We've felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. Or, in other words, we've got some less-than-great news on one of our most hotly anticipated new Star Wars movies. You know that new Rey movie with Daisy Ridley that was announced at Star Wars Celebration last year? The one being directed by Ms. Marvel's Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and written by Steven Knight? Well, according to Variety's reporting, Knight has cancelled his trip to a galaxy far, far away and won't be penning the picture after all.
Having previously replaced Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson on the project, which is set 15 years after the events of The Rise Of Skywalker, news of Knight's departure comes as production ramps up on the prolific writer's Peaky Blinders movie starring Cillian Murphy and Barry Keoghan. We've no word on the reason for Knight's exit, whether it's a case of scheduling issues or creative differences or simply cold feet, but we'd imagine that this development is going to push production on Ridley's Star Wars return back until at least midway through 2025 — if not longer. On the plus side however, Obaid-Chinoy remains attached to direct the movie, and when Empire spoke to Ridley earlier this year, the Young Woman & The Sea actor waxed lyrical about her excitement to go back to the franchise, saying, "Honestly, if I wasn’t excited, I wouldn’t have done it. It feels like a great thing to be a part of.”
Whilst we don't know what the exact status of the Rey movie is now with Knight's dipping out on the project, there's still plenty of Star Wars coming up to be excited for. Amblin inspired series Star Wars: Skeleton Crew (with newly confirmed Teek!) is heading our way on 4 December; Andor Season 2 is in the can and hopefully set to hit our screens in early 2025; and we've still got another season of Ahsoka, Jon Favreau's Mandalorian And Grogu movie, James Mangold's Jedi origins joint, and a mysterious Shawn Levy Star Wars film in the Lucasfilm pipeline. All of which is to say, despite this Knight shaped setback, and the fact we're still not over The Acolyte getting axed, the Force remains very much with Star Wars and we've got a good feeling about what's coming up in the future.