One of the upcoming “Star Wars” movies gestating at Lucasfilm is a Jedi-origin film taking place 25,000 years in the past with James Mangold (“Logan”) set to direct and write the film. The pic is getting some impressive help on the script as The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that “Andor” writer Beau Willimon (“House of Cards”) is going to co-write alongside Mangold.

Having someone who has contributed to one of the more critically acclaimed “Star Wars” projects is certainly a boom, and we’re all for the “Andor” creative team to have an influence on the feature films. Even more so, “Dawn of The Jedi,” where they won’t be beholden to either the Skywalker Saga or Legends (expended universe source material) as they’ll be sort of creating their own corner of the franchise with a timeline that takes place before The Old Republic or The High Republic. “Dawn” is essentially a blank slate and has an optimistic approach built-in for new things to be created/explored for the Jedi mythos.

It’s unclear when “Dawn of The Jedi” will start filming; the director is busy working with Timothee Chalamet on his dramatic Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,” which means that they have plenty of time to work on the script. He’s also attached to make a new “Swamp Thing” movie for James Gunn’s newly formed DC Studios as they hope to reset their cinematic universe starting with a “Superman” reboot.

As it stands now, the feature film lineup includes Jon Favreau‘s “The Mandalorian & Grogu,” coming out on May 22, 2026, and the Daisy Ridley-led “Star Wars: New Jedi Order” helmed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (“Ms. Marvel”) is coming out on December 18, 2026. With various projects in the works, including “Dawn of the Jedi,” a mysterious film from Shawn Levy (“Deadpool & Wolverine”), and according to director Patty Jenkins (“Wonder Woman”), her “Star Wars: Rogue Squadron” movie about X-Wing pilots is still alive as she owes the studio a new script.

Mangold’s last feature film took a bit of a bath at the global box office as Forbes reports that “Indiana Jones & The Dial of Destiny” has lost Disney over $130 million. This could make things increasingly difficult for Mangold as he attempts to make an equally expensive “Star Wars” film, hoping to attract a large audience. We’re only bringing this up because Lucasfilm has a habit of bailing on directors who have critical or financial hiccups connected to their movies (Jenkins’ “Rogue Squadron” suddenly had issues and went into creative limbo after “Wonder Woman 1984” failed to click with critics/audiences).

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER