If you haven't been living under a rock for the past year or so, you know that "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is the film that is going to launch a brand new trilogy of "Star Wars" films.
The first "Star Wars" standalone film is set to open December 16, 2016. That first movie could be anything, and we're all waiting with bated breath to see what it is. We've previously heard that Lucasfilm will eventually get to the point of releasing two "Star Wars" films a year. In a recent shareholders report, Disney CEO Bob Iger talked about seeing footage from "The Force Awakens," and also confirmed the years that Rian Johnson's Episodes VIII and IX will be released. He also teases that this might not be the only trilogy we see:
"As one of the few people allowed to visit the set during filming...and one of the fewer who's seen most of the footage...I can assure the millions of 'Star Wars' fans who have spent the last decade hoping for a new movie this one will be worth the wait. And it's only the beginning of a new era of exceptional 'Star Wars' storytelling; next year we'll release our first standalone movie based on these characters, followed by 'Star Wars: Episode VIII' in 2017, and we'll finish this trilogy with 'Episode IX' in 2019."
One of the more interesting aspects of this statement is how he refers to "Episode IX" as being the end of "this trilogy." That term implies that they are planning for more, which would make complete sense in the grand scheme of things. As long as these films continue to be wildly popular and make tons of cash, the saga will keep on going ad infinitum. And as long as the films themselves are quality, I don't think you'll be hearing too many objections from me or anyone else.
Thanks to Screen Crush for the heads up.
