Disney CEO Bob Iger has itted they rushed them.
The last few years have seen Star Wars struggle, with The Mandalorian is the first live-action TV show and it's a hit, and is soon to be ed by a Clone Wars revival.
But, of course, this is only a pause; it's just a matter of time before Star Wars returns to the big screen. Here's everything we know about the future of the Star Wars franchise in the cinema.
Star Wars Movie Release Dates
The next Lucasfilm release date is booked for December 16, 2022, meaning Star Wars will be disappearing from the cinema for nearly three years. After that, the other release dates staked out are December 20, 2024 and December 18, 2026. Note that Disney and Lucasfilm have decided to stick with the Christmas releases, which proved successful for the sequel trilogy and an announcement is expected in January at the earliest.
Kevin Feige’s Star Wars Movie
Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios and the new Chief Creative Officer of Marvel Entertainment, is somehow finding time to fit Star Wars into his busy schedule. Feige has always been known for his love of Star Wars, and he's proved to have something of a Midas touch, turning even the most unlikely franchises into box office gold. In September, Lucasfilm confirmed that movie. No details have yet been made public about this project, bar the fact Feige has apparently already decided on an actor he wants, but it appears to be several years away. No doubt the delay makes it easier for Feige, whose remit at Marvel has just expanded.
Rian Johnson’s Star Wars Trilogy
Star Wars: The Last Jedi may have been controversial, but its director Rian Johnson may well be sticking around. Back at the end of 2017, there were reports that Johnson was developing a mysterious new Star Wars trilogy. Details have been scarce, and there'd actually been speculation that it had been scrapped because of the divided popular and critical reception garnered by The Last Jedi. However, Johnson did recently confirm that he's still in talks about this project. "We’re still engaged with Lucasfilm," he noted, "and we’ll wait and see. No updates on it at this moment.”
Cancelled Star Wars Movies
Lucasfilm's change in strategy has led to a number of high-profile cancellations. Particularly notable among these are the end of the Star Wars spinoffs, movies loosely based around the events of the Skywalker Saga but tying up assorted loose ends. Fortunately, any of these ideas could easily be repurposed by Lucasfilm as Disney+ TV shows. Here are all the different series that have been pulled to date.
- Benioff and Weiss' Star Wars trilogy: Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were signed up to develop a new trilogy, believed to be set in the Old Republic era. They recently dropped out, citing scheduling conflicts with Netflix.
- A Boba Fett spinoff has been in development hell since 2014, but may have morphed into The Mandalorian.
- Lucasfilm initially planned an Obi-Wan Kenobi movie, but these have been dropped in favor of a Disney+ series that will see Ewan McGregor return to Star Wars.
- Another Star Wars anthology film, set in Mos Eisley Cantina, was reportedly in early development but has been pulled. There have also been unverified rumors about a Yoda film as far back as 2013, and previous reports suggested Lucasfilm briefly toyed with a movie centered on Jabba the Hutt.
