The promotion machine for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is in full swing today and RollingStone has released a new interview with Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy about the future of the franchise.
She admits that they haven’t decided on the next film and that Kevin Feige’s (Marvel Studios head and Marvel chief creative officer) project isn’t happening anytime soon.
ROLLING STONE: Certainly whatever movie comes after this, if it’s unconnected to the Skywalker saga, that’s one of the biggest challenges in the history of the franchise. Until now, pretty much everything has been in some ways connected to the original story. What are your thoughts on that?
KENNEDY: “It’s an incredible challenge, and it is something that we’re in the middle of, and I can’t even begin to tell you where this may end up, because I think you are absolutely right. I think whatever this next movie is, and how it begins to define a new way forward, it’s something we want to take plenty of time and plenty of conversation and careful thought before deciding exactly what we’re going to do.”
ROLLING STONE: So you truly haven’t yet decided what’s next?
KENNEDY: “No. We’ve got various things we’re looking at and various ways in which we can begin or not. As you can imagine. You know, do you go back? Do you go forward? All those questions are being asked. Do we stay in this galaxy? Do we go to another? The universe is never-ending. [Laughs.] The good news and the bad news. They have endless possibilities. It’s liberating, it’s exciting, and it creates a lot of pressure and anxiety as well.”
ROLLING STONE: How did Marvel’s Kevin Feige come into the mix?
KENNEDY: “Kevin has been a huge fan of Star Wars, and he’s made that pretty clear. And I think when he went off to do a couple of the Spider-Man movies, he realized that he could kind of step in and out of what he’s doing specifically with just Marvel. He talked to us, and he talked to the studio and said, ‘You know, ‘Is there any chance I could step in and do one of the Star Wars movies?’. And I thought it was a pretty cool idea. So we’re just beginning to talk about what that might be and when that might be. But it’s a ways off.”
Some fans and bloggers had made the assumption that Kevin’s movie would get pushed forward sooner after the exit of David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (rumored to be a Jedi origin trilogy), but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Rian Johnson is still attached to develop his new trilogy of films and there was a report from BuzzFeed that Laeta Kalogridis (Avatar, Alita: Battle Angel, Ghost In The Shell, Altered Carbon) is writing a Knights of The Old Republic trilogy for the studio.
Currently, The Mandalorian is airing on Disney+ with a second season already on the way.
Lucasfilm will shoot Cassian Andor and Obi-Wan Kenobi series next year.
The final installment of the Skywalker Saga with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is set for release on December 20th.
SOURCE: ROLLING STONE
