We’ll have to apologize in advance for the barrage of “Star Wars” content today, but that Vanity Fair article is the gift that keeps on giving. This is the last one, we promise.
What’s happening in the world of “Star Wars” movies, given we haven’t seen one since 2018’s “Solo: A Star Wars Story”? At this rate, given no movie is shooting this year, the earliest we’ll get a “Star Wars” film at this rate is 2024.
Well, as the theme of the article suggests, “Star Wars” and Lucasfilm has found its home on television. That doesn’t mean movies aren’t coming, and Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy says “we have a road map,” but it sounds like the company is definitely going to be dialing back on what Vanity Fair calls the “relentless cadence” of the recent movies.
Let’s start with what isn’t coming or is a far way off. The Rian Johnson trilogy announced five years ago after his acclaimed, but polarizing “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” movie? It’s been placed on the back burner for now. “Rian has been unbelievably busy with ‘Knives Out’ and the deal that he made at Netflix for multiple movies,” Kennedy said in a statement that sounded fairly diplomatic. “I hesitate to use the word trilogies anymore because Star Wars is much more about persistent storytelling,” she added. File under: maybe eventually one day or not at all, but it’s likely that Johnson could be welcomed with open arms whenever he feels like he’s ready to return.
One of the main themes of the article is Kennedy stating that “Star Wars” is a commitment that takes several years of someone’s life. “Anyone who comes into the Star Wars universe needs to know that it’s a three-, four-, five-year commitment,” she said. “That’s what it takes. You can’t step in for a year and shoot something and then walk away…. It requires that kind of nurturing.”
So, it’s no surprise then that Patty Jenkins, simultaneously developing “Wonder Woman 3,” couldn’t see eye to eye with Lucasfilm on her “Rogue Squadron” script, and the project was scrapped indefinitely. Reports made it sound like the film was dead, but VF suggests Kennedy is holding out hope for “further off.”
What does seem next is “Jojo Rabbit” director Taika Waititi’s untitled “Star Wars” film being written by “1917” screenwriter Krysty Wilson-Cairns. No details or timeline have been offered, but if Waititi doesn’t take one of the dozen or so projects he’s developing at any given moment next, he could feasibly begin preparing to shoot the film once “Thor: Love And Thunder,” his next film, comes out this summer. That, of course, depends on how far along the script is and Lucasfilm sounds like they are really working on perfecting things, but by the sounds of the article, Waititi is on deck.