Damon Lindelof Says He Was Asked to Leave the STAR WARS Movie He Was Developing
Damon Lindelof has said in the past how much he would like to be involved with a Star Wars movie, and he got that opportunity! Lucasfilm hired him and Justin Britt-Gibson two write the script for a film that would be set after The Rise of Skywalker. It was during Star Wars Celebration that it was announced this would be a Star Wars story that brings back Daisy Ridley as Rey.
Lindelof ended up leaving that project after they turned in the script they wrote and then Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight was brought in to work on the script for the movie, which is being directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (Ms. Marvel).
When previously talking about his involvement with that, Lindelof said: “I will just say, that for reasons that I can’t get into on this Sunday morning, on this day, the degree of difficulty is extremely, extremely, extremely high. If it can’t be great, it shouldn’t exist. That’s all I’ll say, because I have the same association with it as you do, which is, it’s the first movie I saw sitting in my dad’s lap, four years old, May of ’77. I think it’s possible that sometimes when you hold something in such high reverence and esteem, you start to get in the kitchen and you just go, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t be cooking. Maybe I should just be eating.’ We’ll just leave it at that.”
Now, in a recent interview with Esquire, the writer shared some interesting new details on his departure from the project. In fact, he says that he was asked to leave. Lindelof confirmed:
"I was in more than talks to join the Star Wars universe. I joined the Star Wars universe and was asked to leave the Star Wars universe."
I assume it was Kathleen Kennedy who asked him to leave. There are no reasons given as to why, but my guess is the story he wanted to tell wasn’t in line with what she wanted. He went on to say:
"Will I get back in line outside the club and try to get back in again? Of course. This movie was the Alpha and the Omega, it's the first movie I saw in a movie theater. I love all the storytelling in that world. And if at first you don't succeed, try, try again, or again, again try, as Yoda would say."
That must’ve been a huge blow to Lindelof. He finally gets to work on a Star Wars project and Lucasfilm tells him to go away. What a shitty experience that must’ve been.