Disney CEO Bob Iger saysStar Warsmovies are taking a “hiatus” afterThe Rise of Skywalker. Iger has not been shy about his feelings over the studio’s handling of the franchise lately. He recently stated that they made a mistake and put out too much content too soon, which a lot of fans would more than likely agree with. This latest news comes after it was revealedGame of Thronesshowrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss had stopped work on their proposed trilogy. It also follows similiar statements made in April of this year that Disney and Lucasfilm were hitting the pause button on any newStar Warsmovies.
Bob Iger made these latestStar Warsmovie “hiatus” comments today. The big screen will get a break afterThe Rise of Skywalker, but the Disney CEO says that there is a lot more TV on the way for the franchise. Disney+ launches next week with the first live-actionStar Warsseries and hopes are very high that it will please long-time fans. Iger noted that they screened the first episode for some news outlets, but says critics won’t get an advanced look due to spoilers.
In addition toThe Mandalorian, Disney+ also has theRogue Oneprequel series on the way to fill the void during this so-calledStar Wars movie hiatus, along with the recently announcedObi-Wan Kenobishow. Bob Iger says that there are three more possible show in early development right now. It is believed thatThe Mandalorianwill be the true test and the success of the next shows will hinge on that. With that being said, the studio already green lit season 2 andStar Warsfans are immensely excited by Ewan McGregor’s return for the Obi-Wan Kenobi series.
TheStar Wars fatigueseemed to set in whenSolo: A Star Wars Storyhit theaters less than six months afterThe Last Jedi. Rian Johnson’s take on the franchise is probably one of the most divisive installments in the franchise’s 40 year+ history.Solotanked at the box office and was deemed a failure, though fans are starting to come around to it now. Some are holding out hope that the story can continue in the form of a new series. Alden Ehrenreich did sign on for multiple movies to play the iconic character.
Bob Iger said in April, “We will take a pause, some time, and reset… because the Skywalker saga comes to an end with this ninth movie. There will be other Stars Wars movies, but there will be a bit of a hiatus.” Then just one month later, three new dates were announced for the nextStar Warstrilogy, with the time between Deceber 2019 and December 2022 looked at as this proposed hiatus. It’s not clear if any of theNew Star Wars trilogy release datesset by Lucasfilm and Disney back in May of this year will stick or not.
The first untitled movie was/is scheduled to hit theaters on December 16th, 2022. The other two untitled entries are set to arrive on December 20th, 2024, and December 18th, 2026. It has not been officially confirmed if these release dates will stick since David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have left, and it was strongly believed that they were doing the first movie in 2022, which would have followed the Knights of the Old Republic. Disney nor Lucasfilm have not yet announced that these three dates are canceled. That two year window could still be the ‘long hiatus’ Iger is speaking of.
For now, it seems like a good idea for Disney and Lucasfilm to take a break with theStar Warsmaterial on the big screen afterThe Rise of Skywalker. Taking a few years to regroup and reflect will more than likely go a long way in planning a new strategy. Plus, we’re about to see the Skywalker Saga end, which means we’re going to be introduced to new characters and new stories. Rian Johnson is still working on his trilogy and that may very well be the next time we see anything new from the franchise on the big screen. For now, we’ll just have to wait and see how long this hiatus lasts. Bob Iger’s announcement was first reported by Variety writerBrent Lang’s Twitteraccount.
