Star Wars: James Mangold Addresses the Origins of His New Movie

Thanks in large part to the success of Logan, filmmaker James Mangold has been connected to Lucasfilm in a variety of ways for years, from rumors about developing a Boba Fett movie back in 2018 and up through helming Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, with the studio confirming today at Star Wars Celebration that he was developing a new Star Wars film. The film is confirmed to be taking things back years and will explore the origins of the Jedi and how they first connnected with the Force, with the filmmaker recalling how the project came to be and its status. The film, which explores the “dawn of the Jedi,” doesn’t yet have a release date.

When speaking with ComicBook.com at Celebration about the origins of the idea, Mangold detailed, “It just came from me thinking about if I were doing one, it seemed to me that most of what they were thinking about doing with movies were either in the present of Star Wars or the future, and what attracted me most was the distant past and how this galaxy formed and how, more specifically, the Force was discovered.”

Given the franchise’s long legacy of compelling characters, fans are understandably curious about the type of figure that could be at the center of such a story, with Mangold confirming of such a role, “First you have to write the character and that’s what I’m doing right now.”

When it comes to live-action adventures for the galaxy far, far away, everything fits within the timeline of the prequel trilogy, the original trilogy, and the sequel trilogy, though the upcoming TV series Star Wars: The Acolyte will be set a century before the events of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. This would place it in the era of The High Republic, which has been the center of various adventures in the world of Star Wars publishing, though the panel confirmed that this timeframe takes place after eras known as Dawn of the Jedi and The Old Republic. Additionally, Lucasfilm confirmed that a film was being developed that takes place after the sequel trilogy, an era known as the New Jedi Order, taking place 15 years after the events of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and will see the return of Daisy Ridley’s Rey.

Stay tuned for details on James Mangold’s Star Wars movie.

Are you looking forward to the project? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!