Damon Lindelof's Star Wars Movie Finds A Director In Ms. Marvel's Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
You've heard of "Secret Wars;" now, prepare to have your mind blown by a Secret Star War, waged by none other than Damon Lindelof. Back in March, reports circulated that Lindelof, the co-creator and/or showrunner of "Lost," "The Leftovers," and HBO's "Watchmen," was working on a hush-hush "Star Wars" movie. It appears those rumors are true, as Deadline now reports, based on info from multiple sources, that Lindelof is indeed co-writing a new "Star Wars" film and that Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy — who most recently helmed two episodes of the Disney+ series "Ms. Marvel" — is attached to direct.
For moviegoers, this is big news, as there hasn't been a new "Star Wars" film since the 2019 release of "The Rise of Skywalker," directed by Lindelof's old "Lost" and "Star Trek" buddy, J.J. Abrams. That movie left a sour taste in the mouths of many, and since then, "Star Wars" has pivoted to streaming shows like "The Mandalorian" and "Andor," both of which demonstrate that the franchise is still capable of delivering solid entertainment.
Obaid-Chinoy's directorial involvement was reportedly a crucial factor in the development of this new as-yet-untitled film, so that her "own vision for where they see this story headed gets included in the script" (which is still being written). Besides "Ms. Marvel," she is also known for her documentary work, which includes the Academy Award-winning short films "Saving Face" and "A Girl in the River, The Price of Forgiveness."
We've heard rumblings of other "Star Wars" films that Lucasfilm and Disney are said to have in the pipeline, such as a new potential Rian Johnson trilogy, but according to Deadline, this Lindelof project "seems to have the most momentum out of all the films currently in development at the studio."
A long time ago, in a masochistic galaxy far, far away
My knee-jerk reaction to this news confirming Obaid-Chinoy and Lindelof's involvement in a new "Star Wars" film is that Lindelof, at least, must be a glutton for punishment. After the mixed reception to the "Alien" prequel "Prometheus" and the "Star Trek" sequel "Star Trek Into Darkness," both of which he co-wrote (not to mention the similar reaction to the series finale of "Lost," which might have received an unfair shake), you'd think he would be wary of getting involved with another franchise with a (hopefully small, but definitely very) vocal contingent of toxic fans who are going to be disgruntled no matter what they get. This is the same blue check on Twitter who quit the platform after being bombarded with vitriol from fans on there. If I were Lindelof, I wouldn't touch "Star Wars" with a 10-foot pole.
That said, the addition of Obaid-Chinoy as director adds an interesting wrinkle to all of this, and Lindelof showed with "Watchmen" that he was still capable of doing right by a beloved franchise, despite feeling that he was cursed by Alan Moore himself. Personally, I'll reserve judgment till we know more and see more of Obaid-Chinoy and Lindelof's upcoming "Star Wars" film. And in the meantime, you can always catch up with "Andor" and other streaming shows over on Disney+.