Finally, after years of on again/off again development of a new Star Wars film led by Daisy Ridley, one finally seems to be moving forward. THR confirms that Jon Watts will direct the first film in Simon Kinberg’s trilogy, with Ridley expected to return as Rey. The first rumors of this development were from Knight Edge Media and scooper Daniel Richtman.
Watts is the director of Marvel’s Spider-Man trilogy starring Tom Holland, as well as the creator of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew. Ridley is expected to return as Rey, but the role will be small initially, with a chance to expand across films. It’s unclear whether other familiar actors, such as John Boyega or Oscar Isaac, will join Ridley.
We learned about Kinberg’s developing trilogy a couple of years ago, and this is the most significant move since then. What we’re learning now is that his story will be Episode X, and the star of a new trilogy picking up after 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker.
If you’re wondering what this means for the Rey Skywalker New Jedi Order project between Ridley and director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, it’s apparently been shelved in favor of the trilogy Kinberg is writing. It was announced three years ago at Star Wars Celebration, with a few writers taking cracks at it to no avail.
There are plenty of ties to Disney and Lucasfilm that make Kinberg and Watts an obvious pair to work on Star Wars. Kingberg was previously an exec-producer and co-creator of Star Wars Rebels, and worked on The Force Awakens, as well. Watts directed the Spielberg-esque adventure series Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, and obviously, the Spider-Man movies were gigantic for Marvel/Disney.
Lucasfilm hopes to begin production as soon as early next year.
