The Stars Wars branch of Disney is in a bit of a state of flux. What was once one of the biggest names in movies has begun to thrive in serialized streaming content. After a couple of critical duds in the theaters, the galaxy far, far away has found success in Disney+ projects like The Mandalorian.
While the calendar is packed to the brim with streaming series for the franchise, after a couple of years at the drawing board, Star Wars is ready to come back to the movie theater. Among these new movies includes a Taika Waititi project, Rogue Squadron, and a mystery project produced by Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige.
Not much is known about Feige's Star Wars movie, but it was rumored that the director of recent MCU epic Eternals Chloe Zhao would take the helm. It turns out though that this may not be the case.
Zhao is Not Doing Star Wars
Despite previous rumors, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Chloe Zhao is not taking the directing chair for Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige's upcoming Star Wars project.
Insiders say that Zhao is not only not working on the Feige-produced film, but that the Academy Award-winning director is not involved with any Star Wars films at the moment.
But She'd Be Perfect For It
When rumors dropped that Zhao was supposedly jumping in to take on this Kevin Feige Star Wars project, the internet flipped out. Many have felt that the Oscar-winning director would have almost been a better fit for the Lucasian lore than the MCU, particularly after the tough theatrical run for Eternals.
Zhao made a name for herself by capturing vast natural settings in films like The Rider and Nomadland. She has a knack for taking the grand and making it personal and small, something that would work perfectly in the world of Star Wars. So it is upsetting to see that she is in fact not the one to bring Feige's movie to life.
Word is that the director and Feige clashed pretty hard during the production of Eternals, so it was shocking to see headlines reading that the two were going to work together again so closely.
But if that well has not been completely poisoned, Disney could have something pretty special on their hands if they were to bring Zhao in to do something with Star Wars. It doesn't have to be this Feige-produced project, but just having her play around in the world of Lucasfilm feels like it would produce something magical.
The Eternals director looks as though she loved her time working within a franchise framework, so she would very likely be game. It's just on the House of Mouse to make that call.
