Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is set to become the first woman and person of color to direct a Star Wars film with a new film in the franchise that will see actress Daisy Ridley reprise her role as Rey.
“The news is out!” Obaid-Chinoy wrote on Instagram on Friday after an official announcement at Star Wars Celebration Europe, a four-day event in London.
“I am very excited to direct the next Star Wars film and bring… [Ridley] back to the galaxy,” wrote the director, who is a Pakistani-Canadian citizen.
Obaid-Chinoy has already won two Oscars for the documentaries “Saving Face” (2012) and “A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness” (2015). Most recently, she hosted two episodes of the Disney+ series “Ms. Wonder.”
He will direct from a script by “Peaky Blinders” creator Steven Knight. While little is known about the film, a press release from The Walt Disney Company states that the film “is set 15 years after the final events of the Skywalker Saga” and “will tell the story of the rebuilding of the New Jedi Order” with Rey.
The character was last seen in 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker, which faced backlash for its aesthetic and narrative deviations from 2017’s The Last Jedi. At the time, it was believed to be Ridley’s final appearance in the franchise.
“When we got wrapped … I cried all day,” she told People in 2021. “I felt like I was going to burst a vein because I was crying so much.”
“It’s just exciting,” Jon Favreau, a major force behind several “Star Wars” projects, told Variety this week about Ridley’s return. “I always find it very satisfying, encouraging when there are people coming from Star Wars and coming back to Star Wars. It shows you how strong that community is and how much connection you develop.
Obaid-Chinoy and Ridley’s involvement wasn’t the only announcement on Friday, as it was revealed that “Logan” director James Mangold and “The Mandalorian” executive producer Dave Filoni will also helm new “Star Wars” films.
However, the franchise has recently experienced difficulties with planned offerings. In 2020, Disney announced that the first female “Star Wars” director would be Patty Jenkins of “Wonder Woman” fame, only for the company to scrap the project, which was slated for a 2023 release.
Knight, meanwhile, was only named the franchise’s writer after the previous writers left in February.
