Star Wars is one of the biggest film franchises on the planet. Since 1977 it has been one of the most recognizable and proven franchises in Hollywood history, having earned a special place in the hearts and minds of viewers all around the globe. While many assumed the series was over in 2005 with the release of Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, and that it would primarily continue in animated series, in 2012 Lucasfilm was purchased by Disney. The purchase meant more Star Wars movies.
However, instead of one trilogy with a new installment released every three years like the prior ones, Disney had a much more ambitious plan. They wanted to release a new film in the main trilogy every other year, and between those installments release anthology films. The goal was to have a Star Wars movie every year for the foreseeable future. However, when Solo: A Star Wars Story opened in theaters and disappointed at the box office, Disney began reevaluating their entire plan for the brand they spent $4 billion to acquire. This is how Solo: A Star Wars Story bombing at the box office impacted Disney and Lucasfilm’s original plans for Star Wars.
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What Was the Original Lucasfilm Plan
Walt Disney Studios
Disney acquired Lucasfilm on October 30, 2012, and that day confirmed they were developing Star Wars Episodes VII, VIII, and IX. Then in February 2013, it was confirmed that in addition to Star Wars sequels, the series would also develop spin-off films focused on different characters and concepts in the universe. These were anthology films intended to be one-off stories, but with room to grow and would come out each year between installments of the main story.
The first one up, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was a huge box office hit grossing $1 billion worldwide and was the highest-grossing film of 2016 domestically. The strong box office performance, along with the success of Star Wars: The Force Awakens showed that not only was Star Wars back but the franchise was dominating. Lucasfilm already had Solo: A Star Wars Story in development when Rogue One was set for release and would be released between Episode VIII and IX.
Solo Was a Flop at the Box Office
In the summer of 2017, after having filmed more than half of Solo: A Star Wars Story the original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller departed the movie due to creative differences with Lucasfilm. Ron Howard came on board as director shortly after and the movie underwent massive reshoots. Disney refused to delay the film from its summer release date to the holiday season that Star Wars had found great success in. Part of the reason was they wanted the movie to come out on May 25th which would be the anniversary of the release of Star Wars, but also they already had Mary Poppins Returns set as their big holiday movie.
Canceled Boba Fett Movie
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One of the earliest planned spin-off films was one centered around the fan-favorite bounty hunter, Boba Fett. In 2014, Josh Trank was hired to direct, however, the director left the project a year later due to creative differences. Then on the day Solo: A Star Wars Story was released, it was announced James Mangold was set to direct the Boba Fett film.
However, after Solo: A Star Wars Story bombed, the studio opted out of a Boba Fett film, and instead decided to focus on an original character which morphed into The Mandalorian television series. That series proved so successful Boba Fett appeared in season two of the series and the character finally got his own series, The Book of Boba Fett, which premiered on December 29, 2021.
Canceled Obi-Wan Kenobi Movie
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Another planned spin-off film centered on a popular Star Wars character was Obi-Wan Kenobi. The movie gained traction in 2017, a few months before the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and Billy Elliot director Stephen Daldry signed on as director. Unlike Rogue One, Obi-Wan Kenobi during its development was planned as a potential trilogy, probably planned to take over as the guaranteed Star Wars trilogy after the Skywalker series ended in 2019.
Star Wars Shifts From Movies To Television Series
As mentioned above, the box office disappointment of Solo: A Star Wars Story saw both the Boba Fett and Obi-Wan movies reworked into streaming series. Yet it was more than that. Other films, like the planned trilogy from Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, was scrapped and all attention for films was set on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Meanwhile, just three months before Solo: A Star Wars Story opened, Lucasfilm announced the development of The Mandalorian for Disney+. That series’ massive mainstream appeal combined with the box office disappointment of Solo seemed to indicate that, in the meantime, Star Wars’ future as a franchise was as a television series. The Mandalorian is set to premiere its third season in 2023, in addition to Ahsoka, a series focused on the popular character from the animated series. Andor, a spin-off prequel to Rogue One is being released as a series instead of a film. Two new Star Wars projects, The Acolyte and Skeleton Crew, are in development at Disney+.
Instead of a Solo sequel, there is a chance a continuation could happen in the form of the planned Lando Disney+ series. With the planned film Rogue Squadron being pulled from the release schedule, it is unknown when this famous franchise will return to the big screen and how it will be able to stand apart as a big screen experience when audiences have been getting three years of Star Wars at home and will continue to in the future.
