‘New Jedi Order’ Screenwriter Talks George Lucas, Politics, & Tradition!

Just over a week after joining the upcoming Rey Skywalker film, screenwriter George Nolfi sat down with Film Stories to chat all things Star Wars and philosophy.

Key takeaways:

• Nolfi studied philosophy and politics before his career in screenwriting, and he clearly brings that expertise to his work

• When describing the collaborative nature of the project, Nolfi said of his role “you look at what’s come before you, you look at the broad ideas of what they want to do…and then you do what a writer does, and try to try and put beats of a story together.”

• He further elaborated on the responsibility that he feels working within the Star Wars universe saying that he has to “Try and imagine characters, and then you present that with an understanding that it needs to honour, obviously, a long, incredible tradition.”

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Deep dive:

• Nolfi also wasn’t afraid to discuss the political nature of Star Wars by mentioning the creator, himself, saying “If you think about George Lucas, the six movies that he did, and the universe that he created, it’s actually very steeped in broad notions of politics” 

• This notion appears to give Nolfi freedom to address hard issues that audiences may be reluctant to accept as he elaborates “one of the wonderful things about science fiction and Star Wars …is that you can raise the deepest issues without it feeling like a philosophy class…It can be about real things, deep things.”

The big picture: Despite New Jedi Order not having an official title or release window, Nolfi’s knowledge about Lucas’s larger political ideals within Star Wars hint at potentially a more complex film than audiences may have originally envisioned.

Check out Nolfi’s full interview now, and be sure to keep an eye on our full roundup for New Jedi Order that is constantly updated with the latest details and announcements surrounding the upcoming film.