Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson Off Star Wars Movie

Movies

The Disney boat is not done rocking yet. Following yesterday’s news that Victoria Alonso has left Marvel, Above the Line exclusively reports that Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson have left the Star Wars movie they were supposed to write. ATL says that Lindelof and Britt-Gibson turned in their draft of the script a month ago and then walked away from the project, or were removed, or whatever happened. This movie, the title and synopsis of which have not been revealed, is the only Star Wars film still in development and is to be directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. A new writer is said to have been hired, and Obaid-Chinoy remains the director; the movie is scheduled to start shooting in February 2024 for a December 19, 2025 release. More details should be forthcoming at Star Wars Celebration.

Something tells me this one will fall apart, too, and they’re using the Star Wars Celebration announcement to gauge fan interest. After chucking stuff like Rogue Squadron, which was a popular (and fun) video game back in the day, I don’t think they’re going to drum up much excitement for whatever this is unless it’s taking fan service to astronomical levels. This is a Hail Mary for a franchise that’s all but dead, but given that, why would they rest their hopes on a woman who directed some documentaries and two episodes of a Disney+ show nobody watched (except me)? This is more penny-pinching from Disney, and it probably seemed like a good idea when they thought they had several Star Wars movies on the horizon. Now, they’ve got to be worried that their last stand will be another disaster. As for Lindelof, that dude can’t catch a break, although his misfortune is his own doing; by all accounts, he’s screwed up Star Trek for the foreseeable future, and once he stepped away from Picard, people actually started liking it. He reportedly had a hard time on his Star Wars script, so maybe he and Britt-Gibson did leave of their own accord. (People like him never really go away, anyway; they’ll set him up with a Marvel movie sooner or later – just kidding; he’s too expensive for them.) This mostly feels like another ripple in the slow fade-out of Star Wars.