UPDATE (25/10/24, 11:00 AM BST): Uh oh, disappointing updates on both movies dropped shortly after this report was published.
Ben Travis, Deputy Online Editor at Empire, shot down World of Reel’s report about James Mangold and his movie, stating “this isn’t anywhere in our new issue” (meaning the print one). Still, it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility that Mangold could be jumping into a galaxy far, far away next, but let’s put aside those 2025 production claims for now.
As for the Rey-centric movie, Puck News has reported that Steven Knight has now departed the project, with Lucasfilm now looking for a new writer to continue to rework and polish the script before committing to a production start date. Variety later backed the news. Given how busy Knight currently is, this doesn’t come as a surprise, but it does put into question whether the movie will be able to shoot in 2025 and meet its tentative December 2026 release slot.
Like almost every bit of news when it comes to Star Wars outside the official channels, take the following with a good dose of salt, but it’s starting to sound like 2025 could mark Lucasfilm’s big year when it comes to finally getting to shoot Star Wars movies that aren’t a downsized season of television.
The Mandalorian & Grogu started filming a few months ago and should be wrapping up its principal photography soon, yet that’s a project that was announced after three larger ‘event movies’ were unveiled at Star Wars Celebration 2023. A Dave Filoni-directed, New Republic-era crossover flick, James Mangold’s ‘Jedi origins’ epic, and a follow-up to The Rise of Skywalker led by Daisy Ridley and helmed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy are the trio in question. While Filoni’s movie still has a ways to go (he must knock Ahsoka season 2 out first), the other two are seemingly closer to getting made.
The update on the ‘Dawn of the Jedi’ (we’re just calling it that for now) movie reportedly comes straight from James Mangold (via World of Reel), who discussed his upcoming Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown in the latest issue of Empire Magazine. As always, things could change, as the folks at Lucasfilm are notoriously picky when it comes to giving new big-screen installments the go-ahead after The Rise of Skywalker largely disappointed in 2019, but Mangold says the current plan is to move on to his Star Wars prequel set thousands of years before the Skywalker Saga in 2025.
While Mangold was initially announced as the sole writer of the movie, Andor’s Beau Willimon, the man responsible for season one’s most acclaimed story arc, joined him earlier this year. It now sounds like progress has been made on the writing front, at least just enough to enter pre-production next year. This would also mean Mangold will stay at the Lucasfilm camp for more than two years before being available to shoot Swamp Thing for James Gunn’s DC Studios.
As for the Rey Skywalker-centric follow-up to the divisive sequel trilogy, the latest update comes straight from Daisy Ridley, who recently attended a screening of her movie Magpie and did a Q&A hosted by Collider’s Steven Weintraub. The relevant clip popped up on r/StarWarsLeaks.
“Things are evolving. I continue to be very excited. There will be an update soon,” Ridley said. The actor had been saying for months she hadn’t read a script yet, but this could’ve changed already. For now, Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight remains attached to the project as scribe. When could that “update” be coming? Since we’re guessing she’s talking about official channels or events, it’s logical to look at D23 Brazil or a new Disney Investor Day.
Otherwise, we shouldn’t expect new announcements straight from Lucasfilm and Disney until Star Wars Celebration 2025. Word on the street has been for a while the movie focusing on the New Jedi Order won’t shoot until well into 2025, and things could be starting to line up as we near the end of 2024.
As it stands, Star Wars: The Mandalorian & Grogu is set to open in theaters on May 22, 2026. December 18, 2026, and December 17, 2027, were also locked down by Lucasfilm and Disney a while back, but it remains to be seen whether any of the aforementioned movies will be ready in time. Plus, two Star Wars movies in less than 12 months hasn’t worked out too well in the past.
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