The Rey movie has already lost three screenwriters. Since last week, we know who will be writing the Star Wars project from now on. The good news is that he has fully understood the saga.
Two years ago, a new movie was announced at Star Wars Celebration that continues the story of Rey Skywalker – with Daisy Ridley in the leading role. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy was also announced as the director. It seemed as if shooting could begin at any moment. But there was a problem: the film didn’t even have a finished script, let alone a half-finished one.
Three screenwriters, Damon Lindelof, Justin Britt-Gibson and Steven Knight, have been trying to put the perfect story for the project, known under the working title New Jedi Order, on paper in recent months. So far, no one has been able to convince Lucasfilm, so screenwriter number 4 is now at work: George Nolfi is supposed to save the Rey film that has been stuck in development hell.
The new screenwriter of the Rey film has a precise understanding of George Lucas’ Star Wars films
When the news of Nofli’s Star Wars engagement made the rounds last week, not all fans were optimistic that the project would really take a step forward this time. Some were skeptical of the author’s filmography: What, of all things, predestined Nolfi to write the Rey film?
A week later, at least some of this skepticism should have been dispelled. In a new interview with Film Stories, Nolfi proved that he definitely knows his stuff. Not just about Star Wars in general, but specifically about the Star Wars that George Lucas brought to the cinema with the original and prequel trilogies. In the interview, he explains:
I approach [the Rey film] by looking at what came before and what the big ideas are that they want to implement – so Lucasfilm, Disney, Sharmeen [Obaid-Chinoy], the director. Then you do what a screenwriter does and try to put the individual parts of a story together. You try to imagine characters, and then you present it with the understanding that it must, of course, honor a long, incredible tradition.
This long tradition goes back to 1977, when George Lucas brought the first part of the Skywalker saga to the big screen with Star Wars. But what makes Lucas’ Star Wars so special? Nolfi goes into detail:
When you think of George Lucas, the six films he made, and the universe he created, it is very much imbued with political ideas. It’s not about the present time per se, but there is, for example, the Nazi-like nature of the Empire, or the Roman Empire.
Nolfi explains:
The democracy of the Roman Empire, which collapses and becomes an empire, and the eternal history of people organizing themselves and fighting against chaos, and then the tools that help human societies to contain chaos become oppression.
That’s the gist of what I think George Lucas was trying to say. And one of the wonderful things about science fiction and Star Wars – which is more science fantasy or space opera – is that you can address the deepest issues without it feeling like a philosophy or political science class or something I read in the newspaper today… It can be about real things, about profound things.
It should come as no surprise that Nolfi appreciates the political facets of the Star Wars films. In his sci-fi thriller The Plan, he tells a love story in a claustrophobic, almost dystopian setting. He was also involved in The Bourne Ultimatum – together with Tony Gilroy, who has launched one of the most political Star Wars projects ever with Andor.
Star Wars return: When does the Rey movie start in theaters?
When the film was announced, many fans hoped that we would see Daisy Ridley’s return as Rey Skywalker on the big screen as early as December 2026. At the moment, however, it looks more likely that the film will not be released in theaters until December 2027 at the earliest. It is very likely that we will get an update on the latest plans at the Star Wars Celebration in April.
