James Mangold Details How His Star Wars Film Will Be Pre-Jedi, the Boba Fett Film He Never Made, and Why He Has Not Talked to George Lucas Yet

James Mangold was recently a guest on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, chatting with Josh Horowitz for 40 minutes about his experience filming Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, as well as his upcoming projects, including the Star Wars film he was announced to be developing.



As revealed during Star Wars Celebration, Mangold will be exploring the origins of the Jedi during the newly-named Dawn of the Jedi era, which takes place 25,000 years before the Skywalker Saga. Removing himself so much from what Lucasfilm has been developing was a key component of his idea for the film, he revealed, since he feels like the universe has become very entangled and that every new story is walking a fine line between being new and original, and not contradicting anything that may have happened somewhere else. Mangold even let slip a loud cheer before explaining his approach:

Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy announced three new Star Wars feature films from filmmakers Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Dave Filoni, and James Mangold.



The Charlton Heston namedrop is a reference to The Ten Commandments, a movie that James Mangold has labeled as inspiration for the story he wants to tell in a galaxy far, far away. But this wouldn't be the first time he's writing a new Star Wars movie, as the director confirmed recently those 2018 reports about him developing a Boba Fett film that was ultimately axed by the studio in the aftermath of Solo underperforming at the box office:

Mangold was also asked if we will be hearing the words 'Jedi' or 'midichlorian' in the film. While he didn't give a definitive answer, from his quote it definitely sounds like we will not be hearing them before the final moments of the story, at best:

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 18: (L-R) James Mangold, Harrison Ford, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge attend 'Indiana Jones and The Dial Of Destiny' photocall at Carlton Pier on May 18, 2023 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Disney)



The writer-director was also asked about his collaboration with George Lucas, who did read the script for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and apparently liked Mangold's prior film Ford v Ferrari (of course George liked it...fast cars). He explained that he hasn't brought up the topic in conversation yet, because it's very early days in the process and he wants to have a clear idea of what the film is going to look like before he gets into that room with him:

According to reports, James Mangold is expected to shoot A Complete Unknown over the summer and, if the strike has finished by then, he would get to work on Star Wars by the fall. No release date has been set yet, but if that production schedule is followed, and Mangold's next film after the Dylan biopic is indeed Star Wars (he also has Swamp Thing set up at DC Studios), he could make it to the December 2027 date Disney is holding.



Check out the full conversation below:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yw22PXyXXd0



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