Star Wars' New Movie Rumors Are Perfect - If Lucasfilm Allows It
A Damon Lindelof Star Wars movie sounds good to us, but does Lucasfilm's recent history create an imbalance in the Force? The Star Wars franchise has been going great guns on Disney+, with The Mandalorian, Obi-Wan Kenobi and (to a lesser extent) The Book of Boba Fett all expanding George Lucas' mythology in bold and interesting ways. A creative team centered around Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni and Deborah Chow (plus frequent collaborators Robert Rodriguez and Bryce Dallas Howard) has given Star Wars much needed direction on the small screen. At the movies, however, Star Wars' future is murkier than Luke Skywalker's green milk.
Disney's run started well enough with The Force Awakens in 2015 and Rogue One the following year, but quickly encountered turbulence with Rian Johnson's divisive The Last Jedi, the behind-the-scenes tribulations of Solo, and a messy conclusion in The Rise of Skywalker, leaving the Star Wars movie franchise at its lowest ebb since 2002 (back when everyone hated Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones). Although Disney and Lucasfilm do, by all accounts, wish to bring Star Wars back to movie prominence, Patty Jenkins' Rogue Squadron is the only confirmed project in the pipeline... and even that's starting to look a little shaky.
Latest reports suggest Lucasfilm is tapping Damon Lindelof for a Star Wars movie project. There's no word on whether this'll be Star Wars 10 or some standalone spinoff, nor whether Lindelof would be writing and producing or just dumping a script on Kathleen Kennedy's desk and wishing her the best. Regardless, Damon Lindelof's attachment to a Star Wars project is bound to invite strong reactions. Here's why sending Lindelof to a galaxy far, far away is exciting - but why he might also be doomed to fail.
There are two main facets to the Damon Lindelof Star Wars excitement - the writer's previous body of work, and why Star Wars needs someone like Lindelof to reinvigorate its cinematic fortunes.
Lindelof's status as one of Hollywood's most respected screenwriters derives largely from Lost (where he shared showrunner duties with Carlton Cuse), The Leftovers, and Watchmen - and that's a television triumvirate any writer would be deeply envious of. Rarely following convention, Lindelof's scripts revel in being subversive and are loaded with stunning plot twists, ominous foreshadowing, and wry wit - all of which are on display in his most recent movie outing, 2020's The Hunt. Crucially, however, characters always sit at the heart of proceedings. Whether it's the middle of a freaky island or a world where 2% of the population suddenly vanish, Lindelof projects reliably orbit a central hub of main characters, the crazy events around them exposing personality flaws, prompting emotional growth, and sometimes even forcing complete reinvention.
This is something Star Wars desperately needs in its future movie output. Characterization has been among the biggest criticisms aimed toward Disney's sequel trilogy - both for classic figures and new. Whether it be Luke Skywalker hiding on Ahch-To instead of fighting the First Order, Rey and Kylo Ren weirdly smooching while Finn and Poe twiddle their thumbs, or the curious disappearance of Rose Tico, the Star Wars sequel trilogy lost focus of its characters far too often. That won't happen on Lindelof's watch.
A purveyor of bold ideas and out-there concepts, Damon Lindelof isn't what you'd call a "safe pair of hands." It's no secret that Lost took a dip in its middle seasons, and with Star Trek Into Darkness and Prometheus also on his resumé, not everything Lindelof touches turns to gold. But the difference between Star Wars' recent movie malaise and current TV triumph is the latter having a distinct, clear voice backed up by a coherent creative vision. You don't find that without hiring behind-the-scenes talents who take risks, make statements, and won't pull their narrative punches.
Watchmen is perhaps what makes the prospect of a Damon Lindelof Star Wars movie so enticing. The HBO series took a property many believed said all it needed to 35 years ago and delivered a reinvention deeply connected to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' graphic novel, but flipping the premise in a visceral, vibrant way. That's not to suggest Lindelof's Star Wars should take the R-rated route (no one needs to see Chewbacca's version of the "Excalibur"), but in terms of modernizing and refreshing an established property, it's hard to think of a better example from recent history.
