Yes, that’s right: It’s time to add a new name to the long list of writers and directors who are developing Star Wars movies. But this one stands a pretty good chance of getting out of the Star Wars limbo that seems to have swallowed the likes of Rian Johnson and Taika Waititi: Deadline reports that Simon Kinberg is developing a trilogy for Lucasfilm. He will write the films, and produce them alongside Kathleen Kennedy.
This is decidedly mixed news. Kinberg is one of the people behind one of the very best Star Wars projects: Star Wars Rebels, which he created with Carrie Beck and Dave Filoni. But he is also the man who wrote not one but two unfortunate Dark Phoenix movies (not to mention xXx: State of the Union). He’s also produced a whole string of SFF hits, from Logan to The Martian.
And then there’s the usual big Star Wars question: What, and who, will these movies be about? The answer is unclear; Deadline’s Mike Fleming Jr. writes, “I heard this will comprise episodes 10-12 of The Skywalker Saga that began with George Lucas’s 1977 first film that along with Steven Spielberg’s Jaws reshaped the global blockbuster game. Insiders disputed my intel that Kinberg will continue that storyline, saying this will instead begin a new saga.”
Do you feel like we’ve heard this before? I feel like we’ve heard this before—the perpetual “new Star Wars story!” promise that then turns into the return of the Skywalkers, who have done a lot for the galaxy and really ought to be allowed to rest.
Kingberg is a busy man, as Deadline notes; he is also producing Edgar Wright’s The Running Man and is set to produce the Toby Haynes/Seth Grahame-Smith Star Trek movie. No timeline has been announced for his Star Wars trilogy; as usual, neither Lucasfilm nor Disney would tell Deadline anything.
