Three years ago, Disney bought Lucasfilm for $4 billion. This weekend, the studio will get to see if spending that money to own the Star Wars franchise was all worth it. Their first film, The Force Awakens, hits theaters Thursday night.
But what happens after that? Star Wars fever will only grasp the entire country for a few weeks after The Force Awakens opens, but Disney wants to keep everyone interested in the franchise beyond January 2016. To keep that going, they have more movies planned.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
The first film after The Force Awakens actually won’t be part of the main episodes. Rogue One, directed by Gareth Edwards (Godzilla), opens on Dec. 16, 2016. The film is about a band of rebels who steal the Death Star plans before the events in A New Hope.
Despite not being a main episode, Disney spared no expense with casting. Oscar-nominee Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything) is the big star, alongside Diego Luna, Mads Mikkelsen, Ben Mendelsohn, Forest Whitaker, Riz Ahmed, Alan Tudyk, Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen.
Episode VIII
Rian Johnson (Looper) is the writer and director on Episode VIII. TFA director J.J. Abrams said that Johnson has already completed his script, which isn’t that surprising. After all, the film is expected to be in theaters on May 26, 2017 - the 40th anniversary of A New Hope’s release. It will return the main episodes back to the traditional May release date.
Han Solo movie
Christopher Miller and Phil Lord, the directors of 21 Jump Street and The LEGO Movie will be directing a Han Solo stand-alone movie. It’s expected to be about a young Han and will be Lawrence Kasdan’s last Star Wars project. Kasdan, who has been a member of the Star Wars family since co-writing The Empire Strikes Back, is writing with his son, Jon Kasdan. The movie will open on May 25, 2018.
Harrison Ford obviously can’t play a young Han Solo, and casting is still under way.
Episode IX
Disney has hired Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow to helm Episode IX, which will have a story by Johnson. The film will hit theaters in 2019.
The Lost Simon Kinberg Story
No, there is no movie called The Lost Simon Kinberg Story. The prolific Kinberg (X-Men, Star Wars Rebels) is producing a Star Wars stand-alone movie that was supposed to be directed by Josh Trank. Eventually, Trank left, just as bad press began to form around the eventual box office disaster of Fantastic Four. It was rumored that Trank’s film was supposed to be about bounty hunter Boba Fett. There’s no word on who will direct it and Disney doesn’t have a target release date for it.
So, there is plenty more Star Wars around the corner after The Force Awakens opens. We’re just getting started.
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