It appears another “Star Wars” movie will get an official release date soon. World Of Reel reports (via Empire) that after the press tour for his upcoming Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,” in theaters in December, James Mangold will turn his focus to “Dawn Of The Jedi.” And the “Star Wars” prequel could start shooting as early as next year.
Does that come as a surprise? Not really. Mangold fans know his only two upcoming projects are that one and his “Swamp Thing” movie over at DCU, and it’s likely a while before James Gunn and Peter Safran greenlight the latter. Plus, Mangold is in the prime of his career right now. He’s rattled off two major pictures in subsequent years (2023’s “Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny” and “A Complete Unknown) and seemingly has Tinsel Town in the palm of his hand. The director can do no wrong right now, so of course Kathleen Kennedy feels confident to tap him for Lucasfilm’s next “Star Wars” project after “The Mandalorian & Grogu.”
But because it’s Lucasfilm, maybe it’s wise not to get too hopeful about “Dawn Of The Jedi” heading into production next year. The studio hasn’t released a “Star Wars” movie since 2019’s “The Rise Of Skywalker” and has constantly shifted their release date calendar since. Right now, Jon Favreau‘s film is the only one with an official theatrical release date: May 22, 2026. But the eight other “Star Wars” films in development (including Mangold’s) currently don’t have set dates at all. Maybe that changes soon? The safe bet is probably not, but stranger things have happened.
Set 25,000 years before most “Star Wars” stories, “Dawn Of The Jedi” will trace the origins of the Jedi Order. Sounds promising enough, but that’s about all anyone knows about Mangold’s movie at the moment (except that “Andor” scribe Beau Willimon will co-write the film with Mangold). That set-up ostensibly gives Mangold & Willimon a clean slate character-wise; no Skywalkers or Expanded Universe characters to deal with. That may irk some fans, especially those who love the lore-pulling of several recent Disney+ shows. But again: there’s little out there about what Mangold has in mind for this project; maybe there’s connections no one knows about yet.
Or maybe Lucasfilm continues to put its various “Star Wars” films on hold. That’s the case for Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy‘s movie about Rey, Dave Filoni‘s movie, as well as Patty Jenkins‘ “Rogue Squadron“ (which is almost certainly dead at this point). And who knows if Donald Glover‘s “Lando“ project, or Shawn Levy‘s, Rian Johnson‘s, or Taika Waititi‘s movies will ever leave development too. Again, the only thing that’s certain in the “Star Wars” universe right is that nothing is certain. If Mangold moves ahead with “Dawn Of Jedi” in 2025, great. But “Star Wars” fans will believe it when they see it.