Is Rise of Skywalker ‘just the beginning’ for Star Wars, or the end for film series? Franchise fatigue always a risk
- Are there ‘endless’ Star Wars stories waiting to be told as Disney’s Bob Iger says, or has decades-spanning space opera runs its course, at least on big screen?
- Lucasfilm working on a new movie already, but the success of spin-off Disney+ live series The Mandalorian may suggest its future is on small screen instead
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker dominated cinemas this weekend. But diminishing box office returns, scathing reviews and a plot that wrapped up the space saga’s major story arcs all beg the question – what next for Star Wars?
Marketed as a grand finale to the decades-spanning, nine-film “Skywalker Saga”, the latest film took US$177.4 million in the United States on its opening weekend.
While that would be a stratospheric figure for any other film – indeed, it was the third-biggest movie opening of 2019 – it is notably less than the last two major Star Wars instalments, The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi .
Reviews were mainly negative, accusing the movie of falling back on the same overworn Star Wars tropes.
A fear of franchise fatigue has already led Disney boss Bob Iger to signal a slowdown in releases, admitting his previous plan to produce a new Star Wars each year was “a little too much, too fast”.