This past January, I posted about sources telling me that Disney’s Daisy Ridley starring Rey movie, potentially titled “New Jedi Order,” and directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, was “delayed indefinitely.” Of course, given the territory, some people totally freaked out about this update, and some even didn’t believe it.
I never said that the Rey movie wasn’t going to happen, I just stated that Disney CEO Bob Iger had hit the pause button on it, and we wouldn’t be seeing much movement on this film in the near future. Despite some rumors that it wasn’t going to be shooting this year, this one has hit some creative bumps and is a long way down the road.
In fact, Ridley is now telling THR that there is currently no script fo the film. She hasn’t read a word of the story. Steven Knight is supposed to be penning the screenplay and I had been told that, last year, a draft had been written for the movie, but LucasFilm gave Knight so many notes that he had to start from scratch.
To make matters worse, there is the possibility that Knight might not be staying on-board the project. His frustrations have grown, so he’s put Star Wars on the backburner and is now focused on his screenplay for the “Peaky Blinders” movie, which is supposed to go into production in the fall.
These issues with Knight come only two years after development on the Rey film started, and various drafts had circulated, with different writers, including Damon Lindelof (“Watchmen”) and Justin Brit-Gibson, both eventually exiting this untitled Rey Skywalker project. Knight came aboard soon after.
EmpireCity are backing me up here, but they’re also going one step further by claiming that the film has actually been totally scrapped by Disney and that Ridley has yet to be told about the decision. I don’t necessarily believe that, there are still plans to make it, but it might be a very different movie by the time production gets started.
It’s quite clear that this won’t be the next ‘Star Wars’ movie from Disney. In case you’ve lost count, there are now seven ‘Star Wars’ films in development, from directors Sharmeen Obaid-Chimoy, James Mangold, Dave Filoni, Jon Favreau, Donald Glover, Shawn Levy and Patty Jenkins. Which comes first? I would bet it’s Jon Favreau’s “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” set to shoot later this year.
Marvel's "Ghost Rider" just hired one of the best cinematographers working today. Linus Sandgren will serve as DP on Shawn Levy's MCU flick, and, most notably, the project will be shot on film.