This year, after a break of almost seven years, star Wars returns to the main screen. It’s the third-largest window among live-action films in the business, with the two longest being 16 years apart. Return of the Jedi again The Phantom Menace and 10 years in between Sithi’s Revenge again The Force Awakens. However, this latest wait feels very different, and it made us wonder, is there a fair, tried and true period to go through star Wars movies?
To put the current context of the seven-year wait, we must look to the past. The reason those two long windows are so long is that, in both cases, star Wars it was over. After Jediand after that We sayGeorge Lucas covered the entire book with the story. However, this time it was not.
In 2019, Rise of Skywalker it may have been the end of “The Skywalker Saga,” but no one considered it the end Star Wars. Everyone knew it would come back. It was just a question of when. So although seven years is shorter than 16 and 10, it somehow carries more weight. In the middle Jedi again Phantomas well as We say again He woke up forcefullysurely people keep talking star Warsbut there were desires and considerations more than anything else.
Part of that is because the fans were used to it. During both the first season and the prequel trilogies, waiting and arguing star Wars movies were the name of the game. Three years passed between the first, second, and third films of each trilogy, giving the filmmakers time to make movies and fans to obsess over them. That has risen to another level in previous years The Phantom Menaceespecially with the advent of the internet. However, Lucasfilm still waited three years between each film even then, allowing audiences to sit with one film as they eagerly await the next.
Expectations around you star Wars it was without a doubt the best part star Wars. Then came Disney.
Starting with the 2015 release Power Awakenss, fans got five star Wars films in five years. And, while most of them had a full year in between, in the case of Aloneit was just six months. Two new ones star Wars films six months apart. It is still unclear. And that’s when the crunch took a lot of the fun out of it. Rumors, trailers, magazine features, everything was so condensed and lumped together that it lost its luster. It was a lot star Wars so quickly that excitement, understandably and inevitably, began to wane. So, on time Rise of Skywalker we got out, got a little burnt. That the movie failed to meet expectations didn’t help.
Yes, that was just the beginning. After Rise of Skywalker, star Wars he didn’t stop. Turned to the new system. From the end of 2019 the release of The Mandalorian, star Wars became a broadcasting franchise. Now, in addition to not having to wait long, we didn’t even have to leave our house. There is no queuing. There are no advanced tickets. No social experience at all. Just new Star Wars, every few months, it bubbles. And it was a lot of Star Wars.
Between 2019 and today, Lucasfilm has released seven live-action shows, with 10 seasons between them, and six animated shows with about 18 seasons between them. (And that’s not even counting new episodes of The Clone WarsNew star Wars it was as normal as breathing, and, with that, some of the magic was gone.
Which brings us to this year. In May, The Mandalorian and the Grogu you will be the first star Wars movie released since 2019. Then, next year, it will be followed by Star Wars: The Starfighter. We can all agree that seven years is too long for what is just another random chapter in the story. But we can probably also agree that after seven years, suddenly finding two seemingly unrelated, independent films in back-to-back years reverts to that old dangerous pattern. Maybe these two movies, especially if they’re good, will make it work this time. Maybe seven years of waiting gives them the same success The Force Awakens again Rogue One. But maybe it doesn’t happen.
And, with new leadership now at the helm of Lucasfilm, the franchise is reportedly returning to being a theatrical phenomenon. We’d be very surprised if a movie a year doesn’t become the norm again. It will be necessary, especially with nearly a dozen movies in various stages of development.
So what is the magic number? Is there a magic number? Well, three years seemed perfect, but we don’t think that will happen again. One year, on the other hand, is probably more common. Can Disney and Lucasfilm afford to wait two years in between star Wars movies? Probably not. But, we think, it can be a good thing in the long run.
Looking for more io9 news? Check out when you can expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe in film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