Since the Disney era of Star Wars began, Lucasfilm's approach to filmmakers has been like Darth Vader with bounty hunters - hire a whole bunch and see which one sticks. The trouble began (the bits made public, at least) with Rogue One, which underwent numerous rewrites and reshoots at Lucasfilm's behest. Writing responsibilities passed from Gary Whitta to Chris Weitz, then finally to Tony Gilroy who reworked Rogue One's entire ending to the studio's liking and oversaw post-production reshoots. Somehow, Rogue One turned out a rather good movie regardless, but the screenwriter merry-go-round and last-minute alterations provided an early indication that Lucasfilm held very specific ideas about what was required from its modern Star Wars movies.
Solo wasn't so lucky, and the film's original duo of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were replaced by Ron Howard mid-shoot in a dramatic u-turn from Lucasfilm, which was unhappy with the direction Lord and Miller were heading down. As has since been discussed in interviews, Solo's initial directors were championing a more comedic tone with plenty of on-set improvisation, which irked both Lawrence Kasdan (frequent Star Wars writer, including Solo) and Lucasfilm's top brass. Star Wars' behind-the-scenes misfortune soon seeped over to the main series, as Colin Trevorrow's Duel of the Fates was scrapped during pre-production and replaced by J.J. Abrams' The Rise of Skywalker, with "creative differences" between Lucasfilm and Trevorrow to blame.
Star Wars is a franchise every director and writer wants to be involved with, and Lucasfilm has striven to bring aboard the boldest, most daring, most distinctive creative talents from across the world of film and TV. As seen with Solo and The Rise of Skywalker, however, the studio has then turned on its chosen appointees for being bold, daring and distinctive...
Damon Lindelof and Lucasfilm shouldn't collaborate if the latter is seeking someone to follow a rigid template, deviating as little as possible from the Star Wars norm. Lord and Miller's humorous Solo vision would've - rightly or wrongly - broken new ground for the franchise, and many who've read Colin Trevorrow's Duel of the Fates script praised his ditched movie for being both braver and more cutting than The Rise of Skywalker. It seems inevitable that Damon Lindelof would make similar attempts at expanding the parameters of Star Wars by burrowing into narrative nooks Lucasfilm won't necessarily agree with. Watchmen serves as proof that Lindelof's best work comes with the shackles removed, as opposed to Star Trek Into Darkness, Prometheus and, to an extent, Lost, where certain limits were in-play.
The beauty of George Lucas' expansive Star Wars universe is the wealth of opportunity to craft totally new, limitless stories within that sci-fi sandbox, and Damon Lindelof could deliver something truly special... given the freedom to play. If Lucasfilm remains reluctant to let their creatives put a unique stamp on Star Wars, courting Lindelof is doomed to fail, resulting in either a promising-but-watered-down effort, or another scrapped "what could've been" that gets leaked online a year later.
Sadly, Lucasfilm's commitment issues and quest for creative control show little sign of ending any time soon - as evidenced by the chaotic maelstrom of post-The Rise of Skywalker projects.
Following The Last Jedi, Rian Johnson was supposed to helm a full Star Wars trilogy, which has reportedly been shelved due to - brace yourself - creative disagreements. Game of Thrones' David Benioff and DB Weiss were slated for a trilogy of their own, but that project officially fell through in 2019, also amid reports of creative turmoil (the duo's nine-figure Netflix deal might not have helped). Elsewhere, Kevin Feige is producing a Star Wars movie directed by Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok). Though still active at the time of writing, we've had little update since Krysty Wilson-Cairns confirmed the script was still being written in late 2021, so plenty still to potentially go awry there. That's more than we know about J.D. Dillard's Star Wars movie, at least. Patty Jenkins' Rogue Squadron apparently remains on for December 2023, but concerning rumors of an indefinite delay and the director's departure have raised a specter of doubt.
Until the day a trailer actually drops, any Damon Lindelof Star Wars movie project should be taken with a hefty pinch of salt. The string of talented directors/writers left in Lucasfilm's wake testify to the studio's tight grip around their property, but that ethos runs counter to its policy of hiring visionary creative talents. Lindelof falls firmly into such a category, and would likely request a significant degree of free reign - something Lucasfilm has already clashed with Lord & Miller, Trevorrow, Johnson, Benioff & Weiss, and (potentially) Jenkins over across the past 5 years. A Damon Lindelof Star Wars movie sounds great... but unless Lucasfilm cedes ground, don't hold your breath it'll actually happen.