X-Men 3: The Last Stand, Fantastic Four, and Legion creative Simon Kinberg is developing a new Star Wars trilogy
May the Force be with Simon Kinberg, who’s recently signed a deal with Lucasfilm to write and produce a new Star Wars trilogy. Kinberg’s writing credits include the screenplay for Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes, 2015’s Fantastic Four, and multiple films in Fox’s X-Men franchise, including X-Men 3: The Last Stand, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, and Dark Phoenix. He’ll produce the new Star Wars trilogy for Lucasfilm alongside the studio’s chief, Kathleen Kennedy.
According to Deadline, Simon Kinberg’s Star Wars trilogy involves episodes 10-12 of The Skywalker Saga. However, insiders say Kinberg aims to launch a new saga that goes hand in hand with developing Star Wars projects from James Mangold, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Taika Waititi, and Donald Glover. Lucasfilm remains tight-lipped on the matter, which doesn’t surprise me after I saw their security measures when I visited Industrial Light & Magic last month. That place is a fortress.
This opportunity isn’t Kinberg’s first rodeo with Lucasfilm. He co-created the Emmy-nominated Star Wars animated series Star Wars Rebels alongside Dave Filoni and Carrie Beck, which ran for four seasons. He also consulted on Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, helping to usher a new cast of exciting characters to the franchise.
As a producer, Simon Kinberg contributes to many projects across a broad spectrum. In addition to producing movies like Elysium, Chappie, Cinderella, The Martian, Deadpool, Murder on the Orient Express, The Haunting of Venice, Logan, and more, he executive produced Fox’s Legion, Death on the Nile, Designated Survivor, Sugar, Deadpool & Wolverine, and more.
Kinberg’s appointment to the Star Wars Universe is bound to spark debate among the franchise’s fanbase. His contributions to Fox’s X-Men franchise have been hit-and-miss, and don’t get me started about 2015’s Fantastic Four. But I digress. What do you think about this deal? Is Simon Kinberg the right person to launch a new Star Wars trilogy? Should he continue the Skywalker Saga or present something new? Is there a part of Star Wars lore you’d like to see represented by a new batch of films? Perhaps something from the novels? Let us know in the comments section below.