Steven Knight will no longer pen the Daisy Ridley-led Star Wars movie

Another day, another Star Wars creative team shake-up. At this point it should be understood that those big Disney release timeline reveals at Comic-Con (or wherever else you get your nerd news) are mere suggestions of a possible future, like a tarot card reading. There is no Kang Dynasty, there is no Blade, there is no Rey movie, at least not for a good while longer. At least Star Wars had the good sense not to attach any actual dates to their prospective releases, because Variety reports that Steven Knight will no longer write the script for director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s film starring Daisy Ridley. 

Knight was the second round of screenwriters brought in for this project after the team of Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson dropped out in 2023. His departure doesn’t come as much of a surprise, both because the Star Wars universe is constantly in the news for creative turnover and because Knight has got to be one of the busiest guys in showbiz. (Move over, Nicole Kidman.) Knight’s been juggling multiple shows (The Veil, A Thousand Blows, House Of Guinness) and movies (Peaky Blinders, Maria) of his own and launching a film and TV studio complex in Birmingham. Given his prolific nature, he obviously seemed well-equipped to take on a Star War as well, but who can blame him for dropping it from his roster when he’s got so much else going on?

Variety reports this delay means “production won’t start until well into 2025 at least,” with at least being the operative words here. Sometimes Star Wars projects just shrivel up and disappear, like Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron or Taika Waititi’s whatever he was doing. Earlier this year, Obaid-Chinoy told Variety the thing “that interests me most is in Rey’s journey as a female Jedi. That’s how I can best bring my experiences to it.” But when she will be bringing her experiences to it—if at all!—is anyone’s guess.