Damon Lindelof says he was asked to walk away from his Star Wars project

Last Updated on May 2, 2023

Amid the success of the different Star Wars streaming shows on Disney+, LucasFilm also suffered many start-stops of Star Wars film projects. Kathleen Kennedy had lined up filmmakers that were planning to bring new material to the theatrical releases in the wake of the sequel trilogy and spin-offs. Rian Johnson, Taika Waititi, Patty Jenkins, and Shawn Levy were all named at one point or another to be helming a Star Wars film. Some are still going forward, some are not. However, there was also a reported secret project being written by Lost and The Leftovers creator Damon Lindelof. Skip to a few months later, and Lindelof’s project would be continuing at LucasFilm, only now without Lindelof.

He would recently speak with Esquire about the debacle. The project was recently revealed to be a new movie or a new trilogy that saw Rey returning, and she would now be training a new generation of Jedi after the events of The Rise of Skywalker. Lindelof was reportedly writing a script for Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy to direct. Star Wars Celebration came and only Obaid-Chinoy was announced to be attached, but not Lindelof. The sci-fi writer says his departure was not his idea. “I was in more than talks to join the Star Wars universe. I joined the Star Wars universe and was asked to leave.”

Lindelof added that his script was a “true labor of love.” He asks himself, “Will I get back in line outside the club and try to get back in again? Absolutely.” He then jokes, “If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again. or again again try, as Yoda would say.”

Meanwhile, the writer is partaking in a bold experiment on his new show, Mrs. Davis, at Peacock. Mrs. Davis is about a nun who teams up with a cowboy on a quest for the Holy Grail. And if that logline sounds like it was generated from an algorithm, it was. The boldness of the show is that Lindelof and co-creator Tara Hernandez get their ideas for the show from material composed by AI technology. When the creative world fears and is enraged by the use of AI making synthetic art, the writers at Mrs. Davis decide to embrace and utilize it.