James Mangold Finally Explains Why His Star Wars Movie Is Dawn of the Jedi Era

After concluding the saga of Indiana Jones, and bringing the enigma known as Bob Dlyan to the big screen, director James Mangold will be turning his attention to a galaxy far, far away. He’ll also be turning back the clock on that galaxy thousands of years. Mangold has been tapped to direct a new Star Wars movie that will take place in the era known as the Dawn of the Jedi, exploring the origins of the Force and the people who wield it.

This may seem like a surprising place to set a new Star Wars film, especially when so much of the franchise is currently focused on the years surrounding the New Republic, but that change appears to be the biggest reason Mangold was drawn to the story. While speaking with MovieWeb, Mangold opened up about the excitement that comes with a Star Wars playground largely untouched by the rest of the franchise lore.

“To me the two aspects that are really important are the freedom to make something new, which Beau [Willimon] and I, in relation to Star Wars, are working on a script and we’ll see what happens,” Mangold explained. “It’s just a matter of do we find a way on the page to say something original. Part of the reason the Star Wars movie would be taking place 25,000 years before any known Star Wars movies take place. It’s an area and a playground that I’ve always [wanted to explore] and that I was inspired by as a teenager. I’m not that interested in being handcuffed by so much lore at this point that it’s almost immovable, and you can’t please anybody.”

[RELATED: The 10 Most Powerful Star Wars Characters Ranked]

His words about exploring Star Wars came as part of a larger conversation regarding Mangold’s career, which has constantly jumped between all sorts of different genres. The filmmaker said that he enjoys being able to challenge himself by jumping into different playgrounds with his various films.

“My entire career, I really enjoy changing what I’m doing,” he said. “I don’t think I’m changing myself… but I like to throw myself into things that people don’t expect, or that I don’t expect, more importantly, in terms of surprising myself or challenging myself. It’s honestly partly about luck. I’ve been afforded the chance. I can work in different genres because people will finance it.”

Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi doesn’t have a release date at this time, but it is in active development over at Lucasfilm. We don’t know yet whether that will be Mangold’s next movie, or if he’ll first jump over to DC Studios for his Swamp Thing adaptation.