Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy to direct secret Star Wars film: reports

A new Star Wars film may be cooking and the chef is reportedly none other than our very own Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.

According to Deadline, American screenwriter Damon Lindelof, who has written for The Watchmen, Tomorrowland and Star Trek, is developing a new Star Wars film for Lucasfilm, a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios. Sources claim the filmmaker chosen to helm the film is Obaid-Chinoy and the script is still under works, which means production is not currently in sight.

The filmmaking team reportedly found a director before they found a cowriter because it was important to to steer the script with the person’s own vision for how they see the story unfurling in consideration.

The focus of the film is top secret and will remain so until it’s time for the producers to welcome the audience into a new world. And though the release date seems to be aiming for the distant future, this film seems to have the most momentum among others in development at the studio given how a director was sought so actively.

Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, the last Star Wars film, released in 2019. The studio has been more focused on TV projects but they do have several films in the works. They are biding their time as their priority is to make a series they’re happy with — crafting the story well is more important than getting the next franchise out quickly.

Obaid-Chinoy recently directed a show for Disney, Ms Marvel which is a short series with a Pakistani girl as the lead. The show was not only hailed for representing a large segment of people that only makes it onscreen as side characters, if at all, but also for its storyline and direction. 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.