With the Skywalker Saga finally drawing to a close after 42 years, the big screen future of Star Wars is very much up in the air.
It would be an understatement to say that there’s been a backlash against the long-running series recently, with fans calling for Kathleen Kennedy’s head after holding her responsible for many of the issues that have plagued the franchise. Such is the strength and visibility of the Star Wars brand that The Rise of Skywalker’s $1.072 billion box office total is viewed by many as a disappointment, with the grosses for each new installment of the Sequel Trilogy suffering alarming drops. Rian Johnson tried to take the mythology in a new direction with The Last Jedi and was slaughtered for it online, only to find himself the subject of a social media appreciation movement following the release of the ninth and final chapter.
There’s been constant speculation that The Rise of Skywalker’s over-reliance on nostalgia and fan service was a direct response to the vitriol that greeted The Last Jedi as well, but the fans still aren’t happy and are now demanding Lucasfilm release the Director’s Cut of the movie, despite no real evidence that the filmmaker’s vision was even compromised.
When you factor in the high volume of turnover that has also seen Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, Colin Trevorrow, Josh Trank and Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss depart Star Wars for various reasons, as well as Rogue One director Gareth Edwards essentially being locked out of post-production on his own movie, you have to question the decision-making that’s going on behind the scenes.
The only bright spot for Star Wars recently has been The Mandalorian and the birth of pop culture phenomenon Baby Yoda, but even then it was followed by the news that the massively-anticipated Obi-Wan Kenobi series with Ewan McGregor was facing a lengthy delay after essentially getting re-worked from the ground up.
Regardless, the studio don’t seem to be backing down from their plans to continue churning out Star Wars movies, with Disney’s updated release schedule still featuring three blockbusters set in a galaxy far, far away to be released in the Decembers of 2022, 2024 and 2026. In order to hit that date, whatever the latest project ends up being will need to be in front of cameras early next year, and yet there’s been no word on what it could be. Although, the recently-announced High Republic multimedia campaign seems like a good bet.
