Summary
- “Jedi Prime” movie title hinted by producer Simon Emanuel in new feature, stirring buzz in
Star Wars
fandom. - Star Wars
franchise is returning to the big screen with new projects 25,000 years before the original trilogy. - Director James Mangold aims to stand apart from the existing
Star Wars
timeline, focusing on Jedi origins.
James Mangold’s upcoming deep-dive into the distant past of the Star Wars galaxy could have had its title revealed by producer Simon Emanuel. In a new feature in SFX Magazine (via StarWarsLeaks), Emanuel mentioned the movie by a name that has not been shared in other discussions by Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy or Mangold himself, but the fleeting comment has stirred up a buzz that only happens with big franchises like Star Wars.
After several years without a theatrical release, the Star Wars saga will hit the big screen again with a string of new movie projects, which will run alongside Disney+ shows to push the boundaries of the franchise beyond the era of the Skywalkers. Along with a new sequel to the sequel trilogy, and two movies set within the Mandalorian era, Mangold’s foray into the Star Wars universe will take place 25,000 years before the events of A New Hope. This movie, which has previously been called Dawn of the Jedi, will focus on the origins of the Jedi Order.
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During his interview with SFX Magazine, Emanuel, who worked with Mangold on 2023’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, said of Mangold’s Star Wars movie:
“James Mangold’s Jedi Prime is set thousands and thousands of years before [the original trilogy], and I’m really excited to see what happens there.”
Could Jedi Prime be the name of the new movie? It is more likely that this is a working title, given that the film is still in the development stages right now, but it is another interesting indicator of the focus of the new movie.
The Star Wars Franchise’s Future is Cinematic in Scope Once More
Since the release of The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, the Star Wars franchise has been focused completely on series content for Disney+. Thanks to a combination of soaring subscriber numbers during the pandemic, and a bullish push for multiple projects from both the Star Wars and Marvel franchises by former CEO Bob Chapek, there was a distinct lack of direction when it came to putting Star Wars back into cinemas.
This all changed last year, with returning CEO Bob Iger undoing the “quantity over quality” approach that was being applied to Disney’s biggest franchises, and Lucasfilm becoming focused once more on bringing cinematic experiences within the Star Wars universe to fruition. While some projects such as Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron seem to have been abandoned along the way – at least for now – there are others like Taika Waititi’s movie which are apparently still coming down the line to join Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian & Grogu and Dave Filoni’s untitled Mandalorian concluding movie as the franchise attempts to reclaim a foothold in cinema real estate.
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When it comes to Mangold’s unprecedented shift in focus from anything even vaguely related to the existing timeline of the Star Wars franchise, the director has spoken previously about wanting to do something that stands apart from other Star Wars movies. In several interviews, Mangold noted that he wanted the “space” to be able to tell a story without the worry of having to include existing characters and storylines just to provide fan service to the often critical fandom.
The
Star Wars
Saga so far can be found streaming on Disney+.
You can check out the trailer for the latest Star Wars offering, The Acolyte, below.
