Speculation So after the new trilogy is done... (AKA What will Star Wars look like in 20 years?)

It's been 36 years, and Star Wars isn't even close to running out of steam. I think it's a safe bet to say that this universe will continue to resonate with people for a very long time. Disney knows this, and I'm sure they intend to keep making Star Wars films well into the next decade and beyond.

We know that we're getting a new trilogy taking place Post-ROTJ, we know we're getting spinoff films. Thus, a new era has been established for the Star Wars films. But what will happen next? If a Sequel Trilogy is a logical and relatively conservative first step for Disney, then what will happen after they've dipped their toes in the water?

My guess is that:

A) They will continue the story with episodes X,XI,and XII, turning Star Wars into a James Bond-ish never ending chronicle of the Skywalker clan, or


B) They will press the "reset" button on the series and, without erasing the pre-existing film canon, start completely anew and use the framework of the universe to create totally fresh experiences.

Personally, I'm hoping for the latter. I'm thrilled for the sequel trilogy, but I don't want the episodes to be never-ending, because they were never meant to be. Extending 3 films past ROTJ is already stretching the intended life of the saga, any more would dilute GL's vision completely.

But, similar to the trajectory of superhero films growing increasingly experimental in the past 10 years, I'd like to think Disney will have the guts and vision (or hire someone who does) to do something truly fresh and game-changing with the franchise.

I know it hurts the brain to try and think that far ahead when we hardly know anything about the ST era films as it is, but I wanna hear all y'all's thoughts regardless.

Tap into your inner Yoda. What do you see this franchise becoming?

 

Probably just the usual: Continuing on the saga but with another batch of skywalker *that is unless kill off the new hero in the ending of episode 9 thus preventing any more skywalkers to be created*

 

Clouded is the Star Wars future it is, but I think we are going to get expanded universe spin-off movies!!!!!!!

Maybe we can get hundreds of Star Wars movies just like DC and Marvel are turning there comic books into animated movies!!!! God knows how many!!!

 

Good question!

It's hard to say, really. I think it IS possible that people will eventually start to lose interest. If they go overboard with the franchise, in particular.

However, I think it's safe to say that Star Wars will be around for years to come!

 

A Skywalker saga - 9 or 12 films.
A couple of spin-offs from that era. eg Boba / Han / Yoda etc.
Then a new saga - set either long before or after.

But hopefully not too much - no overkill like they did with trek years ago where there were loads of tv series and films every couple of years. Part of the charm of star wars is having cliff hanger endings etc and having the build up to the next film. I dont want to be saturated with star wars.

No reboot/remake. There is sufficient room to explore the gffa and not do this.

 

once episode IX is done, i'd like to see, at minimum, new special editions of Episodes I-VI that update the films in a more tasteful way than what Lucas did with the last batch of SEs. Use CGI to ENHANCE and UPDATE the films, but don't make it a DISTRACTION. Update every single SFX and battle scene to with quality effects on the same level as those used in VII-IX. Update the digital sets in AOTC to make them look more real and less like CGI sets. Perhaps add a scene of vader talking with the Emperor in ANH, make jar-jar less annoying, digitally take out jake lloyd and replace him with a good actor. re-edit portions of TPM to make the movie move at a quicker pace. Give us a qui-gon force ghost! Some of those ideas would never happen, but id love if they could make enough changes to the movies to make the entire saga, at minimum, visually consistent.

Afterwards, i'd like to see an entirely new saga thats epic in LOTR proportions. Possibly a KOTOR series where each movie is 3-1/2 hours of total awesomeness.

I'd be interested in star wars movies that explored different genres - a spy film, a political thriller, a romantic comedy, a mobster flick, a horror film. How awesome would that be?

 

Remake the OT using puppets and buckets of blood.

