After the notable underperformance of “Solo: A Star Wars Story” at the summer movie box office, Disney CEO Bob Iger has reconsidered his “Star Wars” release strategy.
While 2017’s “The Last Jedi” grossed $1.33 billion worldwide and received critical acclaim, the “Solo” spin-off fell short of box-office expectations bringing in $392 million worldwide gross against a reported $250 million production budget.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Iger said that, “Star Wars” fans can expect “some slowdown” in the production of the series. Star Wars films used to be released two-to-three years apart, with new trilogies only arriving once in a generation. But in recent years, fans saw Star Wars films arriving once a year. In the span of five months this past year, Disney has released two films, “Solo” and “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”
Needless to say, fans have felt a bit overwhelmed with the Star Wars series. Disney has taken note though of their Star Wars saturation plans; even Iger revealed his own mistake in pushing the franchise too far, too fast.
“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 gonna make films. J.J. [Abrams] is busy making [Episode] IX. We have creative entities, including [Game of Thrones creators David] Benioff and [D.B.] Weiss, who are developing sagas of their own, which we haven’t been specific about. And we are just at the point where we’re gonna start making decisions about what comes next after J.J.’s. But I think we’re gonna be a little bit more careful about volume and timing. And the buck stops here on that.”
By: Maytinee Kramer
