Daisy Ridley is returning to the “Star Wars” universe, it was announced at Star Wars Celebration in London on Friday. Ridley will reprise the character of Rey in a new film to be directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, set 15 years after the events of “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.”
“My heart is pounding,” Ridley said as she took the stage. “I am so thrilled to be at Celebration with all of you in London. Thank you, Kathleen [Kennedy] and Sharmeen for having me back. I’m so happy to be continuing this journey.”
Obaid-Chinoy said the film will be immersed in a Jedi academy with a new Jedi Master, Rey. The story finds Rey “rebuilding a new Jedi Order.”
“I’ve spent the majority of my life meeting real heroes battling oppressive regimes, which is why I’m interested in a new Jedi Order,” Obaid-Chinoy said. The filmmaker recently directed episodes of “Ms. Marvel.”
When we last left Rey in “The Rise of Skywalker,” she had discovered that she was the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine, but chose light over darkness. She also chose to go by the name Rey Skywalker, in a nod to her mentor Luke Skywalker.
While Lucasfilm made no announcement of who’s writing the film, the feature was previously being worked on by Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson. They departed the project last month. Steven Knight (“Peaky Blinders”) is currently working on the screenplay.
This is one of three new “Star Wars” films announced at Star Wars Celebration. James Mangold (“Logan”) is directing a film about the first Jedi and “The Mandalorian” and “Ahsoka” mastermind Dave Filoni is directing his first live-action feature, a film set before the events of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”
Ridley previously told TheWrap in January at Sundance that she watches the “Star Wars” TV shows, so the actress has been keeping up since her conclusive arc in “The Rise of Skywalker.”
“I haven’t watched all of them, but it’s just because of timing and stuff like that. But yeah, I mean the work everyone’s doing is amazing,” she said. “I worked with Pedro Pascal and I was like, ‘This is really cool; he’s The Mandalorian.’ I still find it all very exciting.”
Release dates for these new “Star Wars” movies were not announced.