The outbreak of the COVID-19 has forced all major productions in Hollywood to shut down and distributors to postpone the release date of their movies, but it would seem the Mouse House is planning to go ahead with the next major Star Wars film after The Rise of Skywalker brought the main saga to a definitive end late last year.
Now that the last chapter in the story of Skywalkers is out of the way, the future of the galaxy far, far away remains in an ambiguous state. While Disney initially planned several movies for release in the near future, including Rian Johnson’s independent trilogy and Game of Thrones creators D.B. Weiss and David Benioff’s films, none of these projects entered production for obvious reasons. Of course, to help fill the void, Lucasfilm has launched a publishing initiative under Star Wars: The High Republic that’ll feature all-new stories set some 200 years before the events of Episode I – The Phantom Menace, but what about the future of the franchise on the big screen?
After all, even though the fans appreciate the extra content in the form of books and other respective mediums, Star Wars has always been, at its core, a movie series. Well, answering that question is not as simple as you would imagine. Disney originally intended to develop a new film for release in 2022, but amid the recent production halts, even across the MCU, it’s likely that the as-of-yet untitled Star Wars movie project will also get delayed.
And yet, the Mouse House recently released a revised schedule for its upcoming projects, and while most of them have been shifted to another date, the next major movie in that galaxy far, far away is still set for release on December 16th, 2022.
Hopefully, if things begin to slide back into their normal state in the coming months, the next Star Wars pic will continue development unabated, but seeing as how things are turning out for communities around the world in their fight against the deadly disease, we wouldn’t really hold our breaths.
Tell us, though, are you excited about the next movie? Or do you feel the divisive and lackluster finale of the Skywalker Saga has doomed Disney’s hopes of redeeming the franchise? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
