Star Wars fatigue to impact planned spin-offs

The same way video once killed the radio star, Solo might’ve killed the Star Wars universe. Disney bought the property in 2012 for a whopping $4.05 billion, and has done a great job running it into the ground since its acquisition. The Last Jedi proved to be divisive, and Solo was a bona fide box office bomb. Only a few days ago we wondered about which studio would be responsible for superhero fatigue, but in the case of Star Wars fatigue it’s a much simpler answer. Disney owns it solely, and is causing the damage.

During a recent interview with Hollywood Reporter, Disney CEO Bob Iger admits the company has flooded the market, and audiences have not responded kindly:

I made the timing decision, and as I look back, I think the mistake that I made — I take the blame — was a little too much, too fast. You can expect some slowdown, but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to make films. J.J. [Abrams] is busy making [Episode] IX. We have creative entities, including [Game of Thrones creators David] Benioff and [D.B.] Weiss, who are developing sagas of their own, which we haven’t been specific about. And we are just at the point where we’re going to start making decisions about what comes next after J.J.’s. But I think we’re going to be a little bit more careful about volume and timing. And the buck stops here on that.

So don’t worry nerds: more Star Wars movies ARE coming. Just don’t expect Disney to keep releasing one a year, as that strategy has backfired. We never wanted a Han Solo movie, but we are a bit miffed about the Obi-Wan Kenobi movie being – seemingly – dead. Beyond that we had some really good Star Wars spin-off ideas that might now never come to fruition. So much for retiring from blogging and coasting on producer paychecks.

What will happen to those spin-offs is still a bit up in the air. It seems that Disney will reconsider how they approach the film output of their series. We know the Disney streaming platform will have a show called The Mandalorian about bounty hunters (similar to Boba Fett) but perhaps the movie output will start moving into more creative directions. That means getting away from established characters and into uncharted territory.

The future of Star Wars is up in the air at the moment, and to be fair: that is much better than a barrage of spin-offs related to the original trilogy.

How do you feel about this? Upset that Star Wars: when Porgs meet Ewoks won’t happen? Let us know in the comments!