Disney CEO Says Star Wars Fans Should 'Expect Some Slowdown'

Jonathan Olley, Lucasfilm Ltd.
Jonathan Olley, Lucasfilm Ltd. | Jonathan Olley, Lucasfilm Ltd.

by Dana Samuel

When Disney bought Lucasfilm six years ago, it's almost as though the Star Wars franchise shifted into overdrive with production, releasing four films in just three years.

Starting with the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015, next came Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), and most recently, Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018). Although Star Wars fans are happy about not having to wait years in between installments, Disney CEO Bob Iger says fans should "expect some slowdown" after Episode IX's 2019 release.

While speaking to The Hollywood Reporter about the speed of Star Wars project production, Iger shared:

"I made the timing decision, and as I look back, I think the mistake that I made ... was a little too much, too fast … You can expect some slowdown, but that doesn't mean we're not going to make films. J.J. is busy making IX. We have creative entities, including David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, who are developing sagas of their own, which we haven't been specific about.”

"We are just at the point where we're going to start making decisions about what comes next," Iger continued. "But I think we're going to be a little bit more careful about volume and timing. And the buck stops here on that."

Slowdown? Just when we were getting used to this steady flow of Star Wars spectacles?

Hopefully this means that each new project will just get extra attention when it comes to production value, storyline, etc. If not, we have no doubt that fans will have a few choice words for Iger.