Kathleen Kennedy Provides Update On Star Wars Projects In The Works, Does Not Mention Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy's Rey Film
Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy recently addressed rumors that she’s exiting Lucasfilm by the end of the year, but also provided an update on everything that Lucasfilm is working on. Interestingly, she did not mention Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s previously announced Rey film.
Speaking with Deadline’s Mike Fleming Jr., Kennedy first provided an update on the script that Simon Kinberg is working on.
She said, “We’re absolutely rolling fast and furiously. That has gone exceptionally well, and he’s literally going to script as we speak. We’ll see something probably around June. … We’re really excited about where that’s headed.”
It was originally reported by Fleming Jr. back in November that Kinberg was working on a new trilogy. Fleming Jr. shared at the time, “I heard this will comprise Episodes 10-12 of The Skywalker Saga that began with George Lucas’s 1977 first film.”
However, he also noted, “Insiders disputed my intel that Kinberg will continue that storyline, saying this instead will begin a new saga.”
Kennedy cleared this up saying that Kinberg is working on “the next iteration, the new saga that moves us into the future.”
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Next, she shared an update on Shawn Levy’s project, “That’s also in the future. It’s all post-[the first] nine. Shawn’s is a standalone Star Wars story that’ll take place post-nine, maybe five or six years out.”
Kennedy then indicated that this time frame is where the company is putting a lot of focus on, “And Mandalorian really stands on its own because there, we’re dealing with a whole other era in the New Republic. We have other development going on in that space as well. So that’s the space that we’re pretty much focused on right at the moment, because obviously with Mandalorian we have a pretty good sense of where that’s going. And with this, it’s all pretty much new characters. We may bring some of the characters back from the sequel saga, but pretty much new characters.”
She would go on to provide an update on James Mangold’s film as well. Mangold’s film was announced back at Star Wars Celebration in 2023. A press release at the time detailed that the movie would “take audiences deep into the past, telling the tale of the first Jedi to wield the Force and harness it as a liberating power in an era of chaos and oppression.”
Mangold shared more details about his vision in an update with Gizmodo in June 2023, “For me, it’s about, I want to be part of the saga, but I also don’t want to be holding so much lore in the air that you can hardly tell a story,”
He continued, ”And what I really wanted to do, what I told her, was just can we make a kind of the Ten Commandments of the Force, you know? A kind of origin story of how the Force came to be known, understood, wielded, and harnessed.”
Kennedy informed Deadline that Mangold is “working on this script right now. … Jim, he got delayed a bit because of the Dylan movie and the awards season. You have to accommodate top talent to a certain extent. And quality is so important with what it is we’re trying to do. I like to wait for people that I think are passionate and really good to step into Star Wars.”
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Finally, she provided an update on Taika Waititi’s long-gestating project. The film was originally announced back in May 2020 with Lucasfilm sharing on the Star Wars website, “Academy Award® winner Taika Waititi, who recently won Best Adapted Screenplay for Jojo Rabbit and directed the widely-acclaimed first season finale episode of The Mandalorian on Disney+, will direct and co-write a new Star Wars feature film for theatrical release.”
It was rumored in August 2024 that Lucasfilm was scrapping the project with Matt McGloin at Cosmic Book News reporting, “Conversations I have had with insiders at the recent Comic-Con have informed me that Taika Waititi is definitely not doing his Star Wars movie at Lucasfilm.”
Kennedy shared that Waititi has partnered with a new writer and still working on it, “Well, I keep waiting for Taika [Waititi], and he is working with another writer now. He’s so busy. I love him. I think if we ever do get a script from Taika, it’s going to be fantastic. I already saw a first act that I loved, but tying him down, it’s tricky.”
While Kennedy provided updates on all of these projects, she did not mention Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s New Jedi Order film. The film was announced back in 2023 with a press release indicating the film 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 later inform IGN, “We’re 15 years out from Rise of Skywalker. So we’re kind of post-war, post-First Order and the Jedi are in disarray. And there’s a lot of discussion around who are the Jedi, what are they doing, what’s the state of the galaxy? And she’s attempting to rebuild the Jedi Order based on the books, based on what she promised Luke.”
Kennedy concluded, “So that’s where we’re going.”
The film has already gone through a number of screenwriters with George Nolfi the latest attached to it.
Actress Daisy Ridley, who is attached to the film, told ComicBook.com earlier this month, “I have not read the latest script, but I know what’s happening, and I know the story, and I think what feels really good is that George is a phenomenal writer.”
“I think we’re making sure that this story is the best way, this script is the best way to tell the story, and I think it will be worthwhile. for everyone watching it, and I am very excited, yeah,” she added.
Given Kennedy did not comment on the film, it’s unclear what it’s status is.
Furthermore, it was previously speculated that Shawn Levy’s film might act as a replacement to Chinoy’s. Jeff Sneider shared back in January 2024, “I’m told that [Shawn Levy’s] project does have an element — I don’t know if Rey is front and center in it — but Rey is a character in Shawn Levy’s movie.”
He elaborated, “Now, is it Daisy Ridley’s Rey or an older Rey? We heard those rumors back in the day maybe about Helen Mirren being positioned as an older Rey. So I don’t know in Shawn Levy’s movie if a) Rey is the lead character or b) if Rey is Daisy Ridley age or she could be someone in her 40s or 50s or someone who’s 70 or 80 like Helen Mirren, I don’t know.”
Sneider then said, “Yes, Sharmeen is still on board, but you know how Lucasfilm goes through directors quickly. This hire has been questioned. She doesn’t have a ton of experience. So if it does for whatever reason go sour and she either quits, or is fired, or whatever. For whatever reason she exits the project depending on scheduling because again Shawn Levy is one of the busiest people in Hollywood … It’s my understanding that Shawn Levy could either slip in to direct that movie or Shawn Levy’s movie becomes the next movie or maybe Shawn Levy’s movie could be folded in to Sharmeen’s movie, I don’t know.”
“But he’s clearly interested in exploring Rey and that stuff and so if the Rey movie suddenly needs a director he may be the guy they turn to since they’re already in business with him,” Sneider added.
Aside from Chinoy’s Rey project, Kennedy did not comment on the streaming side of Lucasfilm at all aside from a brief mention regarding The Mandalorian and Andor. There was no mention of Ahsoka Season 2 nor any other projects that might be in the works.
What do you make of Kennedy’s updates on these various Star Wars projects and the fact she did not mention Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s film?