Under George Lucas’ watch, Star Wars became one of the most omnipresent franchises in all of pop culture. Lucas successfully transformed his strange Flash Gordon homage into a multimedia empire that featured toys, books, video games, and more. But even though Star Wars was seemingly everywhere you looked on store shelves, Lucas was far more restrained when it came to output of major projects like the films. The original trilogy was released over a six-year period from 1977-1983, and the prequels followed the same pattern between 1999-2005. When Lucas made the decision to sell his company to Disney, it meant everything was going to change.
Hoping to turn Star Wars into the next Marvel Cinematic Universe, Disney had grand plans for the galaxy far, far away once it acquired Lucasfilm in 2012. Of course, this meant a slate of new films, as well as TV shows (both animated and live-action), and much more. And everything was set to be released at a much faster rate. It’s not a hot take to say Star Wars changed a lot under Disney’s umbrella, but fans may not have realized just how much things have changed over the last decade plus.
To celebrate Star Wars Day, Finance Buzz did an extensive breakdown of the entire franchise, sharing several fascinating statistics. One of the most interesting things they looked at is how long it would take someone to watch every officially released Star Wars movie and TV show (including non-canon works like LEGO specials and the 2D Clone Wars microseries). On Disney+, there are 16,530 minutes of Star Wars material to take in, which is over 275 hours. Amazingly, only 11% of that total comes from the movies. So, a franchise best known for changing the entire film industry and inspiring a new generation of directors is far more prevalent on the small screen these days.
What’s even more incredible is the sheer amount of new Star Wars content that’s come out since 2010 (a couple of years before Lucas sold to Disney, it should be noted). A whopping 87% of all Star Wars movies and TV shows have been released in the last 16 years. That’s a lot of content for people to consume in a relatively short period of time, a stark contrast from the way the franchise operated prior to the 2010s. Based on these statistics, just 13% of Star Wars movies and TV shows were released over a 33-year time period. Since 2010, there’s been a substantial increase in about half the number of years.
That exponential growth (which primarily consists of Disney’s productions) has allowed Star Wars canon to evolve in fascinating ways. Through these projects, key elements like the Force, the Empire, and the galactic criminal underworld have been fleshed out in a manner that would be impossible in just the Skywalker Saga movies. The post-2010 movies and TV shows have helped the Star Wars universe feel much more comprehensive. However, there’s also a downside to making this abundance of content. With each new release, it becomes increasingly difficult for even die-hard fans to keep track of everything that’s going on, plus you run the risk of losing more casual viewers. The last thing people want is to feel like they need to do homework to understand a Star Wars movie or TV show.
Disney was understandably excited when it acquired Lucasfilm. At the time of that purchase, the MCU had found its groove, and Star Wars (with its massive built-in fan base and deep lore) felt like a natural candidate for the shared universe formula. And the launch of Disney+ in 2019 created a whole bevy of opportunities for creatives to explore various corners of the galaxy. However, a case can be made that Disney put out too much too soon, oversaturating the market to a point where new Star Wars releases felt more like a common occurrence than a major event. Disney higher-ups seem to be aware of that problem, if recent developments are anything to go by.
Nearly 90% of all Star Wars content has come out in the last 16 years (and that figure does not include this summer’s The Mandalorian and Grogu or the recently delayed Ahsoka Season 2). That’s a level of output that, frankly, isn’t sustainable long-term. As Lucasfilm commences a new era under the leadership of co-presidents Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan, there are signs that the studio is attempting to shift back to something that more resembles what Star Wars looked like under George Lucas. Given the franchise’s enduring popularity and place in the Disney hierarchy, Lucasfilm obviously isn’t going to pump the brakes to a complete shutdown. But they seem to be trying to emulate Marvel Studios by scaling back.
Where we might see the biggest difference moving forward is on TV. There will continue to be new Star Wars shows made for Disney+ (Maul – Shadow Lord Season 2 is in the works), but streaming may not be as much of a priority. Other than Ahsoka Season 2, there are no live-action Star Wars shows officially on the slate. When outlining their future plans at Star Wars Celebration Japan just last year, former Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy outlined several new films that are in development, but was mum about new shows. This would be a huge change for Lucasfilm. Since the arrival of Disney+, there have been seven live-action series and two new animated series (plus the final season of The Clone Wars). That rate puts the aforementioned 87% statistic in a different perspective; much of Star Wars’ TV content has been released in a span of just seven years.
Additionally, it looks like there could be a pivot to once again make movies the main attraction of the Star Wars franchise. After The Mandalorian and Grogu, there’s already Star Wars: Starfighter on deck for next year. Following that, Lucasfilm could go in a variety of directions with plenty of options on the table. This move seems to stem from Disney’s feeling that “streaming is dead” and the peak streaming era is over. Again, there will still be new Star Wars TV shows, there just won’t be as much. It’ll be interesting to see what percentage of Star Wars content movies make up over the next 10 years or so. We could be entering a time period where feature films overtake TV series.
Arguably, this would be what’s best for Star Wars. The initial wave of new content under Disney was very exciting initially, but over time, the franchise experienced its fair share of ups and downs. For every Andor or Rogue One that strongly resonated with fans, there was a Book of Boba Fett that underwhelmed. If Star Wars is to remain an integral part of Disney’s library in the future, not only does it need to experiment with different tones and styles to keep things fresh, it needs to steady things and consistently deliver high quality content. Slowing down output doesn’t guarantee that degree of quality (the movies and TV shows still need to be good), but being more selective about what gets the green light and telling stories fans are thrilled to see could go a long way.
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