The Star Wars issue of Vanity Fair revealed a ton of information about The Last Jedi and some of the new characters we’ll be meeting this winter. But within, Kathleen Kennedy also dropped a few notes about what we can expect from the future in terms of the series’ anthology films. While Rogue One was a definite success and fine introduction to the stand-alone films and we know a Han Solo adventure will be dropping in 2018, the future isn’t as clear past the release of Episode 9 in 2019.
Kennedy doesn’t have an answer for what the next film will focus on, but she does know when Lucasfilm will be ready to announce it according to the interview:
“We haven’t identified it yet, but yes [another spinoff is in development]. We have a couple of things right now that we’re circling, and we’ll make a decision between the two pretty shortly. It’s probably for 2020, and we will make a decision by June.”
Those couple of things that are being circled by the fine folks at Lucasfilm and Disney all sound promising considering previous reports. The most obvious choice is the Obi-Wan film that Ewan McGregor has been hinting at for a while. Previous reports noted that the anthology films would stay away from Jedi and Sith characters, but an exception was being tossed in due to the popularity of McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi. McGregor is ready for it according to an interview with Entertainment Weekly ahead of the premiere of Fargo:
“There’s no official offer, and I haven’t met them about it or anything,” McGregor tells EW. “But I’ve always said that I’d be happy to do it if they wanted to do it.
Elsewhere on the rumor mill is the proposed bounty hunter film that originally had Josh Trank attached to direct. Boba Fett would’ve played a major part in whatever version Trank was planning before he departed the project and Fett is certainly a character that folks would love to see more of given his popularity outside of the main continuity of the films. Most reports agree that this and the Obi-Wan films would be the logical choices so far, but what else could the studio have in the works?
How about a musical drama about the Max Rebo Band and their struggle to make it big before finally landing their job at Jabba’s Palace. The film has a sad ending but the musical possibilities are endless. And if that’s not fan’s cup of tea, maybe we could get an anthology film about the Ewoks. Something related to The Ewok Adventure or maybe just a straight up remake with updated effects. Better yet, how abut a pod racing film? Sebulba is underutilized.
No matter what the next film is about — silly ideas aside — fans shouldn’t have to wait much longer to officially find out.
(Via MovieWeb / Vanity Fair)