Damon Lindelof Exits 2025 ‘Star Wars’ Film, New Writer(s) Taking His Place; Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy Remains Attached as Director

Lucasfilm’s latest Star Wars production has hit a new snag, as writers Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson have exited the project ahead of the film’s official announcement next month. There is some good news, however: the film’s director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy remains attached to the project, while at least one new writer has been selected to revise the draft written by Lindelof and Britt-Gibson, and production is set to begin early next year.

 

According to Above The Line, Damon Lindelof and his co-writer Justin Britt-Gibson decided to exit their Star Wars project in the middle of February after delivering the first draft of the screenplay, though the film’s director and production timeline is otherwise unaffected, and a new writer or writers (already selected by Lucasfilm) will be taking over. The replacement writer(s) were already internally circling the project as Lindelof and Britt-Gibson were on the way out, and the director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy remains committed to the film. The report comes from Jeff Sneider, who broke the first rumors about the project and covered multiple news updates on it over subsequent months. Sneider indicated that despite the setback, the production timeline will remain the same and that the title and basic premise will be discussed next month at Star Wars Celebration Europe, although casting details will not be revealed as he previously indicated could happen. Other updates on the state of Star Wars films are also rumored to be on the table.

 

While details for the reasoning behind the umpteenth instance of a behind-the-scenes creative switch-up on a Star Wars remain unclear at the time, it appears that Damon Lindelof may have voluntarily chosen to leave the production of the film. Recently, he expressed doubts about his ability to handle writing a Star Wars movie in an interview with /Film at South By Southwest, which preceded the report of his exit from the project (which we’re now learning was already in the works). Here’s what he had to say about the subject last week:

 

“I will just say that for reasons that I can’t get into on this Sunday morning, on this day, the degree of difficulty [to make a Star Wars project] is extremely, extremely, extremely high. If it can’t be great, it shouldn’t exist. That’s all I’ll say, because I have the same association with it as you do, which is, it’s the first movie I saw sitting in my dad’s lap, four years old, May of ’77. I think it’s possible that sometimes when you hold something in such high reverence and esteem, you start to get in the kitchen and you just go, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t be cooking. Maybe I should just be eating.’ We’ll just leave it at that point.”

 

As it stands, there is plenty of time to iron out a script before filming begins in February 2024 (there will be approximately a whole year between when the new writer or writers stepped on and when cameras will be rolling), and plenty of time to film that project before it releases in theaters in December 2025. Should the new writer(s) build off of the story presented in the first draft, Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson will most likely have credits on the finished film’s screenplay despite their exit. Still, it remains concerning that Lucasfilm keeps having trouble getting these projects off the ground.

 

More news on the future of Star Wars on film as it breaks. As of right now, Lucasfilm has dates scheduled for December 19, 2025, and December 17, 2027.

 

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Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.

Grant Davis (Pomojema)

Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.

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