Those Star Wars Standalone Movies Might Not Be In Jeopardy After All

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In addition to making new Star Wars movies set in the main saga, Lucasfilm has also been releasing standalone Star Wars "stories" since the studio was incorporated into the Disney family. Rogue One kicked off this initiative at the end of 2016, and Solo followed last month. While Rogue One was both a critical and commercial success, Solo, despite earning many positive reviews, has been a box office disappointment. Keeping that in mind, it was rumored yesterday that plans for future Star Wars spinoffs have been put on hold in order to focus on Episode IX and the next set of "main" films that will follow, but more information has come to light suggesting this isn't the case.

According to sources from Lucasfilm who spoke with ABC News, the report that the company has pressed the pause button on Star Wars spinoffs in the wake of Solo's underwhelming commercial performance is "inaccurate." Rather, there are "multiple" Star Wars movies in development that haven't been officially announced yet, and they do not include the trilogy being overseen by The Last Jedi director nor the series of films that have Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss at the helm. Lucasfilm wouldn't disclose any details about these other Star Wars movies, but evidently they're still on the way rather than being put into carbon freeze.

As things stand now, following the release of Episode IX, Lucasfilm has a release date carved out in 2020 that was expected to be for one of these spinoffs, but the studio has remained silent not just on what this third spinoff will be, but what other spinoffs are officially in consideration. That said, two spinoffs that have frequently been reported on are the Obi-Wan Kenobi movie and the Boba Fett movie. Yesterday's report claimed that the individuals who were supposedly working on the Obi-Wan movie (which Billy Elliot's Stephen Daldry was in talks to direct at one point) are no longer involved on the project. As for the Boba Fett movie, it was reported last month that Logan director James Mangold had been hired to helm it, although supposedly it won't be ready in time to occupy that 2020 release date.

Whatever is really going on with the Star Wars spinoffs, I certainly wouldn't blame Lucasfilm for taking a moment to reconsider its game plan following Solo's time at the box office. That being said, Solo had a number of factors working against it, from the directorial shuffle in the middle of principal photography to that May release date (coming out a few weeks after Avengers: Infinity War). And since Rogue One was so successful, it's not like this experiment with these "stories" is by any means a failure. If we're to believe this latest update, it sounds like Lucasfilm hasn't given up on these particular films despite reports to the contrary, although who knows when we'll learn what the next release is.

Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for all the latest news concerning the Star Wars films, including Episode IX, which arrives in theaters on December 20, 2019.