Oscar Winners Set to Direct New Disney Franchise Feature

Have you wondered what it might take to direct a Disney franchise feature? Apparently, winning an Oscar gets you major brownie points and opens doors for precisely this kind of opportunity. Disney recently announced a slowdown in content production and a change of creative strategy, and Disney CEO Bob Iger shared that they wanted to focus on “quality over quantity” for the shows they were producing. During the recent Oscars broadcast, one film was particularly noteworthy—Everything Everywhere All At Once. The movie won multiple awards and was massively celebrated throughout the night. And some notable names from this Academy Award-winning feature will have a chance to direct an upcoming episode for a Disney franchise.

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, also known as the Daniels, are now Academy Award-winning directors for their work in “Everything, Everywhere All At Once” / Courtesy of Filmmaker Magazine

The Daniels are slated to reportedly direct at least one episode of the upcoming Disney+ original series Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, starring Jude Law, and coming from Executive Producers Jon Watts, Christopher Ford, Jon Favreau, and Dave Filoni. The plot of this show is still a secret, and neither Lucasfilm nor Disney has made official announcements, but we do know so far that it happens during the post–Return of the Jedi reconstruction that follows the fall of the Empire, the same as The Mandalorian.

Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Christopher Ford, Jon Watts, and Yvette Nicole Brown attend the studio showcase panel at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California / Courtesy of Jesse Grant / Disney

We’re finding out this news comes weeks before the Star Wars Celebration in London, where more of Lucasfilm’s upcoming plans will be revealed. At present, The Mandalorian season three is streaming, and the Rosario Dawson-led spinoff Ahsoka is expected to drop in 2023 too.

Grogu, also known as “Baby Yoda” from The Mandalorian / Courtesy of Lucasfilm

This is unconfirmed at the moment but is incredibly likely per reports from The Hollywood Reporter. 

The Daniels are directors who built their careers directing music videos. They took home three Oscars for Everything Everywhere: best original screenplay, director, and picture statuettes. The A24 feature also won best actress—Michelle Yeoh, best-supporting actor—Ke Huy Quan, best-supporting actress—Jamie Lee Curtis, and best editing—Paul Rogers.

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