Star Wars Trying To Move To Two Movies A Year Is A Mistake

The latestStar Warsfilm , the Ron Howard - directedSolo : A Star Wars Story , spread to a surprisingly tepid box office response , at least by smash hit banner , suggesting it might be a error forStar Warsto acquittance more than one film a year . There are a number of factor which may be to blame for the picture ’s sonant launch , from the rewording of one of the most iconic grapheme ever put on the silver gray silver screen , to the extremely publicized behind - the - scenes play involving thefiring of the picture show ’s original directors , toSolo ’s relatively free - wheeling , downcast - bet military action when compare to the quick crack of doom threats ofRogue One ’s Death Star or Starkiller Base fromThe Force Awakens .

One of the most often - cited issues with the photographic film was its acquittance particular date , on Memorial Day weekend . Solois the fourthStar Warsfilm since the enfranchisement – and the rest of Lucasfilm – was acquired by Disney , but it ’s the first entry not to give up in the month of December . The film ’s proximity to the somewhat divisiveThe Last Jedisurely did n’t help matters , especially considering how Rian Johnson ’s game - changing blockbuster continues to rule anyStar Warsconversation , even five months on from exit .

Related: Solo:A Star Wars Story’s Biggest Problem Was Its Confused Marketing

Why did Disney choose to releaseSoloin May , hot on the bounder ofAvengers : Infinity WarandDeadpool 2,and not wait until December ? The Christmas holiday season is proven soil for the enfranchisement in its innovative personification , although it ’s worth note , back in the old solar day , the original six movies each made their entry in May .

It ’s likely that Disney was test the waters of put out more than oneStar Warsfilm per year , following in the footsteps of their other vast live - action franchise , the Marvel Cinematic Universe . Unfortunately , Solo ’s easygoing boxful part entry can be seen as evidence which suggestsStar WarsTrying To Move To Two Movies A Year Is A Mistake .

The Star Wars Approach Vs The Marvel Approach

Disney releasedSoloin the Summer , just five months out fromThe Last Jedi , in an effort to prove that they could reduplicate their achiever with Marvel Studios , which is currently bring out no less than three moving-picture show per yr . Although Lucasfilm is hold their cards close , the plan for the current trilogy ( Episodes VII - IX ) is to exhaust movies semi - annually , alternating between mainline " saga " films and stand - alone spinoffs .

Thus far , this plan of attack has been successful , to say the least . The first three films in the revived series each grossed over a billion dollar bill at the global box office , withThe Force Awakenseven managing to crack the vaunted two billion dollar mark . However , it ’s ill-defined what the future of the mainlineStar Warssaga hold afterEpisode IX . Will there be anEpisode X ? What aboutRian Johnson ’s forthcoming trilogy , as well as theseries of filmsfrom the Maker ofGame of Thrones ? Will they take the plaza of " saga " films , or anthology side stories ? Or does Disney have something else in head ?

Related:Solo Almost Released Straight After Force Awakens - Changing It Was A Mistake

Disney ’s determination to releaseSoloin May was a method acting of testing the viability of releasing Star Wars movies all twelvemonth around , a method acting which has worked admiration with their Marvel movie . The first MCU picture to eject outside of the Summer months wasThor : The Dark World , which made its debut in November of 2013 , five yr afterIron Man , the first entry in Marvel ’s stalls of megahit . The next MCU motion picture , Captain America : The Winter Soldier , open up on April 4 , 2014 , getting a one - calendar month head jump on the traditional Summer movie time of year , and the firstGuardians of the Galaxywas consider maverick with its August 1 release date . Since then , the MCU has admit more November releases ( Thor : RagnarokandDoctor Strange ) , and its current domestic champion , Black Panther , opened in February , a month which is often consider a floor ground for doomed movies .

If this year - round approach works with Marvel , then it should solve withStar Wars , right ?

