‘Star Wars: New Jedi Order’ Director Says She Will Ignore Fan Criticism: “I’m just drowning out those voices until I’m done”

Star Wars fandom is currently being shaken by the release of ‘The Acolyte.’ The show has generated much backlash due to being female-led, having some “woke” themes, and overall being of low quality despite its enormous budget.

Still, despite the show apparently being a disaster for the studio so far, the franchise continues and there are plenty of other projects in the works. We have the release of ‘Skeleton Crew’ to look forward to, Mangold’s new Star Wars film that takes place thousands of years in the past among other projects, and Rey’s upcoming movie tentatively titled “New Jedi Order.”

A new Star Wars movie was announced at Star Wars Celebration 2023, focusing on Rey after ‘The Rise of Skywalker.’ Directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, the film follows Rey’s journey to rebuild the Jedi Order. Originally, Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson were set to write, but Steven Knight took over. The story is set 15 years after ‘Rise of Skywalker,’ exploring the post-war, post-First Order galaxy with the Jedi in disarray. Kathleen Kennedy shared that Rey is working to fulfill her promise to Luke and rebuild the Jedi Order based on ancient texts.

This upcoming movie is special due to several reasons. First, it’s going to be directed by a woman of color. Second, apparently, it won’t lead to a new trilogy, so far the movie seems to be standalone. 

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is quite aware of the backlash that all female-led projects receive online, especially in Star Wars fandom, but it doesn’t appear that the successful director is all that bothered by it.

Obaid-Chinoy said in her latest interview, that she is quite aware of the criticism and the backlash that her involvement generated, but she won’t crack under the pressure. She’s going to continue creating while drowning out the voices.

“The greatest thing about ‘Star Wars’ is that everyone has a personal connection to it. Everyone is passionate about it. And throughout the fandom, people have clear ideas about who should direct or what the stories should be about. I’m just drowning out those voices until I’m done. As a storyteller, I’m focused on drawing new moviegoers into the cinema, and bringing a sense of nostalgia that will appeal to older fans of the series.”

If the history of cinematography taught us anything, playing on nostalgia can go either very right or very wrong. We hope that in this case, it’s going to be the former. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!

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