This Is Not the News You’re Looking For…

I’ve been holding onto a few bits of Star Wars-related news, and this post will address the, shall we say, more negative pieces. (Though some readers may find some of the news a relief or a good sign.) Thus the post’s title.

First, we have the report that “The Book of Boba Fett” is indeed getting a second season. Well, “report” may be too strong a word, so let’s just call it a reasonable rumor for now. Jason Ward, editor-in-chief at MakingStarWars.net, says he has “recently spoken to sources around Southern California who are working on production elements specifically tied to the character of Boba Fett himself.” The “sources” in question have reasons to believe they are working on a second season of “Boba Fett”, and some of the things they are making lead Ward to agree that this is entirely possible.

Given that this was perhaps the most frustrating and least well-received of the new live-action series set in the Star Wars universe, this may or may not be good news. Depends on how willing you are to give it a second chance, I suppose. (I’m sort of indifferent.) More details on this and how the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike fits in can be found here.

Second, we have some film news. You might remember that Marvel’s Kevin Feige was announced to be developing a Star Wars film. That was in Sep. 2019, and screenwriter Michael Waldron (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness) said he was working on it with Feige in May 2022. But, Feige is a very busy man, what with all of his MCU projects. So, it is not surprising that Variety has now reported that Feige’s Star Wars film is “no longer in active development at Lucasfilm.”

You might recall that Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman) had been named as director for a Star Wars one-off adventure titled Rogue Squadron. (Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy announced it in Dec. 2020.) But, Disney pulled the title from its scheduled December 2023 releases last September. Jenkins had since indicated that the film’s future was unknown (to her, at least), and Variety has now reported that “sources with knowledge of the production say it is no longer in active development at the studio.”

A couple days later, we got news about one of Disney’s legal battles, this one involving the in-development TV series, “The Acolyte”. Here’s a summary as I understand it:

Karyn McCarthy (“House of Cards”) was courted by Lucasfilm in April 2022 to work on “The Acolyte”, and she accepted based on a “broad strokes”, written agreement. This meant passing up a long-term and potentially lucrative opportunity with Apple. She started on the series right away but was mysteriously(?) canned after only 2 weeks. Lucasfilm/Disney deny that the signed agreement (which included compensation) existed and refused to pay her anything more than a token $5000 (for one day’s work). Oh, she is also upset that her opportunity to work for Apple is now gone.

So, McCarthy (via her lawyers) has filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against Lucasfilm. Assuming this information is a fair representation of the facts, then I don’t blame her. (Although, losing out on other opportunities sounds like a normal risk associated with signing onto something.) Meanwhile, the 8-episode “The Acolyte” has been filming since Oct. 2022, but no debut date has been set.

Lindelof and Obaid-Chinoy

Back to the films… I don’t remember for sure if I mentioned it in a previous post, but last October we heard of another, as-yet-untitled Star Wars movie in development. This one was to be directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (“Ms. Marvel”) with a script co-written by Damon Lindelof (“Mrs. Davis”) and Justin Britt-Gibson (“The Counterpart”). While not a direct continuation of the Skywalker Saga, it would chronologically follow The Rise of Skywalker and feature an older Rey who was training two Jedi knights. The hope is that it will be sufficiently successful to lead into a new trilogy.

This past March at SXSW, Lindelof made a few ominous remarks about the difficulty of working on the project. Then, as per ‘Above the Line’,

“Lindelof and Britt-Gibson finished a draft of the script and exited the picture only a few days later. Production is not meant to start until early 2024, and the release date is slated for Dec 19, 2025.”

Roughly five weeks later, Lindelof revealed in an interview with Esquire that it was Lucasfilm that had asked him to leave the project. I don’t know if Lucasfilm also requested that Britt-Gibson leave, but he may have left on his own due to his close collaboration with Lindelof on this and other projects. Scripting for the Star Wars film is now the purview of Steven Wright (“Peaky Blinders”), but it was confirmed at a recent Star Wars Celebration that “the Daisy Ridley character and her quest to rebuild the Jedi Order post-Rise of Skywalker will propel the upcoming Star Wars feature” by Obaid-Chinoy.

OK, the final news item today involves the popular TV series “Andor”. Specifically, shooting on Season 2 had to shut down in southwestern England recently due to safety concerns. According to a statement by the National Trust (which owns the site),

“The planned filming due to take place at Winspit Quarry has been canceled due to safety concerns following the recent turbulent weather, which has increased the risk of rockfalls and landslips. Visitors looking to explore the Dorset Coast are advised to follow signs and keep out of unsafe areas until further surveys have been undertaken.”

Viewers will remember the Winspit Quarry from an episode or two of Season 1, as it was the site of the headquarters for Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker). But, don’t worry, the delay should only be temporary. (Maybe they can rewrite the scene for a different location or used CGI or something?) The season is scheduled to wrap filming this August (2023) and is expected to premier in Aug. 2024.