Puck News reports that Steven Knight, the prolific producer behind shows like Peaky Blinders, The Veil, A Thousand Blows and This Town, is no longer the screenwriter on an upcoming Star Wars movie about Rey, played by Daisy Ridley in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. The movie will pick up with Rey's story sometime after the end of The Rise of Skywalker as she attempts to set up a new Jedi academy. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is still attached to direct.
Before Knight was brought on board, Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson were writing the movie, but they were eventually cycled out. According to Variety, Disney is actively looking for new writers.
Whenever we hear news like this, we add it to the pile of reports about canceled Star Wars movies that have come up over the past several years. Marvel Studios CEO Kevin Feige was going to make a Star Wars movie, but that went nowhere. Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi was going to do one, but it seems dead in the water. Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins was going to make a Rogue Squadron movie, but it's lost in space. Both Rian Johnson and Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss were going to make whole new Star Wars trilogies, but they were abandoned. After The Rise of Skywalker, Disney can't seem to get a new Star Wars movie off the ground to save its life.
It's possible that it only seems that way to us because we keep getting inside information that Disney would rather not be shared. But on the other hand, how hard can it be to write a sequel movie about Rey? Are decorated, experienced writers like Lindelof and Knight really botching this so hard behind the scenes that there's no choice but to part ways with them? What does Disney want? Why do they keep greenlighting projects (and telling us about them) that are apparently so early on in development that they can still be shelved? Why not wait until the project has ripened to the point where you're actually sure it will happen before sending out a press release?
For her part, Daisy Ridley said she signed onto the project after hearing the initial idea for it, but who knows if she's talking about Linedlof's idea, Knight's idea, or some other idea that they were both working with? So far as Star Wars movies go, the process seems impenetrable as ever.
If the Rey movie does go forward, it probably won't start shooting until deep into 2025 at the earliest, which means we won't see it for a while. And there is one Star Wars movie that looks like it's almost definitely happening: The Mandalorian and Grogu, a sequel to The Mandalorian TV series. That one is due out in May of 2026.
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.