The Star Wars sequel trilogy has not gone well, let’s be honest. It’s made a profit, though never quite hitting the levels The Force Awakens managed. The vast majority of Star Wars fans I come across are unhappy with some aspect of this most recent trilogy. For some, it’s that they didn’t follow up Rian Johnson’s amazing movie in the finale. For others, it’s that Johnson made such a mess of his movie Lucasfilm were left scrambling for an ending that would work. Some may have been turned off immediately by how much of a copy The Force Awakens was of A New Hope. However, I rarely come across many fans that are happy with Disney’s output completely, and prefer to see Lucasfilm carry on the way they’ve been going.

What’s next for the movie side of this franchise is very much up in the air. TV, on the other hand, is a different story. The Mandalorian has been pretty well received and plans are locked down for a new show starring Diego Luna as Cassian Andor once more. Not to mention the supposedly still happening, but slightly delayed Obi-Wan centric show. For now, then, it seems like the TV/streaming future is much brighter than that of the movie side.

Bob Iger, CEO of Disney broached this subject with investors on Tuesday after the company presented their quarterly figures. Courtesy of Variety we learned that Iger said they were exploring “the possibility of infusing The Mandalorian with more characters and taking those characters in their own directions in terms of series.” Iger also said Star Wars would “take a bit of a hiatus in terms of theatrical releases, the priority in the next few years is television.”

To be honest, I think this is the right call, until they get their house together and come up with some very good ideas for new movies.

RELATED: Star Wars: Should Kathleen Kennedy Get The Boot?

The Rise of Skywalker is (so far) the lowest-performing financially of all three sequel trilogy movies. That’s extremely unusual for what is supposed to be the end of the story. This surely speaks to audiences who enjoyed The Force Awakens getting less enthused by the story of this trilogy as it moved along. Or alternatively that some of these fans watched The Force Awakens and decided this new trilogy was not for them right at the start. Currently, we are seeing what appears to be an anomalous performance for The Force Awakens compared to other movies Disney has released. Perhaps this was down to fans simply hoping things would be better under Disney and then deciding they were not?

Whatever the reason, Disney will understand that performance is currently below expectation and something needs to change. It’s a smart movie to focus on the TV side for a few years until they have all their ducks in a row for the movies. Fans are eager to see The Mandalorian Season 2, and Obi-Wan’s show. I don’t get the same feeling of expectation around the Cassian Andor focussed show, but let’s wait and see on that one.

Right now, I want to see someone brought in who pitches a great idea for an ongoing story set in a different time period from all the current movies. Most importantly though, I want these creatives to be allowed time to actually develop the story, not just a single script. I don’t want to see them start another story where no one has any idea how and when it will end. We have already been there and whilst some will disagree, I believe the lack of a plan was the source of many of the sequel trilogy’s problems.

I’m also not buying that anyone at Disney believes the mantra that they have ‘oversaturated’ the market. You cannot say that and then sit back and ignore the far greater, and more successful, output of Marvel Studios just around the office next door. Lack of quality, poor choice of creatives to work on the movies, and some poor management from Kathleen Kennedy and Bob Iger. Reasons I feel factored into why Star Wars hasn’t been quite the massive behemoth at the box office that Disney hoped for. It is time for a change of leadership, and in my opinion that needs to happen before they plan the next steps for theatrical releases. Check out my analysis of Kathleen Kennedy’s time as Lucasfilm president in the related section above, for a more detailed discussion.

For now, lets us know what you think of Iger’s comments and whether this is the right call or the wrong call for Disney to make? You know the usual spot below.

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SOURCE: Variety

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