The studio says it’s taking a break from making
Star Wars films to focus on TV spin-offs, after the success of The Mandalorian
So that’s it. After three trilogies, at least two of them pretty flawed, and more than $10bn taken at the global
box office, Star Wars as a going
Hollywood concern is being parked. Stalled like an X-wing in a Dagobah swamp, this story has reached its finale with the insipid, crushingly disappointing The Rise of Skywalker – a movie that seemed determined to confirm every criticism aimed at the latest triptych of films. That they existed only to sell movie tickets and merchandise. That this was Star Wars in name only, a bloodless counterfeit of the original trilogy’s soulful cosmic magnificence.
Word that
Disney no longer sees Star Wars as a cinema priority comes from studio chairman Bob Iger, who told investors this week that the series would be taking “a bit of a hiatus in terms of theatrical releases”. The company intends to focus instead on potential small-screen spin-offs based on its highly successful TV show The Mandalorian – the space western-esque tale of a taciturn bounty hunter whose heart is melted by Baby Yoda. According to Variety, Disney believes it has oversaturated the market with Star Wars movies after The Rise of Skywalker and 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story failed to storm the global box office.