Secret 'Star Wars' film in the works from 'Lost' & 'Watchmen' mastermind Damon Lindelof

Over the last three years, we've gotten more and more accustomed to Star Wars as a small-screen event, but that doesn't mean that big screen has gone away entirely. Despite some delays, there are still big names attached to films set in a galaxy far, far away, and over the weekend, we learned that one more major player has joined the franchise.

Deadline reports that Lost and Watchmen writer Damon Lindelof is in the midst of developing a "secret" Star Wars project at Lucasfilm, and that the studio has drafted Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (Ms. Marvel) to direct the project, marking an important step forward in a process that's still likely quite a long way out from a theatrical release. 

Lindelof may be writing with a partner on this one, but at the moment we have no idea who that partner is. We also have no idea what the story might be. Lucasfilm executives have shown a willingness in recent years to mine numerous points of Star Wars history from the Old Republic (The Acolyte) to the years following Return of the Jedi (The Mandalorian) for new stories, so Lindelof has quite a big canvas to choose from there. Still, despite rumors swirling for some time about his involvement at Lucasfilm, we don't have any real clues as to the direction of this story...yet.

Even with all the mystery still hanging over things, the emergence of Lindelof and Obaid-Chinoy at Lucasfilm marks an exciting new step on the film side of things, where the last couple of years have been marked a bit more by delays and lack of specificity than they have by real progress, at least on the public-facing side of things. Patty Jenkins' Rogue Squadron movie has been shelved indefinitely, we still no have real progress report on films being developed by The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson and Marvel Studios mastermind Kevin Feige, and for the moment even Taika Waititi's upcoming film in a galaxy far, far away remains a big mystery. With Lindelof's project, we get yet another mystery, but at least it's another mystery involving a high-profile talent. 

So, it's time to place your bets: What era and what focus will Lindelof and Obaid-Chinoy take on for their trip into Star Wars?

Looking for more science fiction adventure? Check out SYFY's Resident Alien streaming now on Peacock, and keep an eye out for SYFY's original sci-fi space series The Ark coming in 2023.