Tag: Star Wars: Dawn of The Jedi

'Shōgun' Star Hiroyuki Sanada Wants A Crack At 'Star Wars' Universe
Posted on in Film News, News, Television News

‘Shōgun’ Star Hiroyuki Sanada Wants A Crack At ‘Star Wars’ Universe

Japanese action star Hiroyuki Sanada (“Westworld,” “Sunshine”) isn’t a stranger to Hollywood genre work, briefly appearing in Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame” as a sword-wielding Yakuza desperately trying to fight off Clint Barton’s revenge-seeking Ronin and even played a scheming corporate villain in James Mangold‘s “The Wolverine.” In his new Hulu samurai series, “Shōgun,” the veteran actor is getting a lot more stage time, and it’s led to some serious buzz around the show alongside the authentic touches across the production thanks to Sanada’s creative involvement as a producer. However, it sounds like Sanada is itching to travel to a galaxy far, far away.

‘Yeah, all of them. Especially ‘Star Wars’ I’m a big fan of them…I can’t wait. I can’t say [one favorite character] because [the] world itself is amazing,” Sanada told Variety (See video below) on the red carpet at the Hulu On Disney+ launch event Friday.

Twinsand — Hiroyuki Sanada in John Wick 4 (2023)

It’s worth mentioning that Sanada has long been trained in sword work, which was displayed in both “The Wolverine” and “John Wick 4” (has a sword fight versus “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” actor Donnie Yen) So, in theory, playing a stoic Jedi master would feel like a perfect casting choice.

Yashida Compound (Wolverine Production Design) | Hugh jackman, Scene photo, Jackman
Hiroyuki Sanada and James Mangold on the set of “The Wolverine”

We’ll keep our fingers crossed that Mangold keeps Sanada in mind for a role in his upcoming Jedi origin movie “Star Wars: Dawn of The Jedi,” which is potentially going to be ready for a December 2027 release. The project recently added Beau Willimon (“Andor,” “House of Cards”) to help Mangold co-write the film’s script, but we’re still waiting on major casting news on multiple fronts for upcoming “Star Wars” movies.

Sanada has plenty of “Star Wars” options beyond “Dawn” with follow-up seasons for “Ahsoka,” “The Mandalorian,” “Star Wars: The Acolyte,” and “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” on the table at Lucasfilm. There are also two other feature films gearing up to begin shooting this year with Jon Favreau’s “The Mandalorian & Grogu” and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s “Star Wars: New Jedi Order” that sees Daisy Ridley reprise the Rey Skywalker role to train a new generation of young Jedi. Dave Filoni (“Ahsoka”) and Shawn Levy (“Deadpool & Wolverine”) are also developing their own features.

“Shōgun” is currently streaming on Hulu (internationally on Star) and is being billed as a limited series, which should allow Sanada to take more franchise roles down the road.

SOURCE: VARIETY

James Mangold's 'Star Wars: Dawn Of The Jedi' Adds 'Andor' Writer Beau Willimon
Posted on in Film News, News

James Mangold’s ‘Star Wars: Dawn Of The Jedi’ Adds ‘Andor’ Writer Beau Willimon To Help With Script

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