The currently untitled Star Wars movie being directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy has found its new writer in Peaky Blinders and See creator Steven Knight. According to Variety, Knight has joined the new Star Wars movies as writer following the departure of Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson when they seemingly couldn’t deliver the right project for Lucasfilm. The new movie is expected to hit cinemas in December 2025 as the next big screen outing for the space saga, and more information on the movie is thought to be coming at Star Wars Celebration in April.
Steven Knight has a long resume of movies and TV shows to his name, and his work has spanned many genres including crime drama, comedy, war thrillers and biographies. He was also tasked with writing the treatment for Man of Steel 2 before James Gunn and Peter Safran took the helm of the DCU. With his previous experience, it will be interesting to see what Knight can bring to the Star Wars table. In the unpredictable and increasingly difficult to pin down world of Star Wars, it seems that finding the right story for the franchise’s post-Skywalker is proving to be a tough ask, as Lindelof appeared to allude to recently. Last week Lindelof said of his involvement in the movie:
"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. 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."
Why is Bringing Star Wars Back To Cinemas Such an Impossible Task?
While the Star Wars Saga has found a home on Disney+, delivering some of the best received projects of the franchise in The Mandalorian, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Andor among others. However, the movie side of the Force has not been strong for a long time, with the sequel trilogy being massively divisive among the fandom.
For that reason alone, there is a strong need to not only put Star Wars back on the big screen but to make sure that whichever movie does arrive first is one that is going to put the franchise back on a positive footing and not deliver yet another entry that brings as much criticism as praise. When dealing with a fan base that has a very definite idea of what they do, and more importantly do not, want to see in terms of storylines and characters, it is not surprising that so many potential movies have fallen by the wayside. Recently this has included Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron, and a discussed movie from Kevin Feige. Whether Steven Knight will join the roll call of the fallen is something that only time will tell.