Damon Lindelof is going to a galaxy far, far away — or, at least, he’s well on his way there.
The co-creator of “Lost” and Emmy-winning executive producer of “Watchmen” is developing a new “Star Wars” movie for Lucasfilm — and the top-secret project has already a director warming up their hyper-drive: Oscar-winner and “Ms. Marvel” helmer Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is in talks to direct. Lindelof will co-write the new movie, with his writing partner revealed to be emerging talent Justin Britt-Gibson (“Counterpart”).
More from Variety
Should the project get a greenlight, it would be Lindelof’s fourth foray into revitalizing a major sci-fi franchise. Along with his re-imaginative continuation of “Watchmen” for HBO in 2019 — for which he won Emmys for writing and limited series — Lindelof produced 2009’s “Star Trek” and produced and co-wrote 2013’s “Star Trek Into Darkness,” and he co-wrote the 2012 “Alien” prequel “Prometheus.”
News of the developing project comes as Lucasfilm is at a crossroads with “Star Wars.” While the studio has experienced great success with its live-action series for Disney+ — including “The Mandalorian,” “The Book of Boba Fett,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” and “Andor” — it has not released a film in theaters since 2019’s “The Rise of Skywalker.”
After announcing in 2020 that Patty Jenkins would direct “Rogue Squadron” for a Dec. 2023 release, Disney pulled the film off its release schedule in September. As it stands, an unnamed “Star Wars” movie is slated to open in Dec. 2025, but none of the other “Star Wars” film projects in various stages of development — including from Taika Waititi, Rian Johnson and Kevin Feige — have been officially announced, let alone given a release date. Johnson recently told Variety that his prospective “Star Wars” trilogy is still alive, but he needs to complete his work on his “Knives Out” movies first. In May, screenwriter Michael Waldron (“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”) told Variety that he’d started writing a “Star Wars” script that Feige would produce, but Waldron also recently landed the gig of writing “Avengers: Secret Wars,” so his dance card’s about to get very full.
Obaid-Chinoy is a two-time Oscar winner for directing the short documentaries “Saving Face” and “A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness.” Most recently, she directed two episodes of Marvel’s Disney+ series “Ms. Marvel,” which introduced the super-powered teen Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani).
Britt-Gibson’s credits include Starz’s “The Counterpart,” where he wrote three episodes, as well as the Guillermo Del Toro-produced “The Strain,” where he served as executive story editor.
Deadline was first to report news of the developing project with The Hollywood Reporter revealing Britt-Gibson’s involvement.
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
