Following the tepid financial response to Solo: A Star Wars Story, there were reports that Disney was rethinking its release strategy for future titles set a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Lucasfilm later refuted the “inaccurate” rumors, clarifying that there’s still “multiple” movies currently in development, but in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Disney CEO Robert Iger confirmed that there’s going to be a “slowdown” on Star Wars movies.
When asked about Disney releasing a new Star Wars film every year (Solo came out only five months after The Last Jedi), Iger replied, “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 gonna make films.” He continued, “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 gonna start making decisions about what comes next after J.J.’s.”
Iger added that Disney and Lucasfilm are going to be “a little bit more careful about volume and timing,” but don’t expect the Star Wars factory to go out of business any time soon. (The factory is overseen by the torture droid from Return of the Jedi. He’s tough, but fair.) There’s still the “multiple” TV series coming to Disney’s streaming service, as well as the endless stream of officially licensed books, comics, video games, and the boozy Star Wars Land.
Walt Disney had a “no alcohol rule at Disneyland” rule, but “I think Walt had a nip or two in his apartment at night,” Iger joked. “I am a big believer in tradition. This just seemed like one of those traditions that if we changed it the empire wasn’t gonna crumble.” I’ll raise a glass (of whiskey-spiked blue milk) to that.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)