Yesterday, Disney announced that it was delaying three highly-anticipated Star Wars movies. Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, these films will now come out in 2023, 2025 and 2027, respectively. But that’s not all. Not only is the media company tinkering with release windows, but it’s also drastically reconsidering its approach to the franchise.
J.J. Abrams’ trilogy, which ended on an awkward and somewhat divisive note with last year’s The Rise of Skywalker, broke many records. All in all, the films raked in several billions of dollars. Similar to franchises like Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit, however, they still under-performed compared to the company’s original predictions.
On top of that, they polarized critics and audiences. While newcomers liked what they saw, veteran viewers were outraged over inconsistencies in terms of lore and world building. On top of that, fan service brought some characters back without much reason, and changed the personalities of others to fit a specific story, tainting their legacies.
While that galaxy far, far away has proven difficult to adapt to the big screen in modern times, television producers have seen more success. Disney’s The Mandalorian, which debuted on the company’s popular streaming service, received near-universal acclaim, and in some sense captured the magic of the Original Trilogy better than Abrams did.
Moving forward, it appears that Disney will focus most of its resources on television productions. With multiple new seasons of The Mandalorian in the works, as well as several spinoffs in development, audiences can expect Star Wars stories that are less an echo of George Lucas’ inspiring work and more of a daring venture into previously-uncharted territory.
As Inverse says:
Star Wars isn’t about movies anymore. Star Wars is about TV. Or, more specifically, it’s about Disney+ original shows.
Tell us, though, do you think this is the right approach to the Star Wars franchise? As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments section down below.
