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Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will pave the way for future Star Wars spinoffs. These films will focus on the untold stories that are considered legend within the universe. While there is excitement to see more Star Wars, there is also a little bit of anxiety as it is unclear what the future may hold for these spinoffs and what will happen beyond Episode IX.
From what we know so far, Gareth Edwards‘ Rogue One will center on a group of rebels’ daring mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, while Christopher Miller and Phil Lord will direct a young Han Solo spinoff. As for the saga films, Rian Johnson is currently hard at work with the yet-to-be-titled Episode VIII, while Colin Trevorrow will be gearing up for Episode IX. After that, well, your guess is as good as ours.
So Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy teased what is to come and talked a little bit about the spinoffs that worked and the ones that didn’t. And you can find out what she had to say about them, below.
In an interview with EW, Kennedy talked a little bit about the future of the Star Wars saga films: and what will happen to them after Episode XI:
“That’s a conversation going on right now, too,” Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy says. “I have to honestly tell you, could we [do nothing but stand-alones]? Sure. But I don’t know. We are looking at all of that.”
That’s a little vague, but it sounds like if they were going to do as much as what’s being reported, then it all depends on the success of Rogue One.
Of course, we’ve all heard about Disney CEO Bob Iger‘s less-than-optimistic comments that Rogue One will do The Force Awakens numbers, but reports that the film could have a weekend opening estimated at $130 million gives us hope that not only will Rogue One be successful, it will also give the studio confidence that these standalone films could work.
The idea of these standalone films came from George Lucas before he handed the keys to Disney back in 2012. Kennedy said:
“George talked to me about doing this when I first came aboard. He had often thought about doing it and he had actually written down three or four thoughts and ideas, directions you could go. Obviously, inside the mythology, there were lots of opportunities. So that was the first conversation I had.”
While she wouldn’t elaborate on what those thoughts and ideas were, the article says that the braintrust will map out future titles after Rogue One. Among the titles under consideration is a Boba Fett spinoff, which would have been directed by Josh Trank before he and LucasFilm went their separate ways. In fact, they were so close to confirming the title that it was supposed to be announced alongside Rogue One at Star Wars Celebration 2015, where attendees would have seen a teaser trailer of the fan-favorite bounty hunter.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story opens in theaters on December 16, 2018. The untitled Han Solo spinoff opens May 25, 2018. Episode VIII hits theaters on December 15, 2017, while Episode IX opens on May 23, 2019.
Check out the full interview over at EW.
“what will happen to them after Episode XI?” Either that’s a typo, or there are more movies to come than anyone else knows about.
Comment by Spag_Hoops — November 24, 2016 @ 5:58 am