Star Wars films have always been an event, from the original trilogy to the long-awaited prequels and the new trilogy we are currently in they have all been yearned for at one point or another. So it only makes sense to expand the universe by delving into spinoffs and tv series. When Rogue One: A Star Wars Story had been announced it was a cool way to explore characters we never heard of. But when Solo: A Star Wars Story was announced many raised questions as to why they would you delve into a character that needs to further to be explored. The onset trouble didn’t help and now with the underwhelming box office, questions are being asked about where Star Wars goes from now.
THR has broken the story on both Obi-Wan and Boba Fett are the next two spinoff films that are in the works. Lucasfilm will also have tv series from David Benioff & D.B. Weiss and Jon Favreau which will both likely be on the Disney streaming services. But let’s stay on the spin-off films, it seems to be that they will be focusing on have established characters be the focal point of the film rather than delve into unknown characters like they did with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. On paper, it seems like that makes sense to have the film center around those characters but when you think about Boba Fett it’s a character who will likely stay masked and hasn’t spoken much, which isn’t ideal for your lead character. Obi-Wan fits a similar mold to Han Solo and really doesn’t need to be expanded further.
But a major thing that hasn’t been talked about it just saturation of the marketplace. Star Wars: The Last Jedi just came out 5 months ago, that’s a very quick turnaround for a film of that magnitude. Also with the previous film being very divisive has hurt the brand with a section of the fan base being totally against it and that sour taste still reigns with those fans.
Lucasfilm wants to get to where Marvel Studios are right now, where they can have two films released a year an episodic film and a spin-off film. But what they fail to realize is that it took the MCU 3 years before they had two films in a year released in theaters. Also, those films were not expected to be hits on the level of which Star Wars films are (Billion dollar films or close to). Which are very lofty expectations and tough to accomplish considering China isn’t helping you a lot in terms of box office.
But also the placement of the film is key to the box office since The Force Awakens Star Wars has laid claim to having their film open in December where there is a significant gap between tentpole films. In comparison with the summer when there is a big movie coming out basically every week. Movies were moving away from Star Wars in December but in the summer it becomes jumbled up with other movies.
So the question remains where do the spin-off films go from here on out? It seems as if Lucasfilm will continue the path they are currently on and focus on established characters. It still is an uncertain path considering Solo: A Star Wars Story and the trouble that film has attached to it. But it is one that will have more awareness about the films rather than your Rogue One’s.
