When Disney bought Star Wars back in 2012, the promise of a blockbuster sequel trilogy gave hope to many fans that there would be a long line of movies to come. This has been true in some regards, with five different Star Wars films hitting the big screen since then. However, the mixed reception to the sequel trilogy and the disappointing box office results of Solo: A Star Wars Story has meant that Star Wars has ended up instead with a bigger presence on Disney’s streaming service in the form of TV shows.
The question of whether or not this is a permanent shift is uncertain and requires looking at the recent history of the brand to answer.
The Announced Movies
This is a question that has been directly addressed by those behind the franchise. On the slate of upcoming Star Wars content, there are several movies in production – including both a continuation to the Mandalorian and a sequel to the sequels themselves, with Daisy Ridley at the forefront. However, announced movies themselves are not movies. Looking over this slate and remembering the history of previous Star Wars announcements can quickly reveal how easily these projects can be canceled, meaning that an announcement doesn’t necessarily mean anything until production is well underway.
Success in Other Mediums
As mentioned previously, Star Wars is still seeing a lot of content produced, but a lot of this is now in the form of TV series. While these hit the ground running with the acclaimed early seasons of The Mandalorian, later entries and other series have found a more mixed and unpredictable reception, with many of these shows looking to develop the same kind of shared universe that audiences might be familiar with through Marvel.
Star Wars video games are also still incredibly popular, as they have been for decades. While you might first think of games like Jedi: Survivor or the Battlefront series, mobile titles have also proven lucrative. Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes, Star Wars Hunters, not to mention the slew of ports of older games that can be found on mobile – it’s a platform ripe for exploration. Freemium games and casino games like Crazy Vegas have shown how successful smartphone gaming can be, making it no wonder that Disney has embraced it.
Movies as a Medium
This isn’t a question that’s unique to Star Wars. The movie industry as a whole is a shifting landscape, far from the often-guaranteed money-makers that they once were. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the industry is dying or doomed to fail, but it is much more precarious and difficult to predict than it once was, meaning that Disney is likely looking to be careful to avoid another flop.
While the Star Wars series found on Disney Plus have undoubtedly been popular, this doesn’t always necessarily translate to box office success. This careful and considered approach naturally translates into a longer development time for movies – primarily to find out which kind of angle is worth pursuing in the first place.