The future of theStar Warsfranchise, on the movie side of things anyway, seems more uncertain than ever. Recently, we learned thatGame of Thronescreators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss had exited their planned trilogy set within a galaxy far, far away and are moving onto other projects related to their recent deal at Netflix. But their first movie was set to arrive in theaters in December 2022. And, unfortunately, Kevin Feige’s recently announcedStar Warsflick won’t be filling that vacancy in the release calendar.
In a new report detailing the circumstances surrounding thedeparture of Benioff and Weissfrom the franchise,Kevin Feige’s Star Wars movieis discussed a bit. Feige serves as the head of Marvel Studios and has turned the Marvel Cinematic Universe into a behemoth that has grossed more than $20 billion at the global box office. A notedStar Warsfan, it made every bit of sense for Feige to tackle a project in this franchise as well. However, given Feige’s busy schedule, this report notes that it’s highly unlikely Lucasfilm will try and shift his mystery project into the date previously occupied by the Benioff and Weiss project.
Kevin Feigewas recently promoted to Chief Creative Officer at Marvel. That means, in addition to his duties on the movie side, he’s also going tooversee the publishing side at Marvel Comicsand will be taking over as head of Marvel Television. He’s now the man at the very top of the entire creative process at Marvel. That makes him one of the busiest men in the business as well. It’s a miracle he’ll have any time on his hands to take on aStar Warsmovie, let alone get it turned around in time to make a 2022 release date. It’s just not feasible.
The Rise of Skywalkeris set to arrive on December 20. J.J. Abrams' upcoming entry in the series is set to not only conclude the current trilogy, but the Skywalker saga entirely. The plan was for Lucasfilm to take a break for a few years then introduce an entirely new story, said to have focused on the origins of the Jedi in the Old Republic era, courtesy of Benioff and Weiss. It’s been reported that Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy is currently meeting with other filmmakers as they attempt to sort out where to go next.
The only other filmmaker currently on the books isThe Last Jedidirector Rian Johnson. He was tapped to direct a new trilogy as well back in 2017 before the release of Episode VIII. While Johnson still seems committed to making his trilogy, it doesn’t seem like he’s going to be ready for the turnaround come 2022. Meanwhile, shows likeThe Mandalorianand the Obi-Wan Kenobi series will help fill the void over on Disney+. At present, Disney and Lucasfilm have dates set for June 25, 2025, July 14, 2025 and August 02, 2025. This news comes to us viaThe Hollywood Reporter.
