An upcoming live-action Star Wars film about the dawn of the Jedi by James Mangold is currently planned.
In the early 1970s, Star Wars creator George Lucas once envisioned the Star Wars saga consisting of nine films, the first which would focus on the origins of the Jedi Knights and how they were initiated and trained. Original trilogy producer Gary Kurtz was briefed about Lucas' plans, but by 1980, Lucas changed his mind and decided to wrap up the series with the 1983 film , much to Kurtz's dismay as he revealed to TheForce.net in light of the prequel trilogy's mixed beginning with the 1999 film . Published between 2012 and 2014, the Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi comic series by John Ostrander and Jan Duursema explored the origins of the Je'daii in the Star Wars Legends continuity.
On February 6, 2018, Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were announced by StarWars.com to produce and write a Star Wars film series, which reportedly focused on the time period in which the Jedi came to exist. Benioff and Weiss reluctantly walked away from their project on October 28, 2019 due to scheduling conflicts with Netflix, Inc. despite their plans for a 2022 release after a hiatus following . Lucasfilm Ltd. president Kathleen Kennedy confirmed her interest in waiting for the duo to return at some point. At some point around 2019, David S. Goyer was signed on to write a film regarding the Jedi's origins 25,000 years before The Phantom Menace, alongside a separate project under director Guillermo del Toro. However, Goyer left his work for Lucasfilm and the latter project became shelved.
After the Disney purchase of Lucasfilm, filmmaker James Mangold was attached to making a Boba Fett film in the style of Sergio Leone. This project eventually morphed into the series The Book of Boba Fett. Mangold was then hired by Lucasfilm to direct and co-write Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the final Indiana Jones film. On April 7, 2023, it was confirmed during Celebration Europe that Mangold would direct a Star Wars film centered on the origins of the Jedi. After the panel, Mangold revealed to the Variety magazine that his film would take place during the dawn of the Jedi and flesh out the exact origins of The Force, like how it was formed and discovered by the first Jedi. Having been drawn at the prospect of making a Star Wars film in the vein of a religious epic like Cecil B. DeMille's 1956 film The Ten Commandments or William Wyler's 1959 film Ben-Hur, Mangold discussed these references with Kennedy to convince her of the potential to explore the concept of the Force due to having evolved into a "kind of religious legend" due to encompassing across the Star Wars saga. A The Hollywood Reporter article stated that the title of the film is Dawn of the Jedi.