Hot off the announcement that Shawn Levy has been hired to develop a new “Star Wars” film, it has been revealed that J.D. Dillard is no longer attached one he has been linked to.
The Wrap reports that Dillard confirmed that several in-development franchise projects that he was attached to are no longer moving forward.
One of those being the “Star Wars” film announced in February 2020, which had “Luke Cage” writer Matt Owens attached to write. Dillard tells the outlet his film is: “unfortunately no longer a thing… it was not for lack of trying”.
Dillard says he’s not done with the idea of a space epic, but should he do one it would have to be “an original idea”. Dillard didn’t say what his film would’ve been about but teased he was a big fan of the “TIE Fighter” video games:
“My dad being an aviator, we had a bunch of flight simulators. I’m playing [‘TIE Fighter’] for months. And my dad’s flying it with me. And I’m like, ‘Man, this game is just so cool.’ And he’s like, ‘Well, you know, this game comes from a series of movies.’ And I was like, ‘You’re kidding me.’ That is where I watched ‘Star Wars’ for the first time and realized the full scope of what it meant to world build because I’d been playing this pseudo-16-bit game.”
Dillard had also reportedly been involved with a potential “The Rocketeer” sequel, but confirms he’s no longer involved in that film:
“I am not on that movie. But, you know, it’s tricky. I love, love, love ‘The Rocketeer.’ What I have a slightly hard time wrapping my head around now is going back to pre-1970 aviation. You know, I’m not saying never. But I think I need a breather from period aviation.”
Dillard is coming off his Korean War pilot drama “Devotion” starring Jonathan Majord and Glenn Powell. That film is set to arrive in theatres on November 23rd.
