Photo Credit: Matt Petit/AMPAS
From Marvel to Star Wars. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige is developing a Star Wars movie, Walt Disney Studios Co-Chairman and Chief Creative Officer Alan Horn has confirmed. Feige has reportedly also told “a major actor” that he would have a role to play in his Star Wars film if and when it does get made. Feige's Star Wars project is in addition to the film series in development from former Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the trilogy in the works from Star Wars: The Last Jedi writer-director Rian Johnson, and the live-action prequel series centred on Rogue One's Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor).
“We are excited about the projects [Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy] and the Lucasfilm team are working on, not only in terms of Star Wars but also Indiana Jones and reaching into other parts of the company including Children of Blood and Bone with Emma Watts and Fox,” Horn told The Hollywood Reporter. “With the close of the Skywalker Saga, Kathy is pursuing a new era in Star Wars storytelling, and knowing what a die-hard fan Kevin is, it made sense for these two extraordinary producers to work on a Star Wars film together.”
People familiar with the matter told THR that Feige had discussed Star Wars with Kennedy, Horn, and Disney Co-Chairman Alan Bergman in the past few months. Feige has been a long-time, die-hard fan of Star Wars, which works for Lucasfilm as the long-running Skywalker saga comes to a close this December with Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker. Kennedy is on the lookout for new Star Wars projects, and having an in-house — both Marvel and Lucasfilm are owned by Disney — established producer, who's generated over $22.5 billion (about Rs. 1.6 lakh crores) with 23 films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is a boon.
While Feige has turned Marvel into a burgeoning behemoth after multiple early missteps, Kennedy has been unable to expand Star Wars in the same fashion. All of Rogue One, Solo, and Episode IX have faced trouble during development and direction, with the films either replacing directors publicly or privately in all three cases. And though Rogue One was nevertheless a critical and commercial success, the second standalone Star Wars story, Solo, failed both critically and commercially. That was enough for Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger to slow things down and rethink its Star Wars strategy.
Next in the Star Wars universe is Jon Favreau-created The Mandalorian, the first-ever live-action Star Wars series, out November 12 on Disney+. There's no release platform for India yet. Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker then opens December 20 in theatres worldwide. Star Wars movies will go on a bit of a hiatus after that until December 2022, when Benioff and Weiss premiere their first of the lot. But you can expect to see both the Rogue One and Obi-Wan series before that on Disney+, as Iger hinted once.
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