James Mangold Says His STAR WARS Movie Might Not Include Words Like ‘Jedi’ And ‘The Force’

Director James Mangold is offering more information about his Star Wars film that will be set in the ancient times of the universe. The film is said to be set 25,000 years before the events of Episode I aAnd it will focus on the birth of The Force, but he may not actually be called “The Force” in the film. He might not even use the word “Jedi,” which makes perfect sense for the time period in which the film is set.

During a recent interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, when Mangold was asked if these terms would be used, he said:

“I don’t want to give any guarantees one way or the other, but it will be before Jedi, which means you may experience something that may become Jedi. Despite the fact that other people make movies in other ways, I don’t tend to think people they brand themselves before they’ve actually found each other. So you can’t think of a name for your organization… ‘Let’s put this big thing on our chest.’ I think branding tends to happen later.”

Mangold went on to talk about how he decided to go so far back in time Star Wars story to tell its story:

“When I talk to some of the Star Wars clerics who keep track of all these timelines, I was like, ‘So when was this going to happen?’ and they were like, ‘25,000 years before Episode I.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, I was looking for some distance, but that’s distance.’ Reality, for me, was that feeling of space, unintended pun but by the way, it was something I felt was really important. Don’t get away from – again, fan service or the intricacies of what George [Lucas] has set up and dreamed, but to only have the space to tell a story and not be immediately weighed down by the bases that need to be hit. That, honestly, there’s no way to explain it to people other than saying it’s like that game we used to play as kids, Twister, that you’re in a bind at some point because you’re just trying to figure out a way to tell a story with so many constraints that you can’t”.

As for whether or not the director had the opportunity to speak George Luke on this film concept, he said:

“I haven’t had a chance to talk to him about what I’m thinking. He was involved and read the script and was a fan of Ford v Ferrari, I’m told, but it would be very interesting to talk to him. I’m very protective of myself , meaning… Even when describing meeting Bob Dylan in relation to Dylan’s film, I like to get my stuff together before I get into those kinds of situations, because any good idea skates to the brink of being precipitously horrible. And any safe idea never gets to that limit. So the trick is always to develop your idea enough that your peers and advisors and mentors can understand how you’re avoiding going over the edge, not just dare.”

When he previously talked about his project, he described it as a Ben Hur OR The 10 commandments movies about The Force:

“It’s an opportunity to tell his whole story, the birth of strength. When I first talked about this with Kathy Kennedy, I just said, “I just see this opening to do some kind of Ben-Hur or The 10 Commandments about the birth of the Force.” The Force has become something of a religious legend that runs through all of these films. But where did it come from? How do you find? Who found it? Who was the first Jedi? And that’s what I’m writing right now.

In another interview, speaking about how the film would focus on the discovery of the Force, Mangold said:

“It occurred to me to think if I was doing one, it seemed to me that most of what they were thinking of doing with movies was in the Star Wars present or in the future, and what attracted me the most is been the distant past and how this galaxy was formed and how, more specifically, the Force was discovered.”

THE Star Wars the franchise will take an incredibly interesting turn with this movie! I’m so excited to see what Mangold offers because this is an era of the universe that I’m very excited to see explored!