Disney has instructed Lucasfilm to stop announcing its upcomingStar Warsprojects far in advance, as the company has been wont to do recently. The instruction comes after the company headed by Kathleen Kennedy recently announced another unnamed project with a popular name attached to write.
Star Warsis one of the most massive multimedia franchises, stemming from an original trilogy of films by now legendary filmmaker George Lucas, who single-handedlyrevamped the space opera genre. After the first three films, Lucas also released a prequel trilogy, expanding on the universe he created with his first iconic foray into filmmaking. During this time, several creatives in the fields of novels, comic books, and more were permitted to expand the franchise further, leading to a sprawling and expansive canonStar Warsuniverse that newer properties could only envy.
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The franchise grew over the years under the banner of LucasFilm Ltd. LLC, which Disney purchased in 2012 and set about reworking. Recent insider reports now reveal that higher-ups at the parent company are strongly suggesting that Lucasfilm stop announcing new additions to theStar Warsfranchise so far in advance. The exact directive was to “stop announcing projects and creative partners,” with insider Matthew Belloni clarifying viaPuck Newsthat this directive was given in order to avoid fan frustration and backlash, “when those projects don’t actually happen, as is the case frequently at Lucasfilm.”
The directive to hold off on announcing new potential projects is wise given the trend at Lucasfilm, with one notable example being thedelisting of the proposedStar Wars: Rogue Squadron. The project was announced withWonder Womandirector Patty Jenkins attached and met with much fanfare before being unceremoniously canceled with little explanation given. Furthermore, many projects have seen their scope limited to Disney Plus releases after initial expectations for much larger budget productions increased fan interest in the projects, leading to some of the backlashes Belloni referred to.
Kennedy has long been saddled with the blame for many of the failed or overpromised and under-deliveredStar Warsprojects that have come out of Lucasfilm since it fell under her purview, but there is very little chance of every proposed project at such a massive company coming to fruition exactly as initially envisioned. In essence, the internal memo warns Kennedy to be wary of looking more culpable than she really is when things fail to materialize. This will be the latest in a line of lessons for Kennedy, such as her experience withrecasting iconicStar Warsrolesin an established franchise as part of the production ofSolo,which failed to meet franchise expectations.
While many fans have been excited by the stream of newStar Warscontent that Disney’s acquisition enabled, some have had their grievances, such as theremoval of several parts of theStar Warsfranchisefrom the official canon to give the new creative teams more creative freedom. The stalling or underperforming of the new projects meant to replace the well-missed canon of old that has been relegated toStar Wars Legendsis sure to incite fans even further and should be a high priority for Kennedy and other execs to curb.