 

If I was a betting man, I’d also think it’d be the latter of the two options the OP put forward. I mentioned this in another thread, but the reason that so many franchises—James Bond, Star Trek, Batman, Spider-Man, Halloween, etc—end up rebooting themselves, beyond the whole idea of “that last movie was terrible so let’s shake it up a bit,” is that they started to get weighed down under the weight of their own mythologies. After 9 movies, a TV show, and countless EU stories, Disney is going to ask a question: “Now what?” Especially when you consider the fact that the Skywalkers are firmly associated with the franchise in the public conscious, and the end of Episode IX will most likely end that story.

I myself would reboot the saga on TV and tell a new version of the story of Anakin Skywalker in a weekly, live action drama (hour long episodes).

 

option c new timeline and family

Kotor and Revans story in a new series of trilogies (his fall, his redemption, the sith Empire in two trilogies (one involving him getting old, the next a new gen))

 

Perhaps a new focus un the eu. underworld could go on for a while.

 

I don't think there will ever be a reboot but I wouldn't mind if they remade the prequels a decade or 2 down the road... and made it to fit the original trilogy better!!

 

I'd want them to continue forward in the same continuity, and without a reboot. Also, I don't think they necessarily have to all focus on the Skywalkers.

 

It's interesting that you are asking this question - before the Big Deal was announced, I was wondering where and when Star Wars (the Expanded Universe) would end.(I even though about making a thread here, but forgot or was too lazy.)
I had a line from Spaceballs in my ear about "Rocky 5000". With the recent increase of new SW books, I was wondering if Star Wars would still be around 100 years after the OT, when people may have forgotten about the origin of the books. And I wondered if I would want it that way or if I'd prefer an end and no continuing after that - ever.

Well, now SW has been given a huge boost by the ST and everyone is talking about it again. What will come after the ST? The Sequel Sequel Trilogy? I can still see Episode X-XII being made, but somehow I hope it won't continue after that. As much as I like SW, I would prefer it to be continued on a smaller scale, such as books or TV shows, instead of giving us one blockbuster after another, then releasing each one again in 3D, then giving us a Special Editions and who knows what else.
However, that makes me wonder: If the ST should retcon the entire EU up to this point and new books, TV shows and games are released based on the ST (and SST), would we end up with two separate EUs?

 

Man, I really don't want these one shot spinoffs. All I smell is diluted and meaningless stories ahead. I think it could ruin Star Wars, if you ask me.

What this franchise needs to focus on is adult themed high adventures that are based on different eras of the galaxy and involve important characters that effect its past, present and future. What they don't need is a movie concerning a bounty hunter's career or some smuggler running spice runs.

Star Wars is mainly about the Force, and if you exclude that, then you might as well call it some other science fiction movie.

 

I disagree. Some of Star Wars is a western. Some of the best plots are bounty hunter centric. A decent han solo film would be an awesome space western. Some of the spin offs can focus on a jedi character, so the force plays a role.

 

Disney said they'd be making a Star Wars film every 2-3 years. Why assume that they're going to stop after episode 9 and wait for ages before eventually making another trilogy (the Lucas method.) Maybe Disney plan to do just what they said they'd do. A film every 3 years from 2015 onwards which may or may not be part of a trilogy/saga.

 

I'd rather see it go on in James Bond style. However they're going to have to work out better titles because "Episode XXIV" would look pretty dumb.

 

Make a fish-out-of-water comedy where a Jedi and Sith lord accidently get teleported to modern day Manhattan.

 

it would not look dumb at all....if the movies are good......and if they wait like 15 years before making them.

They will not be made for you....they will be made for the future SW fans....who will be like us.....wishing for the next BIG Three of Four from the ST to grace the screen again.

 

I must (partially) disagree with you. One of the biggest strengths of the Star Wars IP is the sheer versatility of it. The main films mix a variety of genres like fantasy, war, western, crime, etc.

