Our own Star Wars films director!
Lucasfilm has announced some very exciting news — the latest Star Wars films will be directed by our very own Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy!
The Oscar winner will be the first woman and person of colour to direct a film in the franchise. Actor Daisy Ridley’s Rey will be the centre of the first Star Wars feature film since The Rise of Skywalker in 2019. The announcement was made at the Star Wars Celebration in London on Friday. The film will be written by Steven Knight, who also wrote TV show Peaky Blinders, according to Variety.
The new film is set after Rise of Skywalker and will focus on Rey as she builds a new Jedi Order.
This isn’t Obaid-Chinoy’s first foray into Hollywood — she also directed several episodes of Ms Marvel, the Disney TV show centring around a Pakistani girl who gains superpowers.
Rumours of the director’s partnership with Disney began in October when Deadline reported news that she may have been picked to helm a Star Wars film.
Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, the last Star Wars film, released in 2019 and ever since, the studio has been more focused on TV projects.
The filmmaker is an Oscar and Emmy-winning director known for documentaries such as Saving Face and A Girl in the River, The Price of Forgiveness. She is currently involved in directing Paramount’s adaptation of the novel Brilliance, produced by Will Smith.