Hollywood loves James Mangold. He’s the current master of the “hired hand.” A talented filmmaker who doesn’t mind adhering to the creative control that studios strictly enforce in big franchises.
The latest Mangold endeavour is now reported to be a “Star Wars” movie for Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy. This one will be titled “Dawn of the Jedi.” Best of luck to James.
This was announced during today’s launch of Star Wars Celebrations in London. “Dawn of The Jedi” will explore the origins of the Jedi taking place in the earliest era in the “Star Wars” franchise. This film is set 25,000 years in the past.
It does sound like the project “Game of Thrones” showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss had been concocting before their exit from the franchise.
‘Dawn of the Jedi’ has now become the de facto most anticipated upcoming Star Wars film, especially after Damon Lindelof‘s exit from his own SW movie last month.
During the London celebrations, another two SW films, directed by Dave Filoni and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, were announced.
Filoni’s film is set in the ‘Mandalorian’- verse. It makes sense given the filmmaker’s recent work on Disney Plus’ “The Mandalorian.” Obaid-Chinoy’s project will see the return of Daisey Ridley as Rey Skywalker.
What else is left?
Shawn Levy supposedly still has a project in development, ditto Taika Waititi. That’s about it. We wouldn’t be surprised if any or both of these got canned, but no news on either fronts.
Mangold has a more-that-decent track record as a filmmaker, having made “Logan,” “Ford v Ferrari,” “3:10 to Yuma,” “Cop Land” and “Identity.” However, before he enters the Star Wars, he’s set to unveil “Indians Jones and the Dial of Destiny” at Cannes in a few weeks.
Paul Greengrass’ "The Uprising," starring Andrew Garfield, opened to $3.2M from 2,068 theaters this weekend. Yikes. The budget hasn’t been disclosed, but is said to be in the $20-$30M range.