Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy has clarified the Star Wars franchise’s cinematic future – and it looks rather sparse.
Unless you count Michael Waldron’s recent update about his Star Wars script, it’s been a while since we heard any news about cinematic Star Wars projects. Following the critical drubbing faced by Lucasfilm – that reached a peak with the release of 2019’s The Rise Of Skywalker – the company seemed to be poising itself for a comeback of sorts around a year ago as news of several projects surfaced.
However, despite Marvel Cinematic Universe impresario Kevin Feige working on a Star Wars film with Waldron, Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins has seen her Rogue Squadron film removed from the production schedule indefinitely and rumours of Damon Lindelof penning a Star Wars film remain unconfirmed.
Whilst the saga continues to do very well on the small screen, Lucasfilm boss, Kathleen Kennedy has offered her take on where Star Wars is headed cinematically… and it sounds like the answer is nowhere quick.
Speaking to Vanity Fair, Kennedy explained that developing a movie for the Star Wars universe is a time-consuming process for filmmakers, stating that “anyone who comes into the Star Wars universe needs to know that it’s a three-, four-, five-year commitment. That’s what it takes. You can’t step in for a year and shoot something and then walk away…. It requires that kind of nurturing.”
Apparently though, several years still aren’t enough to get Rian Johnson’s announced Star Wars trilogy off the ground, with Kennedy admitting that “Rian has been unbelievably busy with Knives Out and the deal that he made at Netflix for multiple movies.”
That seems to confirm what fans have been speculating for a long time now, which is that Johnson’s announced Star Wars movies aren’t moving forward at Lucasfilm.
As for Feige’s film, despite writer Micheal Waldron recently revealing he’s writing the script, Kennedy seems to see that development as a backburner project too, adding “I would love to see what movie he might come up with. But right now, no, there isn’t anything specifically.”
It all adds up to a pretty barren future for big screen Star Wars, although at least Kennedy admits that mistakes were made that led to the franchise’s cinematic decline, including the making of Solo, a film (and recasting of a beloved character) that nobody asked for. “There should be moments along the way when you learn things,’ reflects Kennedy. “Now it does seem so abundantly clear that we can’t do that.”
With recognition comes change and with change comes growth. Hopefully Lucasfilm has learned from past mistakes and future Star Wars movies will be more successful than their forebears. Until then, we’ll have to be content with enjoying the franchise’s small screen adventures.
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