Another day, another bit of speculative news on Star Wars developments. Today it’s being reported in The Hollywood Reporter that instead of writing the upcoming Star Wars Episodes VIII and IX, as had been previously believed, screenwriters Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg may actually be writing separate spinoffs of the main storyline that will focus on side characters.
Michael Arndt has actually, really, truly, for sure been confirmed to write the script for Star Wars Episode VII. However, Kasdan, who worked on the screenplays for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and Kinberg, who wrote This Means War, were only speculated as the writers for the following two installments. Now, while Disney and Lucasfilm have confirmed that the two are indeed writing Star Wars scripts, they are being regarded as separate scripts for the franchise that could potentially be made into official episodes of the main series. So they could be spinoffs, or they could be parts 8 and 9. Who’s to say! Let’s not put anything concrete out there so that we ensure people keep on speculating!
From the sounds of it, Disney wants Star Wars to expand its popular universe on film, and spinoffs headed by known screenwriters could be the way to do it. It’s yet another case of a franchise trying to capitalize on same long-term formation of a movie universe that brought so much success for The Avengers, it would seem. Disney CEO Robert Iger says their plan is to release a Star Wars film “every two to three years,” with some focusing on the main Skywalker-centred episodes and others on the more expansive story, where the so-called spinoffs would figure in.
What do you think of Kasdan and Kinberg possibly working on Star Wars spinoffs rather than the official upcoming episodes? Can Disney recreate the success it found with The Avengers template by applying it to the Star Wars universe? Let us know in the comments section below.
