The Star Wars galaxy will be taking a big-screen hiatus following next month’s The Rise of Skywalker — and there’s no word on who will be overseeing the next installment.
Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and Dan Weiss were supposed to oversee a film set to bow in December 2022, but that date is now vacant after the duo exited the franchise last month. Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy must now figure out who to hand the reins to.
J.J. Abrams successfully relaunched the series with The Force Awakens and is returning to close it out with The Rise of Skywalker. Jon Favreau’s cred with Star Wars fans couldn’t be any higher thanks to creating The Mandalorian, while Deborah Chow shot to the top of many fans’ wish-lists after her well-received Nov. 22 episode of the Disney+ show.
Taika Waititi totally revamped the floundering Thor franchise with 2017’s Ragnarok and directs The Mandalorian finale (in addition to voicing a droid), while Patty Jenkins gave Warner Bros.’ DC universe its first bona fide success with Wonder Woman. Could she do something similar for Star Wars as it faces a crossroads on the big screen?
Rian Johnson has a Star Wars trilogy in development at Lucasfilm, and it’s conceivable his first pic could be pegged for that 2022 slot, but his Last Jedi was among the most divisive Star Wars films in history. Todd Phillips may be another dark horse candidate; the filmmaker’s Joker took in more than $1 billion, and he showed he had something new to say about a nearly 80-year-old character. And though she’s balked at the idea of a Star Wars movie, filmmaker Ava DuVernay is an influential voice in Hollywood, one who can not only speak fluent geek (just scan her Twitter feed for references to legendary comics artist Jack Kirby) but who can also address larger social issues that could be interesting to tackle on the biggest sci-fi canvas in the galaxy.
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