You might not be able to believe that there was a period of time when fans had almost given up the hope of seeing any more Star Wars films ever. After all, there was a massive 16 years gap after the Return of the Jedi which came out in 1983 and the start of the prequel trilogy in 1999 with the release of Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Sadly, the creator of Star Wars, George Lucas didn’t give much scope to the fans with his backstory about Darth Vader arc, which left another decade-long vacuum after the 2005 release Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.
Things changed after Disney’s takeover of Lucasfilm in 2012 which saw fans once again becoming faithful in the franchise after the much-awaited announcement about the Episodes VII, VIII and IX and also the introduction of their beloved director J.J. Abrams to start proceedings with The Force Awakens.
The film turned out to be a massive hit and then the first anthology movie Rogue One was also successful. Now there is tremendous excitement about The upcoming The Last Jedi and the presently untitled Star WarsHan Solo movie. Apparently, Disney is committed to the Star Wars for a long time to come, and this was hinted by their CEO, Bob Iger earlier.
As per The Hollywood Reporter, Iger was at the USC conference, Scale: The Future of Tech and Entertainment on Thursday and he stated that there is a great deal to come from the Star Wars saga:
“We’re starting talk about what could happen after Episode IX. About what could be another decade-and-a-half of Star Wars stories.”
There is no idea as to what the films will showcase after Episode IX is wrapped up, however, the unprecedented support that the franchise has received for Rogue One has ensured that many more Star Wars anthology films will be made.
The prospects of such films will be hugely tested by the performance of the Phil Lord/Chris Miller film based on a young Han Solo which according to Iger, will feature the years 18-24 of the protagonist’s life.
Another big challenge for Episode IX is the sudden demise of Carrie Fisher who suddenly passed away after having finished her work on The Last Jedi in December 2016. Iger went on to assure that the film by Rian Johnson is not going to be modified in any manner because of this unforeseen tragic event. As of now, the burden is entirely on the shoulders of Episode IX maker Colin Trevorrow because Disney is not going to create a CGI incarnation of her character.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
