‘Andor’s Beau Willimon to Co-Write New ‘Star Wars’ Movie

Willimon, who was a key part of the team for ‘Star Wars: Andor’, is joining Mangold on the new ‘Wars’ movie digging into the origins of the Force.

Beau Willimon, Oscar®-nominee for Adapted Screenplay, Oscar®-nominee for Best Documentary Feature, arrives at the 84th Annual Academy Awards® from Hollywood, CA February 26, 2012. Credit/Provider: Heather Ikei / ©A.M.P.A.S. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S.

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‘Andor’s Beau Willimon has joined ‘Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi’.
James Mangold is co-writing and directing the movie.
A group of other ‘Star Wars’ and Disney movies just landed release dates.

Given the critical success of the first season of ‘Star Wars: Andor’ in 2022, it’s perhaps not shocking that a key component of that show’s creative team would be snapped up to work elsewhere in Lucasfilm’s universe.
And now, The Hollywood Reporter brings word that Beau Willimon –– previously most famous for creating Netflix’s ‘House of Cards’ and who was on Tony Gilroy’s writing team for ‘Andor’ –– is aboard to co-write what is still known as ‘Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi’ with director James Mangold.

What is ‘Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi’ about?

(L to R) Director James Mangold, and Dave Filoni at Star Wars Celebration 2023.

‘Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi’ looks to dig into a time a long, long, looong time ago in that galaxy far, far away.

Announced in April last year at Star Wars celebration, the film has been wrapped in secrecy since then.

Here’s what Mangold said at the time:

“When I first started talking to Kathy Kennedy about doing one of these pictures, what occurred to me was thinking about what kind of genre of movie within ‘Star Wars’ I wanted to do. And I thought about a biblical epic, like a ‘Ten Commandments’, about the dawning of the Force. Where did the Force come from, when did we discover it, when did we learn how to use it?”

It’s certainly one we’re excited to see.

What is happening with ‘Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi’?

(L to R) Director James Mangold, Dave Filoni, and director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy at Star Wars Celebration 2023.

Right now, the movie is simply in development as Mangold, who directed ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ for Lucasfilm, is busy making Bob Dylan biographical movie ‘A Complete Unknown’, starring Timothée Chalamet as Dylan (and recently put the first official picture from the movie online).

But with Willimon aboard to co-write, the new ‘Star Wars’ effort should now pick up some momentum.

When will ‘Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi’ be in theaters?

The movie has yet to confirm a release date, though given Mangold’s schedule, we can’t imagine it’ll be before 2027. And Lucasfilm/Disney have been busy filling release dates recently…

What release date information has been released for upcoming Disney films?

'The Mandalorian' Season 4 Concept Art courtesy of Lucasfilm Ltd.

While ‘Dawn of the Jedi’ is not yet at a point that it can aim for a release date, Disney has confirmed some the release news for various projects.

Fellow ‘Star Wars’ big screen effort ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ has now May 22nd, 2026, date, with Disney and Lucasfilm figuring that the armored warrior and his little green pal can win the Memorial Day weekend that year.

In Pixar news, ‘Toy Story 5’ will see Woody, Buzz and the gang back for a new entry on June 19th, 2026.

And the live-action version of ‘Moana’ is on the move, shifting later in the year partly because of the release of ‘Moana 2’ (which is out November 27th this year), and the new movie will now land on July 10th, 2026.

‘Tron: Ares’, meanwhile, is set for October 10th, 2025.