Steven Knight Departs As Writer Of New 'Star Wars' Rey Skywalker Movie
The film will be seeking its third team of writers
The surprise continuation of the Skywalker saga has hit another disturbance in the force. Screenwriter Steven Knight has departed the Star Wars movie set to feature the return of Daisy Ridley as Rey Skywalker as she seeks to start a new Jedi Academy after the events of 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker.
The search is on for a new writer, with Knight himself having replaced original screenwriters Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson in March 2023. Lucasfilm is already talking with potential writers to take over, but having to find one (or more) again likely means production won’t start until well into 2025 at the very least. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, the Oscar-winning director of Ms. Marvel is still attached to make her feature directorial debut with the film, which was announced at 2023’s Star Wars Celebration Europe in London last spring, alongside Dave Filoni’s Mandoverse culmination and James Mangold’s Dawn of the Jedi story.
Knight, a co-creator of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and Peaky Blinders, has been very busy lately, as he wrote the screenplay for the upcoming Maria Callas biopic Maria with Angelina Jolie, which is headed to Netflix in December, with its official trailer released Friday, and a Peaky Blinders film continuation also for Netflix titled The Immortal Man, which recently began filming. He’s also created three more television series, The Veil for FX, A Thousand Blows for Disney+ and This Town for the BBC.
Star Wars is set to return to theaters with its first new movie since The Rise of Skywalker in May 2026’s The Mandalorian and Grogu, directed by Jon Favreau, which is apparently separate from Filoni’s Mandoverse movie. However The Mandalorian and Grogu is the only officially dated movie out of the four. Star Wars films are dated for the two following Decembers, but nothing has been assigned, probably for reasons like this.
Source: Variety/Puck