What could have been Lucasfilm's plans for Reylo prior to the scrapping of THFBS and the original draft of NJO?
Today, Damon Lindelof opened up about his scrapped Star Wars movie, which served as the original draft for the New Jedi Order film before Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy took over the project. He stated that his version would have centered around Rey, Finn, and Poe, which is exactly what most of us expected. Interestingly, he didn't mention Ben at all, though to be fair, bringing him up might have been a massive spoiler for The Hunt For Ben Solo if they were trying to keep things under wraps.
I've seen some speculation that Lindelof’s NJO and THFBS were meant to be directly connected, which makes a lot of sense given his comments about needing his script to properly address the aftermath of TROS. In fact, if THFBS was quietly cancelled in 2023, that timeline might actually explain why Lindelof was let go from his project.
These two films were being developed right around the same time, with Lindelof exiting right as the writing for THFBS was wrapping up in 2023. Take this next part with a massive grain of salt since the source is Jeff Sneider, but word back in May 2023 was that Lindelof’s movie would have actually been set 60 years after TROS, focusing on an elderly Rey training a brand new generation of Jedi and the new main protagonist and no mention of Ben Solo.
Lindelof noted today that Lucasfilm didn't actually hate that core premise; there were just issues with the script itself. If we assume these two projects were being developed simultaneously and the 60-year time jump leak is true, what does that actually mean for Ben's fate and the future of Reylo? It really begs the question of whether THFBS was going to end without Rey and Ben ever actually reuniting. Of course, this is based on just a leak that is probably not true. How connected do you think the films might have been?