Last night came word that Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy was on board to direct a secret “Star Wars” film, the project that “Lost” and “Watchmen” showrunner Damon Lindelof was linked to back in May.
In the reports, it was indicated Lindelof was co-writing the project with someone yet to be announced. The idea was the hiring of Obaid-Chinoy this early in the development phase would allow her to have input in the writing process as well.
Tonight, sources for THR have revealed that mysterious co-writer as being young upcomer Justin Britt-Gibson. Gibson worked as an executive story editor on Guillermo del Toro’s “The Strain” TV series and on episodes of Starz’s J.K. Simmons-led dimension hopping drama “Counterpart”.
Britt-Gibson reportedly scored the gig after a two-week secret writers room session held in July. Others reportedly at that event included “Station Eleven” creator Patrick Somerville, “Willow” series writer Rayna McClendon, “Briarpatch” creator Andy Greenwald, and potentially George Lucas’ protege and “Ahsoka” showrunner Dave Filoni.
After breaking the story, Lindelof and Britt-Gibson have reportedly been hard at work on the script which is intended as a stand-alone project at first but could be turned into a potential franchise launcher should it prove successful.
The story will reportedly take place after the events of “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” but would not be a continuation of the Skywalker saga. As such, it could allow some familiar faces from the sequel trilogy to return in some capacity.
Whatever they come up with, it’s expected the earliest Lindelof’s film could drop would be December 2025.
