There are few movie franchises with quite as many fans as Star Wars, as entire generations were brought up on George Lucas’ galaxy far, far away. Those fans have been treated to all sorts of content since Disney acquired Lucasfilm, although things have been quiet on the movies front since the release of The Rise of Skywalker back in 2019. And Star Wars’ future at the movies has become even more unclear after another announced project was scrapped. Alexa, play John Williams’ “The Imperial March.”
There have been a variety of Star Wars movies announced and scrapped over the years, including Solo sequels, a movie by the creators of Game of Thrones, and most recently Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron. And The Wrap has revealed that J.D. Dillard’s Star Wars movie has also reportedly been dropped. The filmmaker himself broke the news, saying the movie was “unfortunately no longer a thing.” He elaborated, saying:
It was not for lack of trying.
Unfortunately it looks like J.D. Dillard’s Star Wars movie has joined the ranks of various other announced and then dropped projects from the beloved sci-fi property. And while there are still some movie projects moving forward at Lucasfilm, this announcement follows a trend of films being announced and then dropped by the studio. And instead of new movies hitting theaters, fans are left re-watching the Star Wars movies in order of their choice.
News of J.D. Dillard getting behind the camera for Star Wars dropped in February of 2020, but there weren’t a ton of updates afterward. He’s a talented filmmaker that seemed like a great choice, especially since he had a background with the franchise, working on production and technical support for 2015’s The Force Awakens. For his part, he still seems interested in returning to the space opera.
In the same conversation with The Wrap, J.D. Dillard was asked about what his movie would have been like. He wisely side stepped that question, but explained how he first was introduced to the franchise. Namely a computer game called TIE Fighter. As the Sweetheart director shared:
My dad being an aviator, we had a bunch of flight simulators. I’m playing this game 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.
Would his Star Wars movie be around galactic pilots? There’s no telling, but it certainly sounds like an intriguing concept–one that was also almost explored with Rogue Squadron. But Dillard was able to use that love for aviation with his new movie Devotion, which stars Jonathan Majors and Glen Powell. That drama hits theaters November 23rd. In the meantime, check out the 2022 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience– just don’t expect to see any Star Wars titles.
