Favreau entering Star Wars universe
NEW YORK — That galaxy far, far away keeps expanding. In the latest in a flurry of Star Wars spinoffs, the Walt Disney Co. announced Thursday that Jon Favreau will write and executive produce a live-action Star Wars series for the company’s planned streaming platform.
Disney is readying a streaming service to compete with Netflix, and it has signalled that Star Wars will be a major component. The not-yet-named service is planned to launch in late 2019.
“Jon brings the perfect mix of producing and writing talent, combined with a fluency in the Star Wars universe,” said Kathleen Kennedy, Lucasfilm president, in a statement. “This series will allow Jon the chance to work with a diverse group of writers and directors and give Lucasfilm the opportunity to build a robust talent base.”
Favreau has been a Disney regular, having directed the first two Iron Man films for Marvel and 2016’s The Jungle Book. He also helped produce several Avengers movies. He’s currently prepping a Lion King remake to be released in 2019.
He has some Star Wars experience, too, having provided a voice for The Clone Wars animated series. Favreau also has a role in the upcoming Han Solo spinoff Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Disney has previously announced that The Last Jedi writerdirector Rian Johnson is developing a new Star Wars film trilogy, and that Game of Thrones creators D.B. Weiss and David Benioff will write and produce a separate series of Star Wars films.