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Disney is planning enough Star Wars movies to last into the 2030s

CEO Bob Iger also shared new details about Phil Lord and Christopher Miller's forthcoming Han Solo origin story

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Disney is planning enough Star Wars movies to last into the 2030s
Star Wars (Disney)

    Hollywood’s in the business of universe-building these days. It’s no longer enough to foster sequels; rather, the current trend is to create “cinematic universes”—essentially an interconnected web of branded properties—that pretty much function as a feeding line of profitable content. That may sound like a cynical interpretation, but we’ve for the most part enjoyed the results. We dig a lot about the Marvel universe, are optimistic about the future of King Kong and Godzilla, and, well, is anybody really mad to get more Star Wars movies?

    Well, hopefully not, because, according to Disney CEO Bob Iger, there’s plans in place to keep producing Star Wars content into the 2030s.

    During an interview conducted with his wife in Santa Monica on Thursday, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Iger said, “We’re starting talk about what could happen after Episode IX. About what could be another decade-and-a-half of Star Wars stories.”

    This coming December, Rian Johnson’s Episode VIII: The Last Jedi will drop. In May of 2018, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s currently untitled exploration of Han Solo’s early days will help expand the series’ universe that much more. Iger also used the interview to reveal further details about that latter film, saying that it will document Han’s life between the ages of 18 and 24, as well as his first encounters with both Chewbacca and The Millennium Falcon.

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    And though Disney already addressed rumors regarding whether or not future films will aim to digitally recreate Princess Leia in the wake of actress Carrie Fisher’s passing, Iger doubled down on assertions that they will not.

    “When we bought Lucasfilm, we were going to make three films — Episodes VII, VIII and IX,” he added. “We had to deal with tragedy at the end of 2016. Carrie appears throughout VIII. We are not changing VIII to deal with her passing. Her performance remains as it is in VIII. In Rogue One, we had some digital character. We are not doing that with Carrie.”

    Good luck to Episode IX director Colin Trevorrow, who’s now stuck with the herculean task of reconciling that whole situation.

    And, as if that weren’t all enough, let’s not forget that that the original trilogy may very well get a 4K makeover this year. The force is with us, indeed.

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