Peaky Blinders Creator Steven Knight To Write Untitled Star Wars Movie For Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
The wild, wild world of "Star Wars" has been rocked by yet another creative attachment. Variety reports that the currently untitled "Star Wars" film that Lucasfilm has been developing for "Ms. Marvel" director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy has got a new, big-name writer on board after the high-profile departure of Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson.
That new writer is none other than "Peaky Blinders" creator Steven Knight.
Now, we don't know much of anything about this new "Star Wars" movie. Is it a one-off? Is it the start of a brand new saga told in this universe? Maybe it's Episode 10 and will pick back up with Rey, Finn, and Poe? We have no idea, but we do know that Lucasfilm took a break from their theatrical "Star Wars" projects after wrapping up the Skywalker Saga with "Star Wars: Episode 9 — The Rise of Skywalker," much to the chagrin of a ton of creatives who were lined up to play in that sandbox, like Patty Jenkins, the "Game of Thrones" creative team, and even the MCU's Kevin Feige, who is arguably one of the most powerful creative producers in the business.
Lucasfilm instead focused on throwing a lot of "Star Wars" content on Disney+ and the results have been mostly positive, but as a die-hard "Star Wars" fan dating back to the original trilogy, I do feel the itch to get excited about big screen "Star Wars" again.
Let's not be too quick to call the writer swap a disaster
"Star Wars" Celebration is coming up soon and the expectation is we'll hear more about Lucasfilm's big screen plans there, including details about this mysterious "Star Wars" movie as well as Taika Waititi's film.
In the meantime, what does all this writer turmoil mean for this film? Is it a sign of a disaster in the making or typical Hollywood development? I'd say there's nothing typical about "Star Wars," but I'd also be careful about labeling this thing a disaster. Going back to the very first "Star Wars" movie, this franchise has always had a back-and-forth in the writing process. George Lucas brought in many friends to help punch up his script for what would turn into "A New Hope," including his "American Graffiti" collaborators Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz.
"The Empire Strikes Back" famously had the legendary Leigh Brackett come in to do the first draft of the sequel, which was then taken over by Lawrence Kasdan.
The point is, Lindelof and Britt-Gibson getting their script rewritten (or even totally thrown out) has not only happened before on past "Star Wars" movies but it's happened on the best "Star Wars" movies. Knight has a tendency for big swings. When they connect, you get something amazing like "Peaky Blinders." When they don't, you get fascinating misfires like "Serenity" (no, not that "Serenity").
He seems to be at his best when going grounded, though, so I'm curious if that's why he's been brought on to take a stab at this script. I guess we'll know more after the "Star Wars" Celebration this coming April.