Have you been feeling like there’s just been too much Star Wars too soon? It might be a strange thing to complain about but if you’ve gotten used to seeing Star Wars films arrive at least a couple of years apart, the sudden yearly release might seem too much—especially if you feel like the films are subpar to what you’re used to. With Solo underperformance in the box office, Disney was reportedly considering changing its strategy when it comes to marketing and releasing Star Wars content. Now, Disney CEO Bob Iger confirms this plan with The Hollywood Reporter.
He said, “I made the timing decision, and as I look back, I think the mistake that I made — I take the blame — was a little too much, too fast. You can expect some slowdown, but that doesn't mean we're not going to make films. J.J. [Abrams] is busy making [Episode] IX. We have creative entities, including [Game of Thrones creators David] Benioff and [D.B.] Weiss, who are developing sagas of their own, which we haven't been specific about. And we are just at the point where we're going to start making decisions about what comes next after J.J.'s. But I think we're going to be a little bit more careful about volume and timing. And the buck stops here on that.”
Will this satisfy fans who haven’t been onboard with Disney owning the Star Wars franchise? Maybe or maybe not. Some might feel less fatigued by the slowdown. But others might still be concerned about the quality of films Disney has been producing for the franchise. No amount of time will be enough for those who disagree with the company’s vision for Star Wars.
And while a slowdown might happen, this doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot of Star Wars content heading our way. As Iger mentioned, there is the Benioff and Weiss original trilogy. Last Jedi director Rian Johnson is also creating his own trilogy. Jon Favreau is working on a live-action Star Wars TV series. There are even the standalone Obi-wan project and Star Wars Resistance animated series coming out. As for when these will be coming out, we aren’t sure. The new strategy might stagger the releases of these projects a bit.