A lot of fans were excited when it was announced that Damon Lindelof would be developing his own Star Wars project, but it looks like he won’t be pushing through as rumors have come out that he would be exiting the film. As it turns out, Lucasfilm has already found someone to take over.
According to Deadline, Steven Knight, the creator of Peaky Blinders, as taken over the screenwriter role that originally belonged to Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson. Despite the original writers having left the project, the film will still be directed by the original helmer chosen, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.
While Star Wars has been producing TV series left and right with shows like Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and The Book of Boba Fett, the franchise has been in a creative rut when it comes to box office films, with several creatives having come and gone with Patty Jenkins, James Mangold, and now Damon Lindelof.
We don’t know what’s happening behind the scenes of Star Wars, but we can imagine that the franchise is being overprotective with its brand—especially when you consider the fanbase that follows it. Bad films could mean decades of scrutiny online; I mean, even the good films get the same treatment.
Ever since The Rise of Skywalker, it feels like SW has started shifting to a nostalgia-pandering model, but I am hopeful that we’ll eventually get out of this ‘dark era’ and move on to some more creatively enriching projects. Andor felt like a good sign, but we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
No release date has been set for the next theatrically released Star Wars film.
