Last week, Deadline broke the news that a new Star Wars trilogy is in the works at Disney, with longtime X-Men movie writer, producer, and director Simon Kinberg set to write and produce.
Kinberg is a bit of an odd choice as an overseer for this project. He has worked on some well-liked films, like X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Martian, Logan, and the first two Deadpools. But there are way more stinkers than hits in his filmography. Kinberg wrote and/or produced Jumper, Fantastic Four (2015), Chappie, X-Men: Apocalypse, and The New Mutants, which are pretty universally disliked. His two directorial efforts, Dark Phoenix and The 355, both bombed with critics and audiences.
It makes sense that Disney would, eventually, end up here. Disney announced plans for a trilogy of new films, with Rian Johnson set to write and direct, back in November 2017. That was, notably, a month before the release of The Last Jedi. Disney believed in Johnson’s vision for the series and wanted to bet big on it… until The Last Jedi actually came out and became one of the most controversial movies in the history of the internet.
Since then, Disney has turned to filmmakers like Jon Favreau, Simon Kinberg, and James Mangold instead – guys with a long history making Hollywood movies without much particular point of view. Steady hands working toward uninteresting visions.
Another Star Wars Trilogy We’ll Never See
Of course, none of this matters. Kinberg’s Star Wars trilogy will absolutely never exist. Since it took over ownership of the Star Wars IP from George Lucas in 2012, Disney has announced far more Star Wars movies than it has actually produced. In addition to Johnson’s, Disney has announced, then canceled (or put on “indefinite hold“) films from Colin Trevorrow, Taika Waititi, Game of Thrones’ David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (another planned trilogy), and Patty Jenkins (though this one has reportedly resumed development).
Other films, helmed by Kevin Feige, Guillermo del Toro, and Damon Lindeloff were reportedly in various stages of development before being canceled. At this point, signing up to make a Star Wars movie is like Charlie Brown charging full speed at a football.
Disney has also canceled TV projects, like The Rangers of the New Republic (a Mandalorian spin-off focused on Cara Dune) and The Acolyte, following a divisive first season.
Listening To Fans Has Hurt The Franchise
In the process, Disney has catered to the loudest members of its audience at the expense of the rest of us. In response to online backlash to The Last Jedi, Disney attempted to sand off every rough edge for The Rise of Skywalker. Instead of a divisive movie, it ended up with one that basically everyone hated.
Since then, it’s had no idea how to proceed. Can’t win with vision, can’t win with pandering. As a result, there hasn’t been a Star Wars movie in five years. In that same period of time, there have been seven-and-a-half seasons of live-action Star Wars Disney+ shows.
The half comes from The Mandalorian, which was midway through its first season when The Rise of Skywalker premiered.
Some of those shows have been good (Andor, the first two seasons of The Mandalorian), and some have been abysmal (Obi-Wan Kenobi), but all of them have been TV shows, not movies. Disney spent a whole lot of money getting the Star Wars rights and has spent a whole lot more producing these shows, and yet, Disney+ is a money-losing enterprise, as are most streaming services. Disney is devoting seemingly endless piles of cash to making new TV shows, but can’t get a movie, which could actually make money, off the ground.
I’ve never seen a movie studio this afraid to make a decision. With Kinberg’s hiring, it might seem like it finally has. Don’t be fooled. In a year or two, we’ll find out that this new trilogy is on “indefinite hold”. In a way, so is Star Wars.
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