Star Wars shocker: Daisy Ridley will return as Rey for new movie
There’s surprising news out of “Celebration,” the movable feast pep rally that the Star Wars franchise holds for itself. This year’s event is being held in London, and it opened with a bang as big as an exploding Death Star.
Daisy Ridley will return to the galaxy far, far away and reprise her role of Rey (sometimes called Rey Skywalker) in one of the upcoming Star Wars films. The untitled project is set 15 years after the events of “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” Ridley’s Rey will appear as Jedi master, teaching (or, at least, working as an adjunct) at a Jedi academy. It is unclear if she is the principal character or not.
Ridley herself appeared on stage with director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Lucasfilm big Kathleen Kennedy to the gasps of the assembled fans.
Welcome home, Daisy. #StarWarsCelebration pic.twitter.com/9wIpKdicbe
— Star Wars | #TheMandalorian is Now Streaming (@starwars) April 7, 2023
Since Star Wars movies have a tendency to come in threes, two other projects were announced. One, from longtime producer and architect of Star Wars animated projects and “The Mandalorian,” Dave Filoni, and another from “Ford v Ferrari” and “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” director James Mangold. However, the three movies do not form a trilogy. Filoni’s project is set during the New Republic era (meaning right after “Return of the Jedi,” when “The Mandalorian” is set), and Mangold’s project will be about the first Jedi.
Fans knew to expect something about upcoming films from the beloved property that’s been sticking exclusively to television series for several years, but this definitely counts as quite the thermal detonator. The Obaid-Chinoy project only recently swapped out writers when Damon Lindelof and his padawan Justin Britt-Gibson exited the project, replacing them with “Peaky Blinders” creator Steven Knight.
Like brave Bothans, many projects have died to bring us to this point. Patty Jenkins’s “Top Gun”-esque “Rogue Squadron,” a trilogy from D.B. Weiss and David Benioff, and a trilogy from Rian Johnson, were all, at one time, expected to be headed to a theater near you. There is also word of a movie written, directed, and starring Oscar-winner Taika Waititi, but there’s been nothing new about it just yet.
The 30-year-old London-born Daisy Jazz Isobel Ridley was virtually unknown when she was cast as the lead in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” by J.J. Abrams in 2014. In addition to her three Star Wars films, she has appeared, in some form or another, as Rey in various Star Wars video games and theme park attractions. Her non-Star Wars films include Claire McCarthy’s “Ophelia” (a twist on “Hamlet” that’s pretty great), Kenneth Branagh’s “Murder on the Orient Express,” and narrating/executive producing the documentary “The Eagle Huntress.”
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