Disney CEO Confirms a “Slowdown” in Star Wars Films Following Episode IX

There is no one in the entertainment industry that wields more power than Disney CEO Bob Iger. Not only is the most elite in the animation industry under his umbrella thanks to Disney's relationship with Pixar, he's also got Marvel and all of Lucasfilm at his beck and call.

Iger is the guy who made sure that Solo hit its May 25, 2018 release date, causing all manner of budget overruns to finish the film in time. We could argue all day about whether or not that ultimately hurt the film, but he put his foot down and got the biggest franchise in the known universe to fall in line.

The point of all of this is to say that he's a powerful man, and he now knows that his initial plans for a Star Wars film every year until we're all dead in the ground weren't just ambitious, they were saturating a market that's used to waiting patiently for new films.

In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Iger says that he's pumping the brakes on future feature film plans to prevent Star Wars fatigue...

I made the timing decision, and as I look back, I think the mistake that I made — I take the blame — was a little too much, too fast. You can expect some slowdown, but that doesn't mean we're not going to make films. J.J. [Abrams] is busy making [Episode] IX. We have creative entities, including [Game of Thrones creators David] Benioff and [D.B.] Weiss, who are developing sagas of their own, which we haven't been specific about. And we are just at the point where we're going to start making decisions about what comes next after J.J.'s. But I think we're going to be a little bit more careful about volume and timing. And the buck stops here on that.

This is a breath of fresh air for Star Wars fans. Better project selection, less saturation, and fewer release dates set years in advance are all good steps in the right direction for this franchise to remain a vital part of popular culture.