After facing difficulties getting a new Star Wars movie off the ground, Lucasfilm might perhaps strike some luck with Steven Knight, Peaky Blinders creator. Variety reports that Steven Knight will be writing the screenplay for the untitled Star Wars movie and be directed by Ms. Marvel’s Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. We’re talking about the same Star Wars movie whose script was originally penned by Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson before their departed.
Best known for creating Peaky Blinders, starring Cillian Murphy in this epic period crime drama series, Steven Knight is known for a number of projects in the past, some of which include his work on: Eastern Promises, Dirty Pretty Things, Locke, Allied, Spencer, Taboo, See, SAS: Rogue Heroes, and more. This new Star Wars movie is said to mark the franchise’s return to the big screen since the release of 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker. With production scheduled to commence next February, Star Wars Celebration should expect an official announcement to arrive next month.
A week prior to an official announcement regarding Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson parting ways with the Star Wars project, Lindelof evidently anticipated his withdrawal during an interview with /Film. “I will just say, that for reasons that I can’t get into on this Sunday morning, on this day, the degree of difficulty is extremely, extremely, extremely high,” Lindelof stated. “If it can’t be great, it shouldn’t exist. That’s all I’ll say, because I have the same association with it as you do, which is, it’s the first movie I saw sitting in my dad’s lap, four years old, May of ’77. 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.“
Star Wars is flourishing on Disney+ credited to shows like The Mandalorian, Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and more, but the same cannot be said for the big screen side as yet. Lucasfilm has back-burned many previously announced projects, including films from Patty Jenkins and Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios president. All we can do at this point is hope Steven Knight can deliver a Star Wars script that will satisfy Lucasfilm, but until there’s any official announcement about a theater release… I’m not about to hold my breath.
