James Mangold discusses plans for ‘Star Wars’ prequel
Following his recent Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, director James Mangold will be helming a new Star Wars movie. He claims Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi will be set “25,000 years before any known Star Wars movies take place.”
The filmmaker has been working since the 1990s, finding early success with movies like Cop Land and Girl, Interrupted. He has since made movies in a diverse range of genres, from the rom-com Kate & Leopold to the superhero movies The Wolverine and Logan, the Oscar-winning Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line, and the action film Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
However, he is now tackling Star Wars, and his ideas are certainly going to divide fans. Talking to MovieWeb, Mangold revealed, “To me, the really important aspects are the freedom to make something new. [Screenwriter Beau Willimon] and I, in relation to Star Wars, have been working on a script, and we’ll see what happens.”
Mangold is keen to make something completely different to what fans are used to, adding, “The Star Wars movie would be taking place 25,000 years before any known Star Wars movies take place.”
He claims that “it’s an area and a playground that I’ve always [wanted to explore] and that I was inspired by as a teenager.”
The filmmaker also revealed that he is “not that interested in being handcuffed by so much lore at this point that it’s almost immovable, and you can’t please anybody.”
Thus, he is making the bold decision to set the movie thousands of years in the past, which is certainly a controversial decision. It appears he’ll be taking viewers back to the very start and exploring the beginnings of the Star Wars galaxy.
Never Miss A Scene
The Far Out Film Newsletter
All the latest film news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.