Since their acquisition of the Star Wars franchise in 2012, Disney has made quick work of getting the universe up and running; rolling out the new trilogy and anthology spin-offs in rapid succession.
What's next for Star Wars after that? A whole lot more, according to this new feature from Wired magazine. The article says that Disney and Lucasfilm plan to release a new Star Wars film every year until fan interest wanes.
"If the people at the Walt Disney Company, which bought Lucasfilm for $4 billion in 2012, have anything to say about it, the past four decades of Star Wars are merely prologue," Says author Adam Rodgers.
"They are making more. A lot more. The company intends to put out a new Star Wars movie every year for as long as people will buy tickets." He continues.
The team behind Star Wars are taking a cue from Disney's other mega franchise, the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the end goal being a constantly evolving shared universe of different characters, stories, and events.
"If everything works out for Disney, and if you are (like me) old enough to have been conscious for the first Star Wars film, you will probably not live to see the last one. It's the forever franchise." Writes Rodgers.
If there were ever a franchise that could conceivably go on indefinitely, Star Wars would be it. As Rodgers says, "Star Wars has more than an audience-it has followers."
For the near future however, all eyes will be on this initial salvo of films.
Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens hits theaters on December 18th, 2015, followed by Rogue One: A Star Wars Story on December 16th, 2016. Star Wars: Episode VIII will come soon after on May 26th, 2017. The announced Han Solo Anthology film comes sometime in 2018, while Episode IX hits a year after.
