Credit: D23Fans have come to learn in the recent weeks that any Star Wars news is never set in stone until the movie comes out in theaters. After several project cancellations, schedule changes, and rumors surrounding the franchise’s future, screenwriter Damon Lindelof is officially exiting his Star Wars project.
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Lindelof’s list of writing credits isn’t a lackluster one. He has co-created and co-written some of television’s most enticing sci-fi shows, such as ABC’s Lost and HBO’s The Leftovers. Lindelof is also the creator of HBO’s groundbreaking limited series, Watchmen (2019).
Needless to say, with his impressive history of credits, Lindelof should have been confident in his attempts to write a Star Wars film. But according to the writer, that wasn’t the case. At South By South West, he expressed his feelings toward writing for the franchise.
“The degree of difficulty [to make a Star Wars project] is extremely, extremely, extremely high. If it can’t be great, it shouldn’t exist. That’s all I’ll say”
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Lindelof added, “I think it’s possible that sometimes when you hold something in such high reverence and esteem, you start to get in the kitchen and you just go, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t be cooking. Maybe I should just be eating.’ We’ll just leave it at that point.”
After South by South West, news surfaced that the writer and his writing partner, Justin Britt-Gibson, turned their script into the studio last week, then exited on their own accord. Now the latest update implies that new writers will take over their first draft.
This isn’t Lindelof’s first time writing a big sci-fi project for Disney; he also co-wrote Tomorrowland (2015) with director Brad Bird. Unfortunately, that was a box office dud. However, the writer did see success when he co-wrote the 2013 sequel to the Star Trek reboot, Star Trek Into Darkness.
Lindelof’s hit-or-miss (mostly hit) history makes it hard to say if his version of the script will remain intact after the new writers come onto the project. But if most of his draft makes the cut, Lindelof and Britt-Gibson will likely still get writing credit for the film.
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