Because of this, the viewer get a sense that there are a near-infinite amount of stories that could be told, each unique in tone and style. You can absolutely make an interesting crime film, political thriller, or war epic set with Star Wars as a backdrop. I've even pondered what a story like Les Miserables would look like if it took place on Coruscant (Answer: It would be pretty amazing). The possibilities are endless.

Does that mean that every possibility should be explored? Absolutely not. Not only will the series hit a major rut of franchise fatigue, but the universe will be unrepairably diluted if Disney were exploit every bit of potential this series has. In that senses do agree with you. The spinoffs should be few, they should be special, and they should really count as artistically unique endeavors in their own right.

 

Yeah, I like all these things, but I want them included in an epic trilogy and not wasted in some bounty hunter storyline. Bottom line is, I just don't want them to use up good ideas on a bunch of one shots, that's all.

 

A lot of pre PT EU contradicted the movies quite a bit, but they're still considered canon... currently. Of course, getting into the EU/ST compatability... I don't think it'll work as well this time due ot major events (Chewie dying, Palpatine resurrecting himself, etc)

 

It's really interesting to think what 2033 will be like. Episode 9 would be 12 years old by then, I'm sure the series will still be popular. Maybe more spin off films? I doubt they'd go past Episode 12 In the main series of films.

 

The most important job LucasFilm / Disney have in front of them at the moment is, of course, attending to the Skywalker saga. The ST will consist of films which will garner major, blockbuster earnings and though Episodes 10-12 may be in our future (depending on the outcome of the storyline of 7-9), as it stands now, I think Episodes VII, VIII and IX will wrap the story of the Skywalker family for the foreseeable future.

The most fun job for the filmmakers may be the stand-alone pictures that have been confirmed. Being loosed from some of the constraints of the 'episodes,' while being allowed to run free in the Star Wars galaxy will be a dream come true for a lot of folks and should be a fairly-guaranteed money-maker for LucasFilm / Disney.

Beyond the Skywalker story and the spate of more immediate stand-alones, I think we will be in for new storylines which will span multiple films (be they trilogies or sets of six or even nine pictures again). I can imagine that these multiple-feature stories will continue to be Star Wars' bread-and-butter for a time, with the attendant stand-alones serving to keep the franchise in theatres in between the 'big' movies.

If I had to guess, following the completion of the ST and the first round of stand-alones (OT/ST characters would be my bet), the next big storyline will be an "Old Republic" trilogy with any number of stand-alones from this era attached at the hip.

Of course, this is only taking into account Star Wars films. There will always be collectibles and other merchandise, comics and novels, television and an internet

presence. LucasFilm has seen to that on their own. The added resources behind Disney's involvement only ensure a continued SW omnipresemce in popular culture. Star Wars Land theme park, anybody? I could see it becoming a reality before long.

One thing we can be certain of is that LucasFilm / Disney are formulating a strategy which addresses this very question as we speak.

 

I'm thinking the episodes will release in three year intervals just like they always have. In between each of these intervals will be a few stand alone films based on minor characters or untouched places/stories/themes. After episode 9 is released, I think they will have a 5 to 8 year break on the episodes in order to plan for another big trilogy. There will be more spin off movies in the meantime to keep us occupied, but probably not as much. Then in the last few years before episode 10 they will stop making spin offs to ensure that a newfound interest for it and the SST will build up. Overall I think Disney will go a route like this as long as its profitable.

In terms of books and video games, there will be more than ever before because of all the crap ton of movies that are gonna be made. At the very least we are certain to get Star Wars Battlefront 3, which I still very much wish was released.

My only worry about all of this is that when is it too much? I know that after buying almost every Call of Duty game after they're released every year, that franchise has gotten as sterile and dull as any can be. A series that's only put out each year with as little effort as possible for maximum monies.

It's clear that it will take a lot to dry the well of Star Wars, a lot more than a cliche shooting franchise like CoD. But this could of course happen to any franchise, my only question is is this the eventual future of SW? And if so, when will it become like that? Needless to say, it makes me nervous. After all, Disney is all about profit.