A new rumor suggested that Lucasfilm and studio president Kathleen Kennedy have been attempting to make Star Wars’ upcoming franchise roadmap into something more concrete.
It’s no secret that Lucasfilm has been struggling a bit as of late; not with regards to the content they’ve been putting out, but in relation to the content they’d like to put out, with announcements for Star Wars' movies reported to be on hold for now.
The studio, while flourishing on the television landscape, has been stagnating on the big screen. The studio has not released a Star Wars film since 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker. And since then, several promised projects seemed to have been left by the wayside or just outright cancelled.
Fans have grown a bit impatient for the next theatrical outing, with the movie drought reportedly caused by former Disney CEO Bob Chapek. But a new report shed some light on Lucasfilm’s upcoming franchise plans and has perhaps even offered some much-needed hope for Star Wars' future.
Star Wars Reportedly Mapped Out To 2027
According to a new statement from Jeff Sneider (via John Rocha on YouTube), Lucasfilm has planned out Star Wars’ future for the next five years:
”I think there’s a lot of stuff coming down the pipe on the features side at Lucasfilm to be excited about… But specifically on the Star Wars side, I think it was a conscious decision to pivot to television for a while and really establish Disney+ and tell some different stories. But I think that… fans have to be patient obviously, because we’re not gonna see any of this stuff until 2025. But like, from what I understand, Kathleen has the next five years planned out. They have their [20]26 and 2027 slates. We just don’t know what they are yet.”
While it’s unfortunate that, as Sneider notes, fans won’t be seeing some of this content for quite a while, this is still quite encouraging news for those who feel that Lucasfilm has a ship to right.
It is unclear how this news is impacted by the state of Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy's current tenure at the company, with the studio head rumored to be ending her time at the company in 2023.
Previously, it was also reported (via Puck) that the studio was laser-focused on “getting it right” with their next feature, and that the reason audiences have had to wait so long for the next movie concerns a “culture of fear and indecision” among the top brass at Lucasfilm.
Not to mention that the same report discussed the fact that the sequels were rushed out the door In order to meet a deadline. There are also bold intentions of steering Star Wars away from the fan-service for which the sequel trilogy was so heavily criticized.
Can Lucasfilm Turn the Star Wars Movies Around?
It certainly seems that Kathleen Kennedy and Lucasfilm have good, honest intentions of improving their film slate. Whether the current Star Wars boss will remain at the studio to see these plans through is unknown.
Ultimately though, this should obviously be seen as a good thing, given that several projects have been left in the dust, despite being fully greenlit and announced.
Although, as mentioned above, the Star Wars franchise has found an active new life on TV, or more specifically, on Disney+. Andor is a critically acclaimed hit and fans are practically foaming at the mouth for more Mandalorian.
It should also be mentioned that Lucasfilm does in fact have a movie (albeit non-Star Wars) on the docket: 2023’s Indiana Jones 5, which is due out on June 30, 2023.
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