New 'Star Wars' Rey Skywalker Movie Scoops Up George Nolfi As Next Writer
It’s a new writer order for the film apparently now known as 'New Jedi Order'
Third time’s got to be the charm. Three months after losing Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight as writer, the Star Wars movie with Daisy Ridley continuing the story of Rey Skywalker has found its next with George Nolfi, whose work includes The Bourne Ultimatum and Ocean's Twelve. Oh and the film apparently has a title: New Jedi Order.
Despite the setback that seems to confirm that it was intended to receive the December 18, 2026 date Disney had reserved for the franchise, or at least had been the frontrunner, the ability to move forward shows they haven’t given up. The spot however was reassigned to Ice Age 6 since nothing Star Wars was close to stepping in. The film was announced as part of the Star Wars film slate at Celebration Europe in London in April 2023, alongside Dave Filoni’s Mandoverse culmination and James Mangold’s Dawn of the Jedi story, when the month before, Knight himself replaced original screenwriters Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson. The setback has also left New Jedi Order ready to be leapfrogged by Shawn Levy’s movie as the next that will be ready to shoot. This is due in large part to finding its star in Ryan Gosling, though negotiations are still ongoing. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, the Oscar-winning director of Ms. Marvel is still attached to make her feature directorial debut with New Jedi Order, said to be taking place 15 years after 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker, with Rey now mentoring a new crop of Jedi.
The December 18, 2026 date would have made it the second film in the franchise’s return to theaters, with The Mandalorian and Grogu set for release on May 22, 2026. That film has already wrapped filming. Nolfi is apparently known for writing “elevated thrillers” across a variety of genres and for building strong rapports with his actors. After doing an uncredited rewrite of the ending of The Bourne Supremacy shortly before release, he co-wrote Ultimatum with Tony Gilroy on the team. Ocean’s Twelve was adapted from his spec script, and he would make his directorial debut with the 2011 sci-fi thriller The Adjustment Bureau, that also starred Matt Damon with Emily Blunt. He directed and co-wrote the 2020 period race drama The Banker which starred Anthony Mackie and Samuel L. Jackson. Nolfi would reunite with Mackie for last year’s indie post-apocalyptic thriller Elevation.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter