Mangold On His Force Origin “Star Wars” Film

Back in April, Lucasfilm announced three new “Star Wars” films are on the way. Set to come first is one from Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy which will serve as a follow-up to “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” with Daisy Ridley’s Rey rebuilding the Jedi Order.

There’s also a Dave Filoni-directed film which is set to serve as a great big Mandoverse crossover entry – presumably to come at some point in the next few years.

The most mysterious though is that of James Mangold’s “Dawn of the Jedi” which will explore the first Jedi to use the Force and will be set in the earliest era ever seen in the “Star Wars” screen universe – some 25,000 years in the past.

Mangold has just commenced publicity for the upcoming “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” film which he directed. He sat down with io9 and briefly revealed today how he pitched his take on the “Star Wars” universe:

“Well, I’ve talked to [Lucasfilm] before and even worked a bit before on other projects… when I mentioned to Kathy [Kennedy, Lucasfilm president] the idea that I had about going backward – really far backward – I was surprised that it excited her and the other wonderful people she works with at Lucasfilm.

For me, it’s about, I want to be part of the saga, but I also don’t want to be holding so much lore in the air that you can hardly tell a story. And what I really wanted to do, what I told her, was just can we make a kind of the Ten Commandments of the Force, you know? A kind of origin story of how the Force came to be known, understood, wielded, and harnessed.”

Asked what the status of the project is, he says it’s the question was ‘impossible’ to answer right now and it’ll happen when it’s ready.

Mangold remains attached to several projects including the “Swamp Thing” movie as part of James Gunn’s new DC Universe, and the Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown” starring Timothee Chalamet which is likely his immediate next effort.

Mangold’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” hits cinemas on June 30th. Check out a recently released clip from that film below.