost and The Leftovers, is working on a Star Wars movie for Lucasfilm.”
By March 2023, Lindelof revealed he was no longer working on the project. He told Slashfilm, “I will just say, that for reasons that I can’t get into on this Sunday morning, on this day, the degree of difficulty is extremely, extremely, extremely high. If it can’t be great, it shouldn’t exist.”
He continued, “That’s all I’ll say, because I have the same association with it as you do, which is, it’s the first movie I saw sitting in my dad’s lap, four years old, May of ’77. I think it’s possible that sometimes when you hold something in such high reverence and esteem, you start to get in the kitchen and you just go, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t be cooking. Maybe I should just be eating.’ We’ll just leave it at that point.”
At the end of April, Lindelof told Esquire, “I was in more than talks to join the Star Wars universe. I joined the Star Wars universe. I was asked to leave the Star Wars universe. So will I get back in line outside the club and ty to get back in again? Of course.”
He added, “This movie was the Alpha and the Omega. It was the first movie I saw in a movie theater. I love all the storytelling in that world. And if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Or again, again, try as Yoda would say.”
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As for what the film was originally supposed to be about, an official blog claimed it will “feature Daisy Ridley back as Rey as she builds a new Jedi Order.”
A press release added, “Kennedy then revealed that “Star Wars” will head into the future, with a new feature set 15 years after the last events of the Skywalker Saga. Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy will tell the story of rebuilding the New Jedi Order and the powers that rise to tear it down; the director then delighted fans by welcoming Daisy Ridley to stage, confirming she will be reprising her beloved role as Rey in the upcoming movie.”
Kennedy would provide more details to IGN at Star Wars Celebration in April 2023, “We’re 15 years out from Rise of Skywalker. So we’re kind of post-war, post-First Order and the Jedi are in disarray. And there’s a lot of discussion around who are the Jedi, what are they doing, what’s the state of the galaxy? And she’s attempting to rebuild the Jedi Order based on the books, based on what she promised Luke.”
Kennedy concluded, “So that’s where we’re going.”
This news about a third writer for the film comes as the Star Wars franchise is in significant decline. The recently released Star Wars: Skeleton Crew on Disney+ has failed to chart on both the Nielsen and Luminate rankings.
Erik Kain at Forbes believes that The Acolyte gutted what was left of Star Wars fandom and Skeleton Crew is reaping the weeds that Lucasfilm sowed.
He wrote, “I believe it had a demoralizing effect on the wider Star Wars community. After so many disappointments in recent years, why bother anymore? Apathy has overtaken the Star Wars brand.”
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Kain is not alone in this observation. Thomas over at Jedi Temple Archives commented on Skeleton Crew failing to chart on both Nielsen and Luminate, “It’s probably a combination of factors: kids as main characters which may not be something most adult Star Wars fans want, Star Wars Goonies meets Treasure Island may be too far removed from Star Wars as fans know and like it, and maybe The Acolyte has left nothing but scorched earth.”
In fact, he goes on to opine, “It’s difficult to see how Star Wars could make a comeback any time soon when there’s nothing but craters, smoking ruins and scorched earth.”
What do you make of Lucasfilm hiring a new writer for this Rey movie as the entire franchise dies?
So, Luke rebuilt the Jedi Academy. But Disney, who only allow their own characters to exist, scrubbed him and now Rey will build the Jedi Academy. I wish I could say I cared, but I stopped caring back in the prequel days.