A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, George Lucas created a little sci-fi movie that would turn into one of the most lucrative franchises in cinema history. Many of those who first adored the 1977 “Star Wars” as a part of their childhood continue to be fans today, while a whole new generation of viewers are getting sucked into the saga thanks to the new trilogy launched with “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” But what happens after ‘Episode IX’? Will Disney and Lucasfilm set the stage for another trio of mainline saga stories? Or do they focus on more spinoffs, and taking a page from their colleagues at Marvel and their approach to “The Avengers,” release a big, saga story every few years? It’s a question that will soon be answered.
“That’s a conversation going on right now, too,” Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy told EW. “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.”
“There are [possible movies] that we have been talking a lot about,” she added. “But we are planning to sit down in January, since we will have had ‘The Force Awakens’ released, now ‘Rogue One,’ and we’ve finished shooting ‘Episode VIII.’ We have enough information where we can step back a little bit and say, What are we doing? What do we feel is exciting? And what are some of the things we want to explore?”
The brain trust that will be at that meeting includes writers, directors, the story team, visual effects folks and more (remember, it was producer and visual effects supervisor John Knoll who came up with the kernel that became “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story“), so there will be a lot of voices in the room and, I can only imagine, lots of options on the table. Maybe that Boba Fett movie that Josh Trank was going to do can be revived? Perhaps Tony Gilroy, who as we reported came in and did extensive rewrites on ‘Rogue One’ (to the point that he now has an official credit on the movie), will have some fresh insights.
It’ll be interesting to see what risks Lucasfilm are willing to make, and where they decide to take the franchise next. It’s certainly not going away — the galaxy holds plenty of possibility.
