In an interview with The Wrap, J.D. Dillard revealed that two Disney projects he had been attached to, are not moving forward.

One was an untitled Star Wars film and the other, a sequel to the 90s Rocketeer film.

In the wake of the disastrous trilogy, more than a few Star Wars film projects have been ditched.

With this movie's cancellation, only Taika Waititi's is left standing.

But as Yoda once said, "No, there is another."

Or two rather.

A few weeks back it was revealed that Damon Lindelof is working with Justin Britt-Gibson on a standalone post-Skywalker script.

And there's fresh news that Shawn Levy is in talks to direct another, after Deadpool 3 and Stranger Things season 5, for which he'll direct two episodes.

In a February interview Shawn cryptically remarked that Disney had approached him to direct a Free Guy sequel but that the offer was unquantifiable.

I've definitely gotten that phone call. I don't know how to quantify the how much, but that exact phone call that you just basically paraphrased, that's a call. I've gotten a few of those in the past several months. So there is definitely real interest there.

His recently released The Adam Project was a big hit for Netflix and Free Guy was also great, so Disney would have been doubly keen to pin him down with a contract.

Money is easily quantifiable but something like the offer of other projects, not so much.

A month later it was reported that he was in talks to direct Deadpool 3 - which would see him again working with Ryan Reynolds.

And now a Star Wars film.

If they were all part of a package deal, the question is, which side of the equation would Star Wars have been on?

Disney desperately need the next Star Wars fim to be a hit and Shawn could theoretically deliver.

We say theoretically because Ron Howard's Solo: A Star Wars Story was the best of the Disney era films - except for fundamentally changing Han's character.

Its abysmal box office performance is attributable to the completely awful trilogy.

Critics having infamously touted the new trilogy films as marvellous, not many would ever trust their recommendation for future Star Wars films.

There's also the unending campaign to miscast unhappy Star Wars as bigots.

Shawn Levy has certainly proven that he can make great films but so had J. J. Abrams.

Even if he makes the best Star Wars film ever, the deck is stacked against him.

Regardless of how it performs or even if it makes it to cinemas at all, it is interesting to see them attempting more films.

[ Main Image: Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace - Natalie Portman. Credit: Lucasfilm via IMDb.com. ]

References

Fleming, M. Jr & Kroll, J. (November 8, 2022). Shawn Levy In Talks To Direct A ‘Star Wars’ Film After ‘Deadpool 3’ & ‘Stranger Things’ Final Eps. Deadline.

Kit, Borys (October 24, 2022). A Secret Writers Room, a Rising Scribe and a Post-‘Skywalker’ Timeline: A Look Inside Damon Lindelof’s ’Star Wars’ Movie (Exclusive). The Hollywood Reporter.

Taylor, Drew (November 8, 2022). ‘Devotion’ Filmmaker J.D. Dillard No Longer Developing ‘Star Wars’ Movie for Lucasfilm (Exclusive). The Wrap.