It appears that the poor performance of ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ continues to have an impact on Lucasfilm LTD and its parent company Disney. The latest word is that plans for additional ‘A Star Wars Story’ films have been put on hold. Disney and Lucasfilm are instead focusing on ‘Episode IX’ and the new trilogy being spearheaded by Rian Johnson. Also still on track is the mysterious film series being developed by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss of ‘Game of Thrones’ fame.
‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ was the first “anthology” film set within the larger ‘Star Wars’ universe but outside the core saga. ‘Rogue One’ took in $155 million on its opening weekend and by week four, had amassed $424 million. Not as great as ‘The Force Awakens’ but still pretty great. In contrast, ‘Solo’ opened to $84.4M and has made $192.8M in its four weeks in theaters.
About a month ago, Stephen Daldry was announced as directing an Obi-Wan Kenobi ‘Star Wars Story’ set between ‘Revenge of the Sith’ and ‘A New Hope’. This film was believed to be in active development, but the latest word is that the creative team is no longer involved. Just yesterday, we reported that the Boba Fett ‘Star Wars Story’ to be directed by ‘Logan”s James Mangold, had been delayed until at least 2020. This development would explain that.
What separates ‘Rogue One’ from Solo and these other planned pictures is that ‘Rogue One’ didn’t focus on familiar, established characters. The one classic character that had the biggest presence was Grand Moff Tarkin. While yes, it was technically a prequel, it stood on its own and told a fresh story. ‘Solo’ and potentially ‘Obi-Wan’ and ‘Boba Fett’ are attempts to take characters that fans already love and recast and reinvent them. Perhaps Disney and Lucasfilm should stick to what they did with ‘Rogue One’ and tell free-standing stories with mostly new characters.
Keep in mind, this is just a RUMOR at this point, but it certainly sounds plausible.
To be fair, if any other would-be blockbusters made as much money as ‘Solo’, it would have been considered a rousing success, but much like ‘Justice League’, because of the nature of this film as part of a larger epic, it is viewed as a disappointment at best and a failure at worst. And while Gareth Edwards’ ‘Rogue One’ was a greater success, you may recall that this film’s production was plagued with issues, with a new director, Tony Gilroy, brought in to oversee reshoots. Kinda like ‘Justice League’. Kinda like ‘Solo’.
Are you upset that the ‘Star Wars Story’ films have been placed on the back burner? Or are you glad that Obi-Wan and Boba Fett may escape the treatment that befell Han in ‘Solo’?
Source: Collider
