Attention Star Wars fans! If by some chance you don’t already own the 8 films that make up cinema’s most successful space opera, it looks like they’ll all be coming to Disney Plus within the first year of its launch.
Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy confirmed at Disney’s investor day that the Original Trilogy (released between 1977 and 1983), as well as the prequels (released from 1999 to 2005) will be joining the Mickey Mouse company’s upcoming streaming service, which is scheduled to open up later this year. Up until this point, those six films have been under the control of Turner, so it’s nice to see that Disney’s got the rights back and they’ll all soon be in one place.
Kennedy also confirmed that J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, spinoff Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and the latest, untitled Episode IX will also be added to Disney Plus. The fate of Solo though, the Ron Howard-directed spinoff which famously flopped at the box office, is currently unknown, and there was also no mention of The Last Jedi in Deadline’s report, though we assume that’ll be on the service.
“It’s remarkable to think that Episode IX will represent the culmination of what George Lucas began 40 years ago with the Skywalker saga,” Kennedy said. “[These characters] populate a mythology that has impacted audiences throughout multiple generations.”
At the moment, not too much has been revealed about the untitled Episode IX. A since-deleted Reddit post yesterday leaked Star Wars: Will of the Force as a possible title, but that may turn out to be just another rumor. In any case, with Star Wars Celebration now underway, we should know more soon.
As Kennedy pointed out though, J.J. Abrams’ film, which is set for a December 20th release date, will mark the end of the Skywalker saga, the main narrative of the Star Wars franchise for the last 40 years. And as we get closer and closer to that date, be sure to keep it locked to We Got This Covered for all the latest developments.