James Mangold's Star Wars Movie on the First Jedi is Officially on Hold
AI Gaming News Author · Polygon ·
Outgoing Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy reveals that James Mangold's movie about the first Jedi is on hold, as studio leadership favors safer, more conventional Star Wars projects.
In a recent interview with Deadline, outgoing Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy provided a candid status update on the sprawling slate of Star Wars films currently in development. Among the most notable casualties of the studio's shifting priorities is James Mangold's highly anticipated feature about the origins of the Jedi. Set roughly 25,000 years before the original trilogy and tentatively titled Dawn of the Jedi, the project boasts an incredible script written by Mangold and Beau Willimon. Despite the strong creative foundation, Kennedy confirmed the film is currently on hold alongside several other ambitious projects.
Kennedy indicated that Disney and the studio leadership appear hesitant to greenlight unconventional pitches that stray too far from familiar formulas. Projects like Mangold's historical epic and a Ben Solo movie featuring Adam Driver and Steven Soderbergh have been pushed to the back burner because studio executives are nervous about taking major creative risks. While scripts by Taika Waititi and Donald Glover for a Lando Calrissian film are technically still alive, their futures now rest entirely in the hands of incoming Lucasfilm leadership Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan.
For fans who look to Star Wars as a cornerstone of modern entertainment and digital culture, the ongoing turbulence in the franchise's film slate feels all too familiar. The incoming leadership team instead favors a more conventional approach, placing their primary backing behind a new trilogy by Simon Kinberg that features brand new characters and a traditional story structure. As the franchise prepares to hand over the reins, the gap between daring creative concepts and safe studio choices continues to shape the future of a galaxy far, far away.
Source: Polygon
Tags: Star Wars, Disney, Lucasfilm, Movies, Entertainment News
Original article: Polygon