Disney confirms it will take a break from Star Wars movies after Episode IX

By Rick Marshall Published April 12, 2019

Star Wars fans are feeling a disturbance in the Force after Disney indicated that the movie franchise will go on hiatus after the upcoming Star Wars: Episode IX hits theaters.

Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger confirmed that the sci-fi saga will take a break from the big screen after the release of Episode IX in December, opting to focus on television projects instead of films for the near future. Iger described the pivot to the small screen as a “hiatus” in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

Recommended Videos

“We will take a pause, some time, and reset because the Skywalker saga comes to an end with this ninth movie,” he said. “There will be other Stars Wars movies, but there will be a bit of a hiatus.”

Evidence of franchise fatigue seemed to creep into the Star Wars universe after 2017’s Episode VIII – The Last Jedi was followed by Solo: A Star Wars Story just five months later, and the latter had one of the worst theatrical runs of any film in the saga. Both films were polarizing among Star Wars fans, and rumors began circulating that Disney had begun revisiting its plans for the franchise in response to the response they received.

“We have not announced any specific plans for movies thereafter,” Iger said of the studio’s post-Episode IX strategy. “There are movies in development, but we have not announced them.”

The turmoil on the big-screen side hasn’t prevented Disney from pushing forward with television projects.

Disney has already revealed an ambitious slate of television programming set in the Star Wars universe that will debut on its Disney Plus streaming platform later this year. That content includes the live-action series The Mandalorian, created by Jon Favreau and starring Game of Thrones actor Pedro Pascal. The series will be set after the events of Episode VI – Return of the Jedi and follow a mysterious character’s adventures in the outer rim of the galaxy.

Also announced for Disney Plus is a prequel series set before the events of anthology film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and starring Diego Luna and Alan Tudyk, who will reprise their roles as Rebel spy Cassian Andor and droid K-2SO. The studio will also return to the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and deliver a new, seventh season of the critically acclaimed show, which was set between the events of Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

Star Wars: Episode IX is scheduled to hit theaters December 20.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…

Audio / Video

What is Disney+? Plans, price, and everything else you should know

Lenovo Tab Extreme showing Disney Plus.

Where is the only place to catch all the latest Disney movies and TV shows, along with their cache of animated classics? The answer of course, is Disney+, a content-packed streaming platform that includes close to a century’s worth of Disney shorts and features. Along with the classics you know and love, it's also got movies and shows from Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Nat Geo, and 21st Century Fox.

How much does Disney+ cost? How do you create an account? And can you watch the Star Wars prequels on the service? We’ll answer all these questions and more in this everything-you-need-to-know Disney+ guide.

Entertainment

This 2014 Brad Pitt movie spotlights an aspect of war rarely depicted on the big screen

this 2014 brad pitt movie spotlights an aspect of war rarely depicted on the big screen fury 2

Fury opened in 2014, a decade and a half after the late-1990s WWII renaissance of Saving Private Ryan and HBO’s Band of Brothers -- which themselves came well after the 1960s heyday of WWII movies. That American movies released in that same time period, like American Sniper (the highest-grossing film of that year), Zero Dark Thirty, and Lone Survivor, were grappling with the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, made it feel even more old-fashioned.

But the movie, directed by David Ayer and starring Brad Pitt as a U.S. tank commander fighting in Germany, was a critical and commercial success. This is no doubt because it’s a well-made and a worthy addition to the genre. But its success was perhaps also due to the fact that Ayer had mined new story territory by chronicling the fighting valor of U.S. tank crews, who were vastly under-armored compared to their German counterparts. Ironically, 10 years later, Fury doesn't feel like it's aged at all, perhaps because its traditional take on the genre makes it feel timeless.
The brutality of tank warfare
Skirmish With A Tiger Tank | Fury | CineStream | With Captions

Entertainment

25 years ago, the angriest war movie ever made was released

Spike Jonze in Three Kings.

The year 1999 was, quite famously, a good one for movies. Even the best blockbusters felt political, and more importantly, their themes and ideas felt particularly urgent. Three Kings was one such movie that was beloved at the time, and its stature has only grown in the years since it was first released.

The film, which stars George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, and Ice Cube, follows four soldiers at the conclusion of the Gulf War who decide to attempt a heist before leaving the Middle East for good. Directed by David O. Russell, the movie is an angry political war cry, but one that mixes comedy, action, and sincere drama to great effect. Here are five reasons you should make time for it.
The movie is a metaphor for the entire Gulf War
Three Kings 1999 Trailer | George Clooney | Mark Wahlberg | Ice Cube