‘Star Wars’: Daisy Ridley’s Rey Movie Loses Screenwriter Steven Knight!!

The Star Wars movie set to follow Daisy Ridley’s Rey and pick up from where 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker left off is facing another hurdle. Variety reports that the film has lost its screenwriter, Steven Knight, who boarded the project in March 2023, replacing original scribes Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson. Given such unfortunate news, production will likely not start until later next year or thereabouts, as Lucasfilm is actively discussing with potential writers to take on the story.

As previously announced, the new Rey movie will center on the title character’s efforts to start a new Jedi Academy. Ridley has been playing the role since 2015, when the sequel Star Wars trilogy films came to life with The Force Awakens, which gained her global recognition. The second in the trilogy, The Last Jedi, then came about in 2017, and the third, The Rise of Skywalker, in 2019.

Besides the Rey movie, another Star Wars movie, The Mandalorian and Grogu, from director Jon Favreau, is in the works. The film is scheduled to premiere in May 2026, with Disney slating two more Star Wars films for December 2026 and December 2027 without confirming their titles yet. During the 2023 Star Wars Celebration event in London, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy announced that in addition to the Rey picture, Disney was developing films with director James Mangold (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny) and with Dave Filoni. Filoni is Lucasfilm‘s chief creative officer and executive producer of the Disney+ series Ahsoka and The Mandalorian.

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy Will Still Direct The ‘Star Wars’ Rey Movie

While fans may feel distressed about Knight’s exit, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is still attached to direct the Rey film, which would be her feature debut. She previously directed episodes of the Disney+ series Ms. Marvel after twice winning the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Film. Obaid-Chinoy looks forward to bringing Rey’s story to the big screens, and fans sure as hell can’t wait. The director said while discussing her latest documentary about designer Diane von Furstenberg, which premiered on Hulu in June, that the Star Wars story “that interests me most is in Rey’s journey as a female Jedi. That’s how I can best bring my experiences to it.”

As for Knight, who’s a force to reckon with in both film and TV, he is credited for writing the screenplay for the upcoming Maria Callas biopic Maria with Angelina Jolie and a feature film adaptation of the acclaimed Peaky Blinders with Cillian Murphy. Other projects he has worked on include the FX series The Veil, Disney+‘s A Thousand Blows, and the BBC‘s This Town.