Two years ago, former Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy announced James Mangold’s “Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi” set 25,000 years in the past.
Many have been wondering what the status of Mangold’s film was, and earlier this year Kennedy revealed that Mangold and co-writer Beau Willimon had produced an “incredible script” that was “definitely breaking the mold”. However, she also admitted it was “really on the back burner.”
Now, speaking on The Hot Mic, Jeff Sneider is reporting that his sources tell him the movie is “dead.” He added, “I can’t say that conclusively, but it doesn’t sound good. I think Mangold is focused on that Timothée Chalamet heist movie is what I think. I think “Swamp Thing” could be after that.”
This comes after earlier social media chatter this week hinting that Filoni might be planning to cancel the project.
Last year, when speaking about the project, Mangold spoke of “something original” he was concocting for this project. It sounded like he was very serious about making the movie, and then red flags started to appear, culminating with Kennedy’s worrying update.
‘Dawn of The Jedi’ was supposed to explore the origins of the Jedi, before any of the Star Wars movies, taking place in the earliest era of the franchise. It’s an interesting concept, and if done right, could have resulted in one of the more interesting franchise movies.
For now, Mangold is riding high off the success of his Bob Dylan biopic, “A Complete Unknown,” and is in prep mode on his next film, “High Side,” starring Timothee Chalamet, which if all goes according to plan, could start shooting later this year.