Once again, we’re on the eve of a new episode of The Mandalorian. Since The Rise of Skywalker, Star Wars has made itself a comfortable home on Disney Plus, with multiple series under its belt and others in various stages of production for release over the next year or so.
But while Lucasfilm has its TV production pipeline down to fine art, the same can’t be said about Star Wars on the big screen. At times, it’s looking like there might be some kind of Star Wars curse, as multiple movies are announced with a blaze of publicity only to never make it out of the development stage.
Recent casualties include Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron and Kevin Feige’s movie, which didn’t even get as far as having an official name. That can be added to a teetering pile of failed projects including Game of Thrones‘ David Benioff and D.B. Weiss movie, James Mangold’s Boba Fett, and a canceled Obi-Wan Kenobi trilogy from Stephen Daldry. And now, if this report is to be believed, yet another project is in trouble.
Damon Lindelof may have already departed ‘Star Wars’ under mysterious circumstances
It’s accepted knowledge that Disney is getting antsy that it’s been four years since The Rise of Skywalker and there’s been no cinematic Star Wars release. Lost creator Damon Lindelof’s project was supposed to fill that gap, with him teaming up with writer Justin Britt-Gibson to deliver a movie picking up where the sequel trilogy left off. Word was it’d feature at least some returning sequel trilogy characters, though wasn’t envisaged as a continuation of the Skywalker Saga and wouldn’t be ‘Episode X’.
This movie may now be in dire straits, as Above the Line is reporting that the pair turned in a script in mid-February and then quit the project days later. Now Lucasfilm has hired a new writer for the movie, though there are no clues as to their identity:
If you’ll permit us to read between the lines a little, it seems fairly clear that Disney and Lucasfilm hated Lindelof and Britt-Gibson’s proposed story so much that they didn’t see any point in providing script notes and simply squelched the whole project. We’re now very curious about what was in this story that was so objectionable, though as yet, there’s no comment from either party on what really went down.
It’s worth underlining that the movie is still going ahead under Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, with tentative production and release dates of February 2024 and December 2025 respectively. But let’s face it, we’ve seen plans and release dates from Lucasfilm before, so let’s just treat this as a best-case scenario. Either way, we suspect there’s going to be more internal chaos at Disney before a new movie emerges.
We wait nervously to find out if Taika Waititi’s Star Wars movie will actually go ahead.
‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ directors secretly signed up for ‘Skeleton Crew’
Fresh from a dazzling round of Oscars success, it’s emerged that Everything Everywhere All at Once directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert signed on to direct at least one episode of upcoming Disney Plus show Skeleton Crew (via One Take News). The show comes from MCU Spider-Man director Jon Watts, will be set around the time as The Mandalorian, is described as a “coming of age story” inspired by The Goonies, and will star Jude Law.
The Skeleton Crew shoot began in September 2022 and wrapped on Jan. 22, so Kwan and Scheinert have presumably quietly completed filming of their episode and it’s now in post. Scoring the Daniels (as they’re collectively known) on the eve of their Oscars success is something of a coup for Lucasfilm, though we wonder if they’ll be allowed to bring some of the same offbeat energy to Star Wars.
Skeleton Crew is scheduled for release on Disney Plus sometime in 2023, so expect to see more on this show when Star Wars Day rolls around on May 4.
Ashley Eckstein reveals how ‘The Clone Wars’ ditched Ahsoka’s unwanted boyfriend
Ahsoka Tano was once planned to have a boyfriend in season 7 of The Clone Wars, with the character apparently even receiving voice acting before being cut. Eckstein dropped the bomb about Ahsoka’s love life in a recent appearance at the Emerald City Comic Con (via The Direct), confirming that he was called Nyx Okami and that she “wasn’t super crazy about” it.
In the end, Okami was replaced by the Martez sisters and Okami didn’t make it to screens. Here’s how Eckstein tells it:
“I think they made everything that I recorded, because they did adjust it, but the episodes with Trace, and Rafa, and the Martez sisters, that was originally an arc with… Ahsoka had a boyfriend and his name was Nyx Okami. And so yeah, it was originally that arc, so we essentially just remade it, and they changed it to the Martez sisters, which I have to say, I was very glad they changed it to the Martez sisters, because Ahsoka didn’t have time for a boyfriend. I wasn’t super crazy about that.”
Dave Filoni has previously mentioned Okami, saying Ahsoka would have first encountered him in the Coruscant underground, and that he imagined him as a Han Solo-style rogue. The aim was to show a more emotional and personable side to Ahsoka in more relaxed situations, though we’re glad they decided to ditch Okami and replace him with the Martez sisters.
That’s all for today’s update, meaning it’s now time to stoke the hype fires for tomorrow’s new episode of The Mandalorian. After the third episode took an unexpected detour to Coruscant to catch up with Dr. Pershing, we have no idea where we’re going next. However, smart money says we’ll see Bo-Katan trying to fit in with Din Djarin’s Mandalorian cell and hopefully a reveal of why Pershing’s mind had to be wiped clean. We also suspect the return of Giancarlo Esposito’s Moff Gideon isn’t too far away…
