One of the great surprises of Star Wars Celebration 2023 was the news that James Mangold had signed on the direct a movie set in the all-new Dawn of the Jedi era. Little about the film was revealed during Lucasilm’s Showcase other than it would be set in “the deep past, telling the tale of the first Jedi to wield the Force and harness it as a liberating power in an era of chaos and oppression.” However, in a pair of trade interviews, Mangold has reveales more details about the upcoming untitled film.
Set 25,000 years before A New Hope, Mangold says the film, which he calls “Star Wars Zero”, will feature “all-new characters in an all-new era.” Despite it being set in the “deep past”, don’t expect it to be full of sticks and stones. While there may not be lightsabers since the main character will be the first Jedi, Mangold says the film, which he’s also writing, will not be “pre-tech.” It might be ancient history but it’s the ancient history of a galaxy far, far away.
While it’s unclear at the moment if the film will tell the story of the Prime Jedi, a canonical character who debuted a part of a mosaic in the Jedi temple on Ahch-To in The Rise of Skywalker, Mangold says the project is “a chance to tell the entire story of its own: the birth of the Force.” Mangold said he pitched the film to Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy as “a kind of Ben-Hur or The 10 Commandments about the birth of the Force.”
“The Force has become a kind of religious legend that soans through all these movies,” said Mangold. “But where didn’t come from? How is it found? Who was the first Jedi?” asked Mangold, causing legions of Star Wars fans to wonder if midichlorians will make an appearance in the film.
Those are questions that fans will have to wait to have answered. While there are Star Wars films slated for theaters in 2025 and 2027, no date was given for Mangold’s project.
