While the upcoming Star Wars: Episode IX almost certainly won’t be the last installment in the space saga to make it to cinemas, J.J. Abrams’ upcoming film will mark the end of an era of sorts for the franchise. And once the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy has drawn to a close, it sounds like we may have to wait a while before the series returns to the big screen.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Disney CEO Bob Iger offered a reminder that no Star Wars movies have been announced beyond Episode IX.
“We have not announced any specific plans for movies thereafter,” Iger said. “There are movies in development, but we have not announced them.”
Those movies in development include the planned trilogy from The Last Jedi helmsman Rian Johnson. Just last week, in fact, the director confirmed for the umpteenth time that his saga is still happening, despite the persistent rumor saying otherwise. Meanwhile, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are reportedly working on a series of their own, which is said to be their next major project after the final season of Game of Thrones.
Nonetheless, Iger went on to say that the film franchise will be taking a short break once Episode IX has completed its journey to theaters.
“We will take a pause, some time, and reset,” he said. “Because the Skywalker saga comes to an end with this ninth movie. There will be other Stars Wars movies, but there will be a bit of a hiatus.”
The break might well be for the best, given these busy few years for the series. Even Mark Hamill recently admitted to feeling some “Star Wars fatigue” over the recent abundance of releases, and after Solo: A Star Wars Story provided the franchise with its first box office bomb, you can understand why Disney would be feeling wary about overdoing it.
Granted, Star Wars fans will hardly be at a loss for new material in the next couple of years, given all the content coming to Disney Plus. But on the film front, moviegoers best hope that Star Wars: Episode IX ends this current era on a strong note when it comes out on December 20th, 2019.
