Will The Future Of 'Star Wars' Play Out On The Big Screen?
Source: IGN
The birthplace of the iconic space opera was the cinemas, and Disney continued the tradition of bringing Star Wars to the big screen with their financially successful trilogy along with two spin-offs. That said, it's been quite some time since they last saw the theaters. With the last movie released just about three years ago, there is no true future in sight for the films. The question of when has become the topic of conversation, especially after D23. Will Star Wars return to the big screen? Or will they settle for their streaming shows on Disney+?
Back when Kathleen Kennady took the stage in 2020 to announce a slew of shows as well as announcing two movies with one set release in 2023, the fandom celebrated the amount of content and the return to the big screen. Since that day just two years ago, we have gained no further knowledge of any future movies, and while they seem to keep their films close to the chest they have shown fans the numerous shows that will be coming to streaming. This begs the question of where their true focus lies.
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Just this week we got an update on the highly anticipated Patty Jenkins led Rogue Squadron. With the film initially set to release next year, it has been removed from the release schedule for Lucasfilm, and with no new date revealed it left many wondering if the film would ever actually release. While that wasn’t the only film announced at that Investors day event, it was supposed to be the franchise's triumphant return to the theaters.
Image Source: Planete Star Wars
Another movie that Kennady briefly spoke about when she took the stage in 2020 was the Taika Watiti film. While Taika had been busy with the filming of his most recent outing Thor: Love and Thunder, it's understandable that his focus was set on that rather than the galaxy far, far away. On the press tour for Love and Thunder though Watiti did reveal that he’s not exactly sure when the movie will come out but that he’d like it to release around December of 2023, and that he’s still ironing out the script. So, yet another questionable release when it comes to a Star Wars movie.
The only other bit of news we got regarding Star Wars films recently is the possibility of a Kevin Feige produced movie. Head of their sister company Marvel, whose productivity never seems to slow down, has possibly gotten his Star Wars film going with the writer of Loki and Multiverse of Madness Michael Waldron working on the script. Waldron spoke about the idea of bringing something new to the franchise during an interview for the Doctor Strange sequel.
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All this background of the foggy future of Star Wars movies is important due to the assumed focus of Lucasfilm. With two perfect opportunities to speak on their future film slate have come and gone, with Celebration and D23, they spent their time talking about their upcoming Star Wars streaming shows. Revealing no news or information regarding even a plan for their films, could it be that their sights are set on streaming?
While streaming shows aren’t cheap, they definitely aren’t movie budgets. Disney and Lucasfilm went from spending $275 million on The Rise of Skywalker to $100 million on one season of The Mandalorian. While the profits may not equal out, as all three of their sequel movies reached over a billion dollars the spending is not quite as much. Lucasfilm will even be upping the budget on the upcoming Jon Watts show, reaching its highest yet of $136 million. Could the future of Star Wars on the big screen dwindle as their streaming stock rises to success?
To answer the question, no. Star Wars may continue its adventures on Disney+ with multiple releases throughout the year, but it would be silly to move away from the big screen after monumental successes financially with all but one of their releases. Although it’s disappointing that the direction of Star Wars cinema seems to be up in the air, it's fair to assume that the team of Kennedy, Filoni, and Favreau don’t underestimate the impact their film releases have. The successful route for Star Wars will always be on the big screen, but that doesn’t mean streaming can’t play a part. On the bright side, just think when that Lucasfilm logo appears on the big screen, and that theme hits yet again it’ll be a moment to remember and a moment to celebrate.
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Source(s): Boxmojo, Star Wars, CBR, Esquire, The Playlist