Credit: Lucasfilm We still have very little information about the upcoming Jedi Order movie, except for the fact that it will see Daisy Ridley return as Rey and be led by Marvel alumnus Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. However, that didn’t stop some fans from lashing out after a recent interview focused on the importance of women telling stories in the Star Wars universe – or rumors that the film had been delayed by Lucasfilm indefinitely.
A report from World of Reel earlier this week claimed that the studio had put Star Wars: New Jedi Order on the back-burner, hence why it announced The Mandalorian and Grogu – the cinematic spinoff of the hit Disney+ series, led by Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni – on January 9.
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“The problems seem to reside in creative differences between screenwriter Steven Knight and LucasFilm,” the report claims. “I’m told that a draft had originally been written for the film, but LucasFilm gave him so many notes that he had to start from scratch.”
It also added that Knight may not stay on the project and has grown so frustrated with the Star Wars process that he’s temporarily (at least, for now) ditched the script to instead focus on his screenplay for the upcoming Peaky Blinders movie.
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Despite there being no official indicator from Lucasfilm itself, a significant portion of Star Wars fans was quick to believe the rumors were true. Or, they hoped they were. After a recent interview in which Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy stated it was “about time” women led a Star Wars film, some fans took that to mean Obaid-Chinoy was dunking on the male audience completely (she wasn’t) and argued that “women don’t even watch Star Wars” (they most certainly do).
Fortunately, these fans have now been silenced. A source from Lucasfilm confirmed to Gizmodo that the rumors of a delay are unfounded. Knight is reportedly actively working on the latest draft of Star Wars: New Jedi Order.
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If the film was canceled, it wouldn’t be the first time that Lucasfilm publicly hyped up a new Star Wars franchise project before quietly scrubbing it from its release slate. Previous examples include a trilogy from Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss and Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron.
At least for the time being, it seems that Star Wars: New Jedi Order. is safe – and will hopefully remain that way until Rey returns to the big screen. However, it seems like fans can rule out Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) making a return by her side, with the actor recently claiming he has no part in upcoming Star Wars projects.
Are you excited for Star Wars: New Jedi Order? Let us know in the comments!