{"id":7522,"date":"2026-08-10T14:25:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T13:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/?p=7522"},"modified":"2026-08-10T14:25:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T13:25:09","slug":"simon-farnaby-writer-reveals-why-disney-lucasfilm-cancelled-star-wars-movie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/2026\/08\/10\/simon-farnaby-writer-reveals-why-disney-lucasfilm-cancelled-star-wars-movie\/","title":{"rendered":"Wonka writer reveals brutal reason Lucasfilm pulled the plug on his Star Wars movie"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lucasfilm has quietly scrapped a planned Star Wars movie, as the franchise continues to reconsider its future following The Mandalorian and Grogu\u2019s<\/a> disappointing box office run.<\/span><\/p>\n

Much like the MCU<\/a> and DCU, Star Wars<\/a> can no longer guarantee huge turnouts for its big screen releases. Despite success with standalone shows like Andor, The Mandalorian and Grogu was the franchise\u2019s first movie since The Rise of Skywalker in 2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When it finally landed this May, it made $345 million throughout its entire theatrical run. Against a $165 million budget, this means it failed to turn in a profit for Disney.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Grogu
Credit: Disney<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Earlier this year, Kathleen Kennedy announced she\u2019d be stepping down from the role of Lucasfilm<\/a> president, with Dave Filoni taking over.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The plan is to move away from a streaming-heavy model and return to blockbuster theatrical releases, with a stronger focus on one big interconnected story.<\/span><\/p>\n

Amid that shake-up, it was inevitable that not every project in the pipeline would survive, and this may have been true for a film from Simon Farnaby.<\/span><\/p>\n

The actor and writer, who penned titles such as Paddington 2 and Wonka, spoke with <\/span>Variety<\/span><\/a> last week about how he received an offer from Disney and Lucasfilm for a movie concept.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Farnaby was on writing duties while his collaborator Paul King was set to direct the film, which was a standalone story based on a robot. \u201cWe got distracted by that for a while,\u201d he told the outlet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The
Credit: Disney<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The problem is that none of the key Star Wars<\/a> characters are involved in the story. \u201cThey were like, \u2018We really need it to be a Star Wars movie,\u2019 which is probably why it didn\u2019t get turned into a Star Wars movie! But we never really nailed it,\u201d Farnaby said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As such, the pair moved on to developing Wonka. Although it might not be going ahead in a galaxy far, far away, the writer did say that they\u2019re planning on reworking the concept as a standalone sci-fi flick.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For now, Star Wars is focusing on its trusted IP, with Star Wars: Starfighter featuring Ryan Gosling due to release in cinemas in May 2027. The film is set five years after the events of The Rise of Skywalker, sitting comfortably in the organisation\u2019s new long-term strategy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For all the latest film and TV updates and hot takes, <\/i>like our Facebook page<\/a><\/span><\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n

Featured image credit: David Fisher\/Shutterstock\/Disney<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The franchise is going through a major shakeup <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":7526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[99,4,110,206],"coauthors":[17],"class_list":["post-7522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-disney","tag-film","tag-news","tag-star-wars"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWriter reveals brutal reason Lucasfilm pulled the plug on his Star Wars movie<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Writer Simon Farnaby has revealed why his Star Wars movie was scrapped by Disney and Lucasfilm, but it might not be the end of the project.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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