If you’re a company starting a new streaming service, you better have something big when it hits. And by big, I don’t mean a “morning show” drama.
Disney Plus debuts on November 12th and with that comes the release of The Mandalorian, the first live-action Star Wars television show. I’d say that’s a pretty big title at launch. Wouldn’t you?
Few have had a chance to see the pilot but someone who has is Disney CEO Bob Iger. And he’s singing the praises of the Jon Favreau-created series.
“The first live-action Star Wars series is unlike anything audiences have seen before on any platform and it’s a strong indication of the quality in the storytelling that will define Disney+,” Iger said during Disney’s fourth quarter earnings call.
Now that’s how to promote a show. With so much content available these days, it’s hard to create something that’s “unlike anything audiences have seen before.” But Iger’s confident and the trailers do suggest a TV series on a grand scale with big production value that rivals Game of Thrones.
With each episode costing a reported $15 million, Disney and Iger are clearly going all in on the television side. Of course, The Mandalorian is just the first of three planned series for Disney Plus. A Rogue One: A Star Wars Story prequel focusing on Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) is in the works as well as a long-rumored continuation of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s story with Ewan McGregor returning.
After Star Wars: The Last Jedi left diehards feeling underwhelmed and Solo: A Star Wars Story massively underperformed at the box office, Iger felt it was time to slow down on Star Wars movies, with the CEO saying:
“In the Star Wars case, Star Wars IX, which comes out in December, will be the last of the Skywalker Saga, and will go into hiatus for a few years before the next Star Wars feature. There will be a lot of creative activity in the interim.”
A lot of creative activity indeed.
Unlike Netflix and Amazon Prime, which release entire seasons of new shows all at once, Disney Plus will roll out the first episode of The Mandalorian on November 12th and then the remaining seven through December 27th. Don’t miss it.
