Ever since Solo‘s “disappointing” box office return (only for a studio accustomed to billion dollar returns is nearly $400 million in global ticket sales disappointing), there have been reports Disney was reassessing its plans for more Star Wars movies. But if you were worried about the future of the galaxy far, far away, Disney‘s CEO says there’s no intention of stopping production, but we probably shouldn’t expect a new film every year from now on.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Disney CEO Bob Iger was asked about calls to stop releasing a new Star Wars movie every year, after Solo failed to live up the expectations of the previous three films in the franchise (The Force Awakens – 2015, Rogue One – 2016, The Last Jedi –2017).
“I made the timing decision, and as I look back, I think the mistake that I made — I take the blame — was a little too much, too fast. You can expect some slowdown, but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to make films.….But I think we’re going to be a little bit more careful about volume and timing.”
These comments don’t come as a total shock. Even with both The Last Jedi‘s Rian Johnson and Game of Thrones co-creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss developing all new Star Wars film trilogies, it was only last June when we reported Disney was considering putting all standalone films on hold. That included a rumored Obi-Wan film, a Boba Fett movie, and any sequels to Solo.
But this does feel like it might be too much of an overreaction to the fun, entertaining Solo, which unlike the other three recent Star Wars films released by Disney, did not debut in December. Solo came out on May 10, only a few months after The Last Jedi on December 15. It was also the fifth huge film released by Disney during a relentless stretch of massive, must-see hits that started with Thor: Ragnarok on November 3, only a month before The Last Jedi. They were then followed by Black Panther on February 16 and Infinity War on April 27. Combined with the movie’s late and shocking director change, and a delay in any promotion, the normal hype for a Star Wars movie never materialized for a film perceived to be in trouble.
So yes, Disney was guilty of “a little too much, too fast,” but only for one movie by a few months. If Solo was coming out this December, like the previous three box office bonanzas, we might not be having this conversation.
There’s a lesson to be learned here, but we’re not sure “fans can’t handle a new Star Wars movie every year” is it.
What do you think? Should they slow down? Tell us why in the comments below.
Images: Lucasfilm