Prior to the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Lucasfilm announced that they were so excited by their collaboration with writer/director Rian Johnson that he would be developing his own trilogy of Star Wars films. With fans speculating in the months since the announcement about when we could expect these films, Johnson confirmed with a fan on Twitter that he is still working on the storylines.
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When a fan asked, “Are you still working in your star wars trilogy?… I’m waiting for it,” Johnson replied with a “Yup,” adding a fist emoji.
This news might not come as a surprise to everyone, but, given the disappointing performance of Solo: A Star Wars Story, fans are much more apprehensive about what the future holds for the franchise.
When Johnson’s The Last Jedi hit theaters, a majority of fans and most film critics praised the film for circumventing expectations and delivering audiences a bold new vision of the galaxy far, far away. Some detractors, however, vehemently disagreed with narrative decisions and, with the prominence of social media, these voices were able to amplify themselves and spark a “backlash” against the film.
Six months after that film’s release, Solo hit theaters and failed to earn the critical nor the box office success of previous films in the franchise, leaving fans mystified as to why it didn’t resonate with audiences.
Around the time of Solo‘s release, reports emerged that both Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi films were being developed, though the lackluster performance of Solo resulted in follow-up reports that Lucasfilm was focusing all of its attention on Star Wars: Episode IX. The culmination of the Skywalker Saga is currently the only live-action project that has a seemingly solid release date, with the film originally being slated for Dec. 20, 2019, though Lucasfilm then modified official statements to claim “December,” without specifying the date.
Johnson is slated to write and direct the first installment of the upcoming trilogy, though there are no details about when fans can expect that project to move forward in any capacity. Additionally, Game of Thrones co-creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are developing a series of films, while Jon Favreau is developing a live-action Star Wars series for Disney’s streaming platform.
Given Lucasfilm’s track record of releasing one film a year since Star Wars: The Force Awakens, it’s possible that we could see a live-action film go into production next year for a potential 2020 release date.
When do you think the next Star Wars film could head into production? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!
[H/T Twitter, rianjohnson]
