According to insiders, Disney may be decreasing its Star Wars TV output over the next couple of years.
Since the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, the space-faring franchise has been exclusively bound to the small screen.
Every year since then, the galaxy far, far away has released an average of two live-action streaming series a year on Disney+, the most recent of which was the polarizing The Acolyte which ended its one-season run in July.
Star Wars Changes Its TV Plans
Star Wars' TV strategy is reportedly in the midst of a major change.
Insider Daniel Richtman shared that he has heard the iconic sci-fi franchise is set to reduce the number of live-action TV series it releases per year from two to one.
He mentioned that several series are still in development at Lucasfilm, so the brand is not getting out of the live-action TV business entirely, they are simply reducing their output:
"I'm hearing that several series are in development, but it seems they plan to release only one live-action series per year starting in 2025."
This seems to be in line with the greater Disney media strategy as of late.
In July 2023, Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger confirmed the Hollywood giant would be "spending less on what [they] make and making less [as well]:"
"Yep. And pull back, not just to focus, but it’s also part of our cost containment initiative. Spending less on what we make and making less."
While Richtman's reporting remains unconfirmed by Disney itself, this Star Wars news would make sense given the new cost-cutting measures at the studio.
Lucasfilm notably released new episodes to three different Disney+ live-action series in 2022, then released two new series in 2023, and another duo will be streaming by the end of 2024.
Since 2019, eight different seasons of television have been released by Star Wars on Disney+.
[ Disney Aims to Reduce Budgets of Marvel & Star Wars Disney+ Shows ]
Why Will There Be Less Star Wars TV Shows?
There are a few reasons this reduction in live-action TV output for the Star Wars brand might be happening.
Of course, the financial realities of streaming, and the rising costs of just about everything play a major factor.
Creating stories in a universe with the grandiose scale of something Star Wars costs a pretty penny. And Disney, time and time, again has made it clear it has simply not seen the financial return from its streaming investment (at least to a level justifiable of what it was spending under the previous regime).
Cutting back on live-action Star Wars TV could save the company a pretty penny - especially when it has been reported shows like this year's The Acolyte cost upwards of $180 million to produce (via The New York Times).
That is a near-blockbuster movie type of spend on something that was not guaranteeing the return the studio has been looking for.
This leads directly to the next point of why this reduction of output is happening.
After years away from the big screen, Disney and Lucasfilm are finally ready to start putting out Star Wars movies again, a proposition that (in theory) has a higher chance of making its return back than a streaming show.
2026 will mark the franchise's grand return to theaters with Jon Favreau's The Mandalorian and Grogu set to hit theaters on May 22 of that year. The studio then has two more untitled Star Wars movies already lined up for release on December 18, 2026, and December 17, 2027.
The shift in focus from streaming back to theatrical seems clear across the Disney brand, and Star Wars is not excluded from that.
Disney is dealing in what it deems as guaranteed successes, emphasizing known quantities that will drive maximum profits. In the past, Star Wars movies have fallen firmly into this category with five of its 12 theatrically released movies sitting in the top 50 highest-grossing films of all time (per Box Office Pro).
But given the franchise's reliance on TV shows over the last half-decade and the common fan sentiment that the last five years of streaming output may have cheapened the iconic brand, it will be interesting to see if fans are ready to flock to the theaters for a Star Wars movie as they once were.
Star Wars' next live-action TV show debuts this December with Skeleton Crew.
