It looks like Disney may be tightening the purse strings on futureStar Warsmovies. The franchise remains largely mysterious, in terms of what will happen on the big screen in the coming years. We know Lucasfilm will be making more movies set in a galaxy far, far away, it’s just that nothing has been confirmed about them, officially speaking. Whatever shape they ultimately take, don’t be surprised if they are smaller in scale.
According to a new report,Lucasfilm has some creative shiftson the way. Among those shifts will be shrinking budgets on newStar Warsmovies. This doesn’t seem to have anything to do with a lack of faith in the franchise. The report indicates that it has to do with the global economic downturn. Disney has been hit particularly hard. Considering that blockbusters like these can cost hundreds of millions, it seems like a reasonable place to try and cut costs, if at all possible. And, given the recent history ofStar Wars, it definitely seems possible.
The Rise of Skywalker, which was directed by J.J. Abrams and wrapped the Skywalker saga, came with a reported budget of $275 million. That is tremendously expensive. There’s also the matter ofSolo, which had an overly-inflated budget, since the movie was essentially shot twice. Once under the direction of Phil Lord and Chris Miller, and again once Ron Howard stepped in. The budget for that movie was also said to be in the $275 million range, all told. When taking into account the lacklusterbox officefor the Han Solo standalone, that’s brutal. Even in the case ofRogue One, which was by all accounts a big success, the budget was in the $200 million range.
Point being, these are very expensive movies to make, even byHollywood blockbuster standards. Even $100 million, for example, would be a huge budget and could accomplish a lot, but would be smaller, relative to other recentStar Wars. Relativity is important here. This is not to say that, with a creative pitch, a genuinely micro-budgetStar Warsmovie couldn’t happen. But that is not, generally speaking, what drives the franchise. The upside is with reduced budgets comes reduced financial pressure. It could allow for more creativity and different types of stories within the universe. With less financial pressure, Lucasfilm can afford to take more creative risks.
For now,Disneyis focusing on live-action shows for Disney+.The Mandalorianseason 2 is set to arrive in October, with the Obi-Wan Kenobi series and the Cassian AndorRogue Oneprequel gearing up for production. On the movie side, Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok,Jojo Rabbit) has been tapped to co-write and directed a newStar Warsentry. No plot details have been revealed, but Lucasfilm previously confirmed that they will be moving away from the Skywalker saga. Rumors have persisted of a project set during the Old Republic, though that has yet to be confirmed. We’ll be sure to keep you posted as any further details are made available. This news comes to us viaMaking Star Wars.
