A New ‘Star Wars’ Movie Is Finally in Development

Star Wars’ TV slate is going great, with series like The Mandalorian, Andor, Ahsoka, and the awesome-sounding The Acolyte. Star Wars movie slate is, well, kind of in shambles. It’s been three years since the last theatrically released Star Wars film (which was The Rise of Skywalker, and we all recall how that went), and we’re still years away from seeing any new Star Wars project back on the big screen. Films have been announced, like Rian Johnson’s trilogy of movies or Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron, only to stall out in development, or get canceled completely.

So it’s probably worth taking this news with a measure of cynicism, because who knows if and when this thing will ever actually show up in movie theaters. But Deadline is reporting that a new Star Wars movie is now in development at Lucasfilm. It is being written by Damon Lindelof, the co-creator of Lost, and the creator of the excellent Watchmen HBO series. Per their report, a director is already attached:

Not only is Damon Lindelof developing a new Star Wars film for Lucasfilm but that Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy has been set as director. Lindelof is co-writing the project, though it is unknown at this time who his writing partner might be. Insiders say the script is still being written which means production is likely far out. That said, sources add it was important to Lucasfilm and Lindelof that a director be brought on so that person’s own vision for where they see this story headed gets included in the script.

Obaid-Chinoy recently worked as a director on Disney+’s Ms. Marvel series.

To me, Lindelof’s approach to Watchmen would work well for a new Star Wars movie. With that show, he found a way to make something that was immediately recognizable to fans of the source material, with many of the same characters and lore, while also doing something very different in terms of the story — it was anything but another remake of the same Alan Moore comic. A little of that familiar-but-new energy would go a long way in Star Wars these days.