A new rumor alleges that Steven Knight, who was tapped to write a script for Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s New Jedi Order film starring Daisy Ridley as Rey, has not completed his script yet.
LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 07: Dave Filoni, Daisy Ridley and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy onstage during the studio panel at the Star Wars Celebration 2023 in London at ExCel on April 07, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Kate Green/Getty Images for Disney)
This new rumor comes from Jason Ward at Making Star Wars.
He shared, “Today, I was told that Knight hasn’t written, hasn’t got to get to it. The scheduling, the stars did not align. Steven Knight was simply the person that if they picked up, who they could get in that moment and then it never lined up.”
Ward clarified, “Not saying he’s off of it. Not saying he’s gonna write it or not gonna write it. I don’t know.”
LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 07: James Mangold, Dave Filoni, and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy onstage during 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)
He then shared his own thoughts, “But if you wanted my opinion on it, I think Knight writing that movie is it’s either been moved to give Knight the opportunity to write it or it’s going to be a different writer.”
“I mean I know that’s saying nothing at all. I realize I did say nothing just now, but those are really the two options that are going forward based off of what we got, I think,” Ward added.
Daisy Ridley as Rey in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), Lucasfilm
This rumor comes in the wake of Lucasfilm announcing that Jon Favreau will direct The Mandalorian & Grogu film that is set to go into production some time later this year.
It was previously believed that Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s film based on Knight’s script would be the first film to go into production as a listing on the Film & Television Industry Alliance’s website stated that it would go into production in the United Kingdom on April 7, 2024.
Obaid-Chinoy also seemed to hint that her film was coming soon as she told CNN on New Year’s Eve, “I am very thrilled about the project because I think what we are about to create is something very special. And we are in 2024 now and I think it’s about time we had a woman come forward to shape the story in a galaxy far, far away.”
LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 07: Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy 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)
While all indications seemed to indicate that this New Jedi Order film would be the first Star Wars film to go into production since The Rise of Skywalker, there were rumors that Disney executives were terrified the film would end up like The Marvels.
The Brie Larson-led film only grossed $199.8 million at the global box office according to The-Numbers despite having at least spent $274.8 million on its production budget alone. The movie is clearly a massive loss for Marvel Studios and The Walt Disney Company.
Brie Larson as Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers in Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS. Photo by Laura Radford. © 2023 MARVEL.
Scooper WDW Pro alleged, [Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy] 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.”
He then added, “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.”
Daisy Ridley as Rey in The Last Jedi (2017), Lucasfilm
“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
Daisy Ridley as Rey and Adam Driver as Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens (2015), Lucasfilm
What do you make of this latest rumor that Knight has not turned in a script yet for Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s New Jedi Order film?
If Disney/ Lucasfilm lets me pitch they will get the profits they are needing. As for KK and company they again seem to not need scripts rather they need only a short list of talking points that have nothing to do with an actual exciting story.