Jon Watts to Direct New Star Wars Film — SkimNews
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- Jon Watts has been attached to direct a new Star Wars film currently in development, joining a director lineage that includes George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Richard Marquand, J.J. Abrams, and Rian Johnson.
- Simon Kinberg will write the script; the X-Men franchise veteran was called a "surprising choice" at the time of the announcement.
- Watts directed the Tom Holland Spider-Man trilogy — "Homecoming" (2017), "Far From Home" (2019), and "No Way Home" (2021) — while 2026's "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" was helmed by Destin Daniel Cretton.
- In 2024, Watts, his production company Freshman Year, and producer Dianne McGunigle signed a first-look feature deal with Walt Disney Studios, signaling an existing studio relationship before this Star Wars gig.
- Watts co-created the Star Wars New Republic-era coming-of-age series "Skeleton Crew" in 2024 with Christopher Ford, starring Jude Law — meaning his Star Wars credits already extend beyond this new film.
- The last Star Wars film to debut theatrically was J.J. Abrams' "The Rise of Skywalker" in 2019, making Watts' project the franchise's first big-screen entry in roughly seven years.
- Knight Edge Media first broke the news of Watts' directing attachment.
Why it matters: Watts already has a Disney first-look deal and shipped the Star Wars series "Skeleton Crew" — so this hire leans on an in-house collaborator rather than an outside splash. The franchise's last theatrical release was 2019's "The Rise of Skywalker," meaning a new film would end a roughly seven-year theatrical gap. Simon Kinberg's scriptwriting role is the bigger surprise than the director pick, given his X-Men background rather than Star Wars pedigree.
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