The expectation had been that Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy's untitled follow-up to The Rise of Skywalker would be the first Star Wars movie in theaters since the Skywalker Saga wrapped up in 2019. However, it was last week that Lucasfilm announced plans for The Mandalorian & Grogu to come first.
Obaid-Chinoy's movie, starring Daisy Ridley as Rey, is still on the way and may or may not arrive before Dave Filoni or James Mangold's respective projects (the latter, if it even happens after Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny bombed, is probably the furthest off).
Lindelof and Justin Brit-Gibson originally teamed up to pen the script - set during what's since been dubbed the "New Jedi Order" era - only for creative differences with Lucasfilm to lead to their departure. It didn't take long before Steven Knight, who created Peaky Blinders, came on board only for work to be halted by the WGA strike.
We recently learned that his draft still hasn't been handed into Lucasfilm and there's a chance the studio will now seek someone else to handle the rewrite.
Talking to AlloCiné (via SFFGazette.com), Ridley shared what she knows about her upcoming Star Wars movie and confirmed the story - she still hasn't read a screenplay - was enough to convince her to return as Rey.
"That was actually quite last minute. I was actually making my own film last year, and Kathy Kennedy said she wanted to have breakfast. And I thought we were just having breakfast. So there I was, having my breakfast, and she goes 'Oh, by the way, we might do another one.' And I’m like 'Okay...'"
"So I thought about it for a little bit and once I knew what the story was and everything I knew it was something I really wanted to do. I think it’s a really fantastic exploration of the Star Wars world. It’s a really cool way of taking the story on in a bit of a different direction."
Rey's return will take us the furthest we've been beyond the Skywalker Saga in Disney's new "canon" and can hopefully address many of the lingering questions we had after watching the sequel trilogy. However, given how divisive that was, there's a good chance it will largely move on from what we see there in order to establish Rey as her own woman (whether her "Palpatine" of "Skywalker" heritage will come into play remains to be seen).
Last year, Ridley shared a similar update when she revealed Lucasfilm has only told her about one movie, with the door open for potentially more stories set during this period in Star Wars history.
"I know the storyline for one film. That's not to say that that's all it is, but that's what I was told about. And I imagine it will be the next film, I think. I mean, again, I don't know, post strikes and everything, how quickly everything will start up again. But yes, so far, I know the story of one film and I think people will be very excited."
The only confirmed details about this still-untitled Star Wars project are that it will be directed by Obaid-Chinoy and is set 15 years after the last events of the Skywalker Saga. We'll reunite with Rey and follow the story of rebuilding the New Jedi Order and the powers that rise to tear it down.
As always, we'll keep you updated as we learn more.