Ever since that Star Destroyer powered onto screen in the opening moments of A New Hope, Star Wars has been closely associated with the cinema. The epic visuals combined with John Williams’ score feel tailor-made for the biggest screens possible and are best enjoyed as a communal experience. But now it seems that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will be the last Star Wars project to get a theatrical release for a few years.
Disney’s Bob Iger made the pronouncement today, explaining that the movie franchise is set to “go into a hiatus” for a while. But don’t fret, there’ll still be more than enough galactic adventures over that time. The Mandalorian launches in under a week, with the Cassian Andor and Obi-Wan shows now in the works. He also mentioned that there were “more in development,” and we may even have an idea of what’s secretly being put together behind the scenes.
Honestly, I think keeping Star Wars out of theaters for a few years is a smart move. The original plan to release a new entry in the franchise every year into infinity ran the risk of diluting the ‘specialness’ of a new Star Wars movie. That arguably already happened with the release of Solo: A Star Wars Story, which actually managed to lose money at the box office. No doubt there were frantic conversations in Disney and Lucasfilm boardrooms as they worried they were killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.
At least The Mandalorian looks like it’s not skimping on the wow factor. Everything we’ve seen in the trailers wouldn’t appear out of place in a big screen adventure, so a tactical retreat to Disney Plus may yet work wonders for Star Wars. The only real question is what form it’ll eventually return in. Could we finally hear confirmation that the on-again/off-again Rian Johnson project is finally entering production? Or might we get a projected date for Knights of the Old Republic? Time will tell, but stay tuned for more.
