It’s been almost three years since there was last a Star Wars movie in theaters. Many have been announced—a trilogy from Rian Johnson; something from Taika Waititi; Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron—but right now, you can’t put a shiny gold sticker on your calendar and think, I’m going to a Star Wars movie on that day!
But that doesn’t mean nothing is in development. The latest news is that we’re getting a Star Wars movie from a very promising pair of creators: Deadline reports that Damon Lindelof (The Leftovers, Watchmen) is developing a film that Oscar-winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (Ms. Marvel) will direct.
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Lindelof is also co-writing the film, though Deadline does not say with whom.
If you’re feeling tentative excitement but also a bit of wariness right now, I’m right there with you. It’s exciting to see Disney bring on a woman of color to helm a project this massive, and Lindelof has been doing really interesting stuff in the years since Lost. But there are so many Star Wars cinematic frying pans in a fire that doesn’t seem to be burning that brightly, and Lucasfilm rarely wants to step very far outside established narratives. Back in May, Kathleen Kennedy seemed to suggest there were plans to return to the sequel trilogy era. The galaxy is so big! Go somewhere else!
There’s so much happening in the Star Wars TV realm that it’s hard not to feel as if the movies aren’t as much of a priority anymore—even though almost everything that’s been announced sounds fantastic.
Not a single detail has been so much as whispered about Lindelof and Obaid-Chinoy’s film, as is customary, and there’s no telling when it will come out. Deadline notes that “this Star Wars feature seems to have the most momentum out of all all the films currently in development at the studio.”
