Disney announces new ‘Star Wars’ trilogy
LOS ANGELES: The galaxy far, far away is expanding further on screen with a new trilogy of Star Wars films outside of the ongoing Skywalker saga, Walt Disney Co said on Thursday, to be overseen by Rian Johnson, the director of the franchise’s upcoming film The Last Jedi.
Johnson, 43, would write and direct the first of a new Star Wars trilogy that would bring new characters and worlds not yet explored on screen, Disney said.
“He’s a creative force, and watching him craft The Last Jedi from start to finish was one of the great joys of my career. Rian will do amazing things with the blank canvas of this new trilogy,” Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm, said.
Disney said no release dates had been set for the new trilogy.
In addition to the new film trilogy, Disney’s chief executive officer Bob Iger said a Star Wars live-action TV series was also being developed for the company’s upcoming streaming service.
Johnson was brought on to write and direct the second film in Disney’s rebooted trilogy of the Skywalker stories, which George Lucas first brought to screen in 1977.
The final installment in the current trilogy,
Star Wars: Episode IX, will be written and directed by J.J. Abrams, and scheduled for release in December 2019.
Disney is also making three standalone
Star Wars films outside of the Skywalker saga, including last year’s Rogue One and next year’s Solo: A Star Wars Story, following the origins of the charming roguish smuggler Han Solo, made famous by Harrison Ford in the film franchise. Reuters