Upcoming Star Wars Movies Could Be Written, Directed By Women

On set of The Force Awakens, Daisy Ridley went so far as to sit in Han Solo’s chair. “That’s my chair,” Harrison Ford reportedly quipped. "I was honestly so embarrassed," Ridley tells the LA Times. "Obviously he was kidding around and even J.J. [Abrams] said, 'Oh, my God.'" But soon there might be a woman sitting in Abrams' chair as well. Earlier this year, Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy told the Guardian that she thought it was critical to find female directors for future Star Wars movies. “Having a balance of men and women in the room changes the story,” she said. “The dialogue, the point of view.” This in the wake of a recent studies that showed that Hollywood more or less has a woman problem. Ridley, who plays ace pilot Rey, is part of a major feminist turn for the Star Wars franchise. Which is good news in light of supercuts such as the minute-long “Every Line Spoken By A Woman Other Than Leia In the Original Star Wars Trilogy” floating around. And now, agents are getting involved. "Behind closed doors, people at the studios are saying, 'we know we have a problem,'" WME partner and agent Adriana Alberghetti told the LA Times. "How do we get more women behind the camera?" Alberghetti told the Times that she had set up meetings for three female writers and four female directors on upcoming Star Wars films. (Looks like some good is coming out of that secret meeting to address gender issues.) Not that there are no roles for women in the movies: Ridley plays a major role in the new trilogy and Carrie Fisher will reprise her iconic turn as General Leia. Not only that, but a major villain will be played by Gwendoline Christie — you probably know her as Brienne of Tarth on Game of Thrones. Our message to Star Wars: Do include female creatives. There is no try.