James Mangold to Direct 'Dawn of the Jedi' Set 25,000 Years in the Past for 'Star Wars' and Lucasfilm

by Darian Scalamoni

    Star Wars has been in a constant state of flux for years now. Even since I started writing again here for Cinema Wave, there has been a flurry of announcements regarding feature films in a galaxy far, far away getting off the ground. However, there is yet another that was announced today at Star Wars Celebration in which Lucasfilm hopes to keep a director in house.

    James Mangold (Logan, Ford v. Ferrari) is set to direct a Star Wars film titled Dawn of the Jedi, which is expected to take place 25,000 years in the past telling the origins of the Jedi. Years ago, Mangold was attached to direct a potential Boba Fett solo film, however, his first Lucasfilm project winded up being the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. The film will take place in the earliest era of the Star Wars universe, ahead of even the beloved Old Republic era. 

    The good news about this is that it would give Mangold free reign to play around in the Star Wars sandbox with the ability to stretch his imagination entirely around the idea of what this particular time period of Star Wars looked like. However, there's no word yet on if any characters, nor specific relationships will be pulled from either previous canon or Legends novels for Mangold's story.

    As we previously mentioned, Mangold's next film will be the fifth story in the Indiana Jones film franchise with Dial of Destiny which hits theaters on June 30. Additionally, we reported that Mangold was in talks back in February for the upcoming DCU film, Swamp Thing.