Disney announced today at CinemaCon that they plan to release a new Star Wars movie every summer beginning in 2015.
The first movie will be Episode VII, directed by J.J. Abrams. Following that, Disney wants to alternate between big-ticket movies, spinoffs and other ventures. The spinoffs will likely focus on the popular characters Boba Fett or Young Han Solo.
Last year, Disney purchased LucasFilm, the production company behind the lucrative Star Wars franchise, for $4 billion in cash and stocks. At that time, the entertainment giant announced it planned to create a new Star Wars film every two to three years. George Lucas is acting as creative consultant for the projects.
The Han Solo spinoff could take place in the time period between Revenge of the Sith and the first Star Wars movie, called A New Hope. Disney has not announced who will be cast as the young Han Solo should the spinoffs come to fruition. The company has not confirmed whether Harrison Ford, who played the character in the 1977 original, will have any scenes in the project.
Casting an actor for the Boba Fett project should be significantly easier as the character rarely showed much of his face. The time period for that spinoff is likely between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, or between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
The first spinoff is slated for release in 2016, the next in 2018.
Disney previously bought the Marvel franchise and profited from spinoffs of the X-Men and The Avengers. The company had a similar aggressive expansion pattern for the Marvel franchise by alternating Avengers movies with stand-alone franchises of the most popular characters. - Iron Man, Captain America and Thor.
Disney will release both Star Wars Episode VII and The Avengers 2 in summer 2015.
