A new rumor claims that Kathleen Kennedy is expediting the production of the previously announced Rey film featuring Daisy Ridley and being directed by Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy. Not only is the film reportedly being rushed into production, but a number of Disney executives are terrified that the film will end up being another failure like The Marvels.
LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 07: (L-R) Daisy Ridley, Kathleen Kennedy and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy attend the studio panel at Star Wars Celebration 2023 attends the studio panel at Star Wars Celebration 2023 in London at ExCel on April 07, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Disney)
This latest rumor comes from scooper WDW Pro and comes in the wake of a listing on the Film & Television Industry Alliance’s website that the Rey film will go into production in the United Kingdom on April 7, 2024.
The listing confirmed a previous rumor from back at the end of November that Kennedy and Lucasfilm were trying to rush the film into production.
WDW Pro stated at the time, “She is allegedly in a very big hurry to get this movie into full-on production that includes trying to reserve locations very fast out of the strike as well as getting everything tucked away and done and put into place. They want to move fast. Still, I am told not to expect this film out until at the very earliest late 2025, but almost assuredly 2026. That means that even when this comes out it will still have been basically a decade since Disney made money with Star Wars.”
LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 07: Daisy Ridley and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy attend the studio panel at Star Wars Celebration 2023 attends the studio panel at Star Wars Celebration 2023 in London at ExCel on April 07, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Disney)
WDW Pro’s latest information from his insider details, “Disney executives are very worried about this because of The Marvels. And here’s where that worry comes from: The Marvels is unlikely to break $100 million at the domestic box office. It is an unbelievable flop. It’s just unbelievable.”
“Now, what did the audience say about Captain Marvel for years? They said, ‘We didn’t want to go see Captain Marvel. We went because you told us we had to, to see what was going to happen in our favorite movies.’ And then because it was not a good movie, now we dislike this character,” he continued. “And then the audience celebrated when Captain Marvel was not in other movies very much. And then when Disney said, ‘No, no, she’s popular. Here’s the movie go see it. Here’s the sequel.’ Fans reacted poorly.”
Brie Larson as Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers in Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2023 MARVEL.
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“Rey is magnitudes higher than that,” WDW Pro asserted. “Because the way that Rey works is that when The Force Awakens came out, fans were told, ‘You’ve got to see this to see all your original characters that you love.’ And that didn’t happen. And then they were told, ‘You’ve got to go see The Last Jedi because you’ve got to see actual Master Luke training Rey.’ And that didn’t happen. And then they were told, ‘You’ve got to go see The Rise of Palpatine because you’ve got to see how this actually plays out. We’ve got a super secret plan to make this all be worthwhile, like we’re going to redeem all those characters.’ And then that didn’t happen. That’s three big movies that people were forced to go see where their favorite heroes were desecrated and where Rey was elevated.”
“And I think the Disney executives know this could actually be worse than The Marvels,” he added
As for the budget of the film WDW Pro detailed his source informed him that Lucasfilm wanted $225 million for the budget while Disney wants $170 million.
Daisy Ridley as Rey in The Last Jedi (2017), Lucasfilm
They Rey film was announced at Star Wars Celebration back in April with a press release detailing the movie is “set 15 years after the last events of the Skywalker Saga. Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy will tell the story of rebuilding the New Jedi Order and the powers that rise to tear it down; the director then delighted fans by welcoming Daisy Ridley to stage, confirming she will be reprising her beloved role as Rey in the upcoming movie.”
Kennedy would provide more details during an appearance on Entertainment Weekly’s Dagobah Dispatch podcast, “We’ve been talking a lot about going well into the past and one of the things that’s really knitting this all together, obviously, are the Jedi. What happened with the Jedi overtime, much like history? How did the Jedi evolve? They were wiped out with Order 66 then they gradually have been coming back. The question that we’re going to ask with New Jedi Order and with Rey is: Does the galaxy need them anymore? Do they want them back?”
“So there’s a lot of food for thought in what we’re doing whether it’s in the past, present, or future,” she said.
LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 07: Kathleen Kennedy onstage during the studio panel at Star Wars Celebration 2023 attends the studio panel at Star Wars Celebration 2023 in London at ExCel on April 07, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Kate Green/Getty Images for Disney)
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Kennedy would also tell Games Radar, “I think what’s always great about Star Wars is it’s a big galaxy, and we’re coming off what was a major war with the First Order. And now, Rey has made a promise to Luke and that’s really the core of where we’re going and what this story will be.”
She continued, “And I think it offers just tremendous opportunity to introduce new characters and start with something fresh, because we culminated with what George [Lucas] was creating, and now we take all of that and move it to the next chapter.”
These themes are supposed to tie-in to the announced James Mangold film. Kennedy explained, “It was something that Jim [Mangold] immediately sparked to, and I think it’s a really nice compliment to what we’re doing with moving into the future with Rey, and then understanding a bit more of where this all came from. Because it will be at the heart of creating the new Jedi Order, so to get a real sense of where that might have began with the dawn of the Jedi could be pretty cool.”
Daisy Ridley as Rey and Carrie Fisher as General Leia Organa in The Last Jedi (2017), Lucasfilm
A leaked synopsis for the film from Issue 1335 of Production Weekly stated, “Set roughly 15 years after Rey’s victory over Palpatine at the end of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.”
“The sequel delves into Rey’s courageous endeavor to restore the Jedi Order, where she assumes the role of a mentor to two promising young students – a girl and a boy. As her training progresses, it becomes evident that the girl possesses extraordinary abilities, destined to emerge as the future leader,” the synopsis concluded.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 15: Kathleen Kennedy arrives at the special 3-episode launch event for Lucasfilm’s original series Andor at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California on September 15, 2022. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)
What do you make of this latest rumor regarding the Rey film from Lucasfilm?
Dear Disney/ Lucasfilm I have stories for Star Wars that will allow you to rebuild an Empire. Please allow me the opportunity to pitch my ideas. You will be pleased and so will fans of Star Wars especially.
Man, just make it into an unfunny rom-com already, starring Jennifer Lawrence as the greatest Jedi ever and Ryan Gosling as the buffoonish white man.
And instead of calling it Barbie, they can call it Reybie. Reylos will be foaming at the mouth just to watch it.
Not much here to work with, maybe they are rushing to get it out before Disney’s power shifts away from the past leadership and maybe they’re just eager to get going after the delays. All I know is that Rey is about as popular as the clap and making another movie (or trilogy of movies) about her is not going to go over very well.
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