Disney are not worried about Star Wars saturation. After purchasing the rights to the franchise from Lucasfilm for a reported $5 billion back in 2012, the company has already recouped well more than $2bn from the smashing success of The Force Awakens.
However, with two other trilogy episodes and three ‘anthology’ films already in the offing, Disney are planning to extend their Star Wars universe even further with five more films after the year 2020.
At the moment, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will be released in December this year, followed by Episode VIII the same month in 2017. The Han Solo and Boba Fett movies do not have an official release date but Episode IX is slated for 2019. Once all of those have been released though, Disney is prepared to continue with its bombardment from a galaxy far, far away.
Speaking in LA, J.J. Abrams told The Sun: “There are some really cool things being discussed. It is very exciting to see how it is being put together.”
An anonymous source added: “The success of The Force Awakens has given executives much to think about.
“So many characters’ backstories and futures can now be brought to life. When these ideas came from George Lucas 40 years ago, technology was lagging behind. Now they can be turned around in a year.”
Among those characters are Mace Windu and Obi-Wan Kenobi, two characters which Disney are considering for origin stories. An Obi-Wan trilogy was mooted last year but there has been no official word about it as yet. Windu was portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson in the prequels trilogy while Obi-Wan was most recently played by Ewan McGregor who is reportedly being courted for the character’s standalone projects.
News.com.au (via Squareeyed) reported: “Disney are now though working on more projects featuring new and legacy characters. Solo movies for Jedi Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Mace Windu are among the ideas.”
We are already hearing reports of a further ten movies after the current slate, including a new trilogy of Episodes as well as seven more ‘origin’ or ‘Star Wars Stories’ movies.
We’re so torn over all this… we want more Star Wars, but we’re worried that we will eventually get tired of the Force. Is such a thing possible? Let us know your thoughts.
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