Page 2:Why the Marvel Approach Doesn’t Work With Star Wars

Why the Marvel Approach Doesn’t Work With Star Wars

Not all megahit are the same . Star Warsand Marvel are fundamentally dissimilar . While both narrative are set in wide loose universes with endless storytelling possibility , the disparate picture show are connected in different ways .

For Marvel , each movie is aided by the fact that they are always building towards the next big event . Black Panther , Thor : Ragnarok , andSpider - Man : Homecomingcouldn’t be more unlike , but they each lead toAvengers : Infinity War . There are many road in Marvel ’s cinematic existence , but they all lead to Thanos .

On the other hand , Star Warsdoesn’t have that same natural synergism . Rogue Oneforced its room into the greater universe thanks to its open connections to the events ofA New Hope , but the front of Han ’s prosperous die inSolodoesn’t have the same profound impact as the waysRogue Oneseamlessly connects to the 1977 archetype . moreover , it ’s highly unlikely thatEpisode IXwill be straight impact by anything fromSolo(orRogue One , for that matter ) , barring Easter eggs or fanservice cameos .

George Lucas with A New Hope imagery v3

Related:Disney Has 24 Movies Releasing 2020-2022 - So Where’s Star Wars?

There are arguably even more road inStar Warsthan there are in Marvel , but they do n’t all intersect , at least not in any kind of howling culmination . It ’s good that Rian Johnson ’s trilogy and the David Benioff and D.B. Weiss movies wo n’t be anchor to cognise galactic events , but that lack of Marvel - style synergism , driving at a major squad up , means that trying to release multipleStar Warsmovies every yr , jumping back and forth in the timeline , is a catchy suggestion at best .

Don’t Get Greedy, Disney!

There are manyStar Warsstories to tell . James Mangold is reportedly attached towrite and maneuver aBoba Fettfilm , and Ewan McGregor is champ at the bit toreprise his iconic role as Obi - Wan Kenobi . contribute in Rian Johnson ’s trilogy and Benioff / Weiss film ( which may be big in scope than a traditional trilogy ) , and that ’s already at least eight movies . It ’s easy to see Disney and Lucasfilm wanting to move forwards with even more motion picture as quickly as potential , like aLando Calrissian spin - offstarring Donald Glover , but increasing production to match the relative frequency of Marvel ’s films is a severe proffer , and not just becausethere are n’t enough talented exceptional effects housesto handle that amount of study ; the Francis Scott Key to seniority in Hollywood rest with quality , not amount .

For the metre being , Disney should stupefy to their current schedule of oneStar Warsmovie per year . It ’s served them well thus far , andStar Wars , while possess an eternal potential for storytelling possibilities , is n’t prime to enlarge as fast as Marvel ’s movie . The time will surely come when the fandom will be accepting of multiple movies per year , but that time has not yet go far . In testing the piddle by forcingSoloout in May when they should have waited until December , they only succeed in suffer the film ’s box seat office potential . Ironically , the 18 - calendar month gap between Solo and 2019’sEpisode IXis already being considereda spot in the latter flick ’s favor .

This is n’t the first time Disney want to moveStar Warsout of December and into the Summer month . WhenThe Last Jediwas first annunciate , it was given a May 2017 release date , though it was eventuallydelayed to December . Likewise , the upcomingEpisode IXwas likewise slated for May 2019 , thoughit was also pushed , following the expiration of directorColin Trevorrow , who was replaced by JJ Abrams , who first resurrect the franchise withThe Force Awakens .

All of this is not to say thatStar Warsshould stay sequestered in December incessantly , but it ’s authoritative not to expand too apace , lest the blade get degrade in the process . For lack of a good word , Star Wars is special . There ’s something about the universe George Lucas created over 40 days ago that speaks to audiences like nothing else in fable . Lucasfilm involve to be deliberate , the agency Marvel Studios was when they first begin to expand the influence of their flick , or elseStar Warswill become just another film enfranchisement subject to consultation apathy and the law of lessen restitution .