Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker's Victoria Mahoney to Direct Graphic Novel Adaptation for Paramount

After making headlines for being the first woman to direct a Star Wars movie, having served as the [...]

By Spencer Perry

After making headlines for being the first woman to direct a Star Wars movie, having served as the second unit director for last year's The Rise of Skywalker, filmmaker Victoria Mahoney will soon have a movie all to herself. The Hollywood Reporter brings word that Mahoney is in talks to direct an adaptation of the Kyle Starks graphic novel Kill Them All for Paramount Pictures. Screenwriter James Coyne has been tapped to pen the adaptation with Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol's Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec set to produce. Timing on when the film will go in front of cameras naturally remains a question mark as productions are still on pause due to the coronavirus.

Released in 2015, the official description of the Kill Them All graphic novel reads: "The new gonzo graphic novel love letter to 90s action movies by Eisner-nominated cartoonist Kyle Starks (SEXCASTLE, RICK AND MORTY). A betrayed murderess wants revenge. A hard drinking former cop wants his job back. For either to get what they want, they're going to have to fight their way through fifteen flights of criminals, assassins, drug lords, murderers, yup, even accountants, and… KILL. THEM. ALL."

Speaking with Variety previously, Mahoney recounted how she came to work as the second unit director for J.J. Abrams on "Episode IX" of the franchise, saying: "He got straight to it and I sort of had a moment of not hearing everything in total, because once he said the ward 'Star Wars' — I thought he was calling me to ask me about, you know, filming some school play."

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(Photo: John Wilson /Lucasfilm Ltd.)

The pair met in November of 2017 about her working on the film and instantly bonded after meeting. "His curiosity was as big and full as mine," Mahoney added. "And then I was on a plane … it was five months from the moment I met J.J. to the moment I went, I couldn't tell anyone. I'd done two or three jobs in between there."

Before making history in that galaxy far, far way, Mahoney made a name for herself by directing television after many years of appearing in front of the camera. Mahoney's feature film debut was the indie hit Yelling to the Sky, but she went on to direct episodes of Grey's Anatomy, Queen Sugar, You, Power, I Am the Night, and the upcoming Lovecraft Country form HBO and executive producer Jordan Peele. Recently the director stepped behind the camera for the medical-drama pilot Under the Bridge for CBS, unfortunately it was not picked up to series.

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