The Star Wars universe is about to get a lot bigger. First, Disney has announced that The Last Jedi director Rain Johnson will be creating a new Star Wars trilogy. The series will be a separate entity than than the Skywalker saga of the first ten films thus far. “Johnson will introduce new characters from a corner of the galaxy that Star Wars lore has never before explored,” Disney said in a statement. Despite J.J. Abrams bringing the franchise back to the big screen, it sounds as if Disney is relying on Johnston to be the new architect behind the films. Like George Lucas before him, Johnson will write and direct the first film in the trilogy. “He’s a creative force, and watching him craft ‘The Last Jedi’ from start to finish was one of the great joys of my career,” Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy. “Rian will do amazing things with the blank canvas of this new trilogy.”
Johnson and his producing partner Ram Bergman had this s a joint statement:
“We had the time of our lives collaborating with Lucasfilm and Disney on ‘The Last Jedi.” Star Wars’ is the greatest modern mythology and we feel very lucky to have contributed to it. We can’t wait to continue with this new series of films.”
Disney CEO Bob Iger also announced a new live action Star Wars series that will debut on the company’s upcoming streaming service. There are no details yet, but it is scheduled to debut by the end of 2019. Disney also announced series based on Monsters Inc and High School Musical, though details are lacking on those projects as well. Iger released this statement about the streaming service:
“We look forward to launching our first direct-to-consumer streaming service in the new year, and we will continue to invest for the future and take the smart risks required to deliver shareholder value.”
Sources: CNBC, The Guardian