With New New Star Wars less than a year away, Disney continues with their plans to expand the Star Wars universe into a multi-franchise superbeast a la Marvel. The next movie in the works is a spin-off to be directed by Gareth Edwards, which is due on December 16, 2016. Details about the movie are scarce, but THR is reporting that Rooney Mara and Orphan Black’s Tatiana Maslany are testing this week for the female lead. They also name-check Felicity Jones, but she’s set to star in Ron Howard’s next Da Vinci Code movie, which will be filming around the same time as New New Star Wars Part 2 later this summer, so she’s more like a wish, really. (Sidebar: Why does Ron Howard keep getting to make those awful Da Vinci Code movies?!)
I am ALL OVER Tatiana Maslany being part of New New Star Wars. Especially since she’s brunette, and, you know, Princess Leia is brunette. The persistent rumor about the spin-off is that it will feature young Han and/or Leia. At this point, it’s just as likely that the movie is about a slave rebellion on Jabba the Hutt’s ship, but I think Episode VII is going to raise a lot of questions about what happened in the aftermath of the Rebel victory in Return of the Jedi. A movie that winds the clock back and shows us how we get from celebratory Ewok fire dancing to “everything is f*cked, someone go find Luke” makes sense. And it should star Tatiana Maslany, please and thank you.
In other Star Wars news, after purchasing LucasFilm in 2012, Disney obtained story treatments George Lucas did for a new trilogy beginning with Episode VII. In what is sure to be one of the smartest entertainment decisions of the 21st century, Disney promptly threw them out.
Attached - Tatiana Maslany at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.
