‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ Directors Handled an Episode of ‘Star Wars: Skeleton Crew’

And there’s also an update on Damon Lindelof’s ‘Star Wars’ movie –– but it’s not good news on that front.

(L to R) Directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert on the set of A24's 'Everything Everywhere All at Once.' Photo Credit: Courtesy of A24.

A couple of weeks ago, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert took to the stage of the Dolby theatre in Hollywood to claim several Oscars that they’d won for their film ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’, which of course led to speculation about what they’d do for a follow-up.

When news broke yesterday via One Take News that the duo was involved with new ‘Star Wars’ series ‘Skeleton Crew’, some took it to mean that the quirky, unique duo were somehow “selling out’ by working on a Lucasfilm show.

As it turns out, that’s not how it happened at all.

Taking to Instagram, Kwan responded to those concerns. Here’s what he had to say:

”Lol, all of the people @ing us about getting sucked up by the ‘corporate machine’ can chill. These headlines are always misleading. Don’t worry. We aren’t working on a whole series; we guest directed one episode. Jon Watts approached us to do an episode a while ago (before ‘EEAAO’ even came out). We love Jon, love ‘Star Wars,’ love learning new tech, we love meeting new cast and crew, and we needed the days to keep our healthcare (!!!) so it was an easy yes. We shot it last year and had an incredible time working with the most talented cast and crew and I’m excited for you all to see it.”

So, there you have it –– and let’s be honest, the idea of anything directed by the Daniels is something to anticipate. Kwan also specified that whatever the duo does next in the film realm, it’ll be an original project they create. We’re not sure why anyone would have expected the people behind ‘Swiss Army Man’ and ‘Everything Everywhere’ to jump wholeheartedly into the corporate world.

'Star Wars: Skeleton Crew’ will be premiering on Disney+ in 2023.

What’s the story of ‘Skeleton Crew’?

Developed by Watts and Jon Favreau and set in the same ‘Star Wars’ timeline as ‘The Mandalorian’, ‘Skeleton Crew’ has largely been under wraps, with only a few details getting out.

The official logline for the series is sparse at this point: “‘Skeleton Crew’ tells the story of four kids who find themselves lost in in the vastness of the galaxy trying to find their way home” and we do know that Watts was working with ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ co-writer Christopher Ford on the scripts.

Jude Law is starring in the series, though we don’t yet know who is playing the youngsters looking to find their way home.

‘Skeleton Crew’ should be hitting Disney+ this year.

'Ms. Marvel' director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.

Damon Lindelof leaves the ‘Star Wars’ movie he was writing

In less positive ‘Star Wars’ news, Above The Line brings word that Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson are no longer aboard the movie set in the galaxy far, far away that they had been writing.

Lindelof offered a hint that he might have jumped (space)ship at the SXSW festival last week, where he said this to Slashfilm:

”I will just say, that for reasons that I can’t get into on this Sunday morning, on this day, the degree of difficulty is extremely, extremely, extremely high. If it can’t be great, it shouldn’t exist. That’s all I’ll say, because I have the same association with it as you do, which is, it’s the first movie I saw sitting in my dad’s lap, four years old, May of ‘77. I think it’s possible that sometimes when you hold something in such high reverence and esteem, you start to get in the kitchen and you just go, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t be cooking. Maybe I should just be eating.’ We’ll just leave it at that point.”

Lindelof’s original attachment was exciting for genre fans, as the ‘Lost’ veteran had worked on ‘The Leftovers’ and ‘Watchmen’. And though his big screen work hasn’t been as warmly received (‘Star Trek: Into Darkness’, ‘Prometheus’ and ‘Cowboys & Aliens’ included), there was anticipation for how his and Britt-Gibson’s sensibilities might translate to ‘Star Wars’.

Don’t go thinking that this marks another cancelled ‘Star Wars’ project as Disney and Lucasfilm struggle to get their cinematic universe in order. Above The Line’s story also mentions that Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (a documentary filmmaker who has worked in animation and directed episodes of ‘Ms. Marvel’ for Disney+) is still aboard to make the movie.

A new writer is apparently involved in working on the script, though their identity is unknown at this time. And if it all works out, the cameras should be rolling in early 2024 ahead of a December 2025 release.

What we do know is that Star Wars Celebration, the Disney-curated convention around all things ‘Star Wars’, is happening next month in London, and that’s traditionally where Lucasfilm has announced big new movies and TV series. So that’s where audiences should learn the fate of this new movie.

Even that is no guarantee, though, as we’ve had a variety of big announcements –– films from Patty Jenkins or Kevin Feige, for example –– that have simply never come to pass, lost in a mire of conflicting schedules and long development.

Other movies we’re still waiting for updates include Rian Johnson’s planned return to the ‘Star Wars’ universe (on hold as he focuses on ‘Knives Out’ sequels), a movie from Taika Waititi that still appears to be happening and one produced by prolific filmmaker Shawn Levy which we’d guess is still being held up by his busy schedule, which includes involvement in the final season of ‘Stranger Things’ and gearing up to direct ‘Deadpool 3’.