Get ready for a whole lot of STAR WARS!

In galaxy far, far away known as Las Vegas, CinemaCon is in full swing, with last night seeing Disney getting their presentation on. And the House of Mouse certainly didn’t waste any time in dropping the bombshells as they have now confirmed that starting from 2015, we’ll have a new Star Wars movie released every single year!

Obviously things will be kicking off in the (US) summer of 2015 with the JJ Abrams directed, Michael Arndt penned Episode VI, which if all the buzz is true (and it certainly seems that way) will see the original three stars – Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford – reprising their respective roles as Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia Organa and Han Solo. And one year from then will then see a standalone film that will focus on either new and previously unexplored characters/settings, or if the rumours are true, a prequel origin story for either Han Solo, Boba Fett and Master Yoda. That will then be followed by Episode VII, then another standalone, then another Episode and so on and so forth until Disney/Lucasfilm eventually gets tired of counting all the money they’re going to make.

Now personally, while I worship at the altar of Star Wars, I think that Disney is getting dangerously close to dropping the ball here. This much oversaturation could potentially sour some fans. The trick to keeping them – and by them, I mean me – happy is going to be in who Disney/Lucasfilm gets to do these standalone films.

It would be quite nice if the main Episodes could have the JJ Abramses doing exactly what you would expect from a Star Wars film, while the standalones gave creators a bit more leeway to have their style suit the subject matter: A dark and twisted tale of the Sith by Guillermo Del Toro, or a gritty smuggler’s tale by Joe Carnahan, for example. Original Star Wars trilogy scribe Lawrence Kasdan and X-Men series writer and producer Simon Kinberg have officially been brought in to help out on the story for Episode VII, but rumours abound that they are working on at least one of the standalone scripts as well.

None of this is of course new news, but this is the first time that it’s been admitted officially by Disney. It’s also the first time that 2015 has been given as a definite date for Episode VII, despite the fact that JJ Abrams hasn’t yet committed to it. If that date of summer 2015 does happen, then expect Disney to start practicing their Scrooge McDuck money swim as they will be hitting the box office with the monstrous tag team of Episode VII and The Avengers 2.

Now irrespective of what the quality of the actual movie is like, it’s almost guaranteed that Episode VII will be a financial success, purely because of its name and already massive fan base. However, quality, and consistent quality at that, is what will ensure that this crazy ambitious plan actually works.

What do you guys think? Will Disney/Lucasfilm kill off the franchise with their Star Wars barrage or do you say the more the merrier and they should just bring it on?

Last Updated: April 18, 2013