Daisy Ridley Shoots Down Star Wars Rumor In Rey Movie Update
Here's what's going with The New Jedi Order.
At some point we’ll see Rey wield a lightsaber again. And when she does, actress Daisy Ridley says the film can be credited to current Lucasfilm head honcho Kathleen Kennedy. Ridley has spoken out in defence of Kennedy amid chatter of Kennedy’s possible retirement. Here’s what she said, and what it all might mean.
“I believe that she's very involved,” Ridley said at SXSW, according to The Direct. I think there was reporting that was not true. So yeah, very [involved].”
The untrue reporting Ridley was referring to was the rumor that suggested Kennedy would be stepping down from running Lucasfilm by the end of 2025. Kennedy herself later debunked the rumor, clarifying that while she would leave Lucasfilm at some point, she plans to “die making movies” and that she was producing several new upcoming Star Wars movies, including next year’s The Mandalorian & Grogu and Shawn Levy’s untitled Star Wars film.
Daisy Ridley, Kathleen Kennedy and director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, during Star Wars Celebration 2023, when the new Rey-centric movie was announced.
It seems like Kennedy will be guiding Lucasfilm for at least a while longer, but where does all this leave the Rey movie? Although the film recently got a new screenwriter in George Nolfi, it appears The New Jedi Order isn’t even in preproduction. So while Kennedy seems to still be involved in a major capacity, Ridley didn’t know, or couldn’t say, when the movie could begin filming, offering only “I don’t know” when asked for comment.
Announced at Star Wars Celebration 2023, the Rey Skywalker-centric movie is technically still untitled (The New Jedi Order moniker comes from what we know of the plot), although director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy remains attached. At the time, it was thought it was a high-priority title that would be fast-tracked for production and release. However, the next Star Wars film, and the first since 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker, will be next summer’s The Mandalorian & Grogu, a big-screen sequel to the popular Disney+ series The Mandalorian.
To be clear, Daisy Ridley has repeatedly said that her Rey Skywalker movie is still happening, regardless of who writes it. Her latest assertion that Kennedy is still very much behind it seems to indicate we can expect some kind of announcement sooner rather than later. And with Star Wars Celebration 2025 around the corner in April, it’s entirely possible that “sooner” is coming very soon. Whenever it arrives, Kathleen Kennedy will have had a hand in it.
