Simon Farnaby says a Lucasfilm canceled Star Wars movie fell apart because Disney and Lucasfilm wanted a Star Wars story, and the version he and Paul King had on the table did not fit that brief. The project has since been redirected into a sci-fi film outside the franchise, which is the practical outcome for a concept that never cleared the studio's internal bar.
Farnaby and King’s scrap
Farnaby said in a recent Variety interview that he had been on board to write the movie with Paul King directing. He described the project as centered on a robot and missing the key Star Wars characters Disney and Lucasfilm wanted in place, a mismatch that kept the film from moving forward.
“They were like, we really need it to be a Star Wars movie, which is probably why it didn’t get turned into a Star Wars movie!” he said. “But we never really nailed it.” For a franchise built around recognizable mythmaking, that gap is the whole story: the studio wanted a branded event, and the creative pitch was still looking for its center of gravity.
Disney and Lucasfilm’s line
Farnaby also said, “[Disney] basically said, ‘it’s not right for Star Wars, but do you want to rework it as a sci-fi film?’ So we’re working on that now.” That gives the project a second life, but outside the franchise name that initially carried it. The move keeps the underlying concept alive while removing the pressure to force it into Star Wars.
In 2023, Farnaby and King moved on from the idea to work together on Wonka. That detail matters because it shows the pair did not stay stuck on the scrapped film; they shifted to another studio-backed project while this one sat in development limbo.
Lucasfilm’s shifting slate
Earlier this year, Kathleen Kennedy exited Lucasfilm and was succeeded by Dave Filoni. Lucasfilm has also had a rough public run: The Mandalorian and Grogu earned about $82 million in its initial three-day weekend, the lowest domestic opening weekend in franchise history, and Clarisse Loughrey wrote that “How many nails can we realistically drive into Star Wars’s coffin before it’s time to give up hope of resuscitation?”
That is the context around this cancellation. Lucasfilm’s current lineup is tilted toward Ahsoka’s second season, expected in early 2027, and Shawn Levy’s Starfighter, starring Ryan Gosling, which will be released in May 2027. For Farnaby and King, the immediate path is cleaner than a franchise reboot: build the robot idea as science fiction on its own terms, or let it stay shelved.
