Star Wars: Lucasfilm President Compares Theatrical Release Schedule to Bond, New Movies Every 3-4 Years

For five consecutive years, Lucasfilm debuted new Star Wars films in theaters, which included both the sequel trilogy and two spin-off films, though Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy recently detailed how audiences shouldn't expect a similar output in the future, with the studio hoping to "eventize" releases similarly to the James Bond series, likely debuting films every three to four years. Given the success that The Walt Disney Company scored by developing one Marvel Cinematic Universe film a year and slowly amping up their output, Disney clearly thought a similar strategy would work with the galaxy far, far away, yet Kennedy has confirmed a different model will be embraced going forward.

"I've often brought up Bond," Kennedy shared with Empire Magazine about the release strategy for the studio going forward. "That's every three or four years and there wasn't this pressure to feel like you had to have a movie every year. I feel that was very important to Star Wars. We have to eventize this."

She added, "It's much better to tell the truth, that we're going to make these movies when they're ready to be made, and release them when they're ready to be released."

The first three Star Wars films released by Disney, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi, were all hits with both fans and critics alike, though 2018's Solo: A Star Wars Story underperformed at the box office while Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker had a strong box office performance despite its disappointing reviews. While there might not be one specific reason why these latter two installments faltered, Kennedy confirmed that the priority will be quality as opposed to a targeted release date in the future.

At Star Wars Celebration, Kennedy confirmed that Daisy Ridley's Rey Skywalker would be returning for a new film exploring the New Jedi Order, with the filmmaker teasing the state of the galaxy in that project.

"What we're exploring is the evolution of the Jedi," Kennedy detailed. "We're going very far back, we're looking at the present, and now we're moving 15 years after The Rise of Skywalker. The First Order has fallen, the Jedi are in chaos -- there's even a question of how many exist anymore -- and Rey's building the New Jedi Order, based on the text that she was given and that Luke imparted on her."

The film exploring the New Jedi Order doesn't yet have a release date, but rumors claim Lucasfilm wants this to be the next movie to hit theaters.

What do you think of the filmmaker's remarks? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!