Disney Chairman: Star Wars and Marvel Movies Will Continue ‘Forever’

Who Controls the Past Controls the Future

♦ Star Wars: The Force Awakens has to date made over $1.9 billion at the global box office. The first in a whole slew of Star Wars films set to be distributed by The Walt Disney Company, that include Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars: Episode VIII, Star Wars: Episode IX, and a Young Han Solo spin-off.

Now Disney is extending its planning beyond the next four films.

 “There are five Star Wars films – four more with Episode VII: The Force Awakens – that are in varying stages of development and production,” Disney chairman Bob Iger told Newsbeat. “There will be more after that, I don’t know how many, I don’t know how often.”

Iger’s ambiguity about the release pattern for these technically-not-yet-existing movies has lead pundits to excitedly speculate that Disney may release more than one Star Wars movie a year. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is set for release on December 16, 2016 and Star Wars: Episode VIII is moving to December 15, 2017. The Han Solo movie is set for May 25, 2018 and Star Wars: Episode IX follows sometime in 2019.

Iger also spoke about Marvel, whose twelve movies have racked up over $9 billion at the global box office becoming the thousand year reich of superhero movie fodder …

You’re dealing with thousands and thousands of characters – that will go on forever.”

So, counting down we have:

• Captain America: Civil War on May 6, 2016
• Doctor Strange on November 4, 2016
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 on May 5, 2017
• Marvel and Sony’s Untitled Spider-Man Film on July 7, 2017
• Thor: Ragnarok on November 3, 2017
• Black Panther on February 16, 2018
• Avengers: Infinity War Part I on May 4, 2018
• Ant-Man and The Wasp on July 6, 2018
• Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019
• Avengers: Infinity War Part II on May 3, 2019
• Inhumans on July 12, 2019

Plus three more “untitled” Marvel Studios films set to premiere on May 1, 2020, July 10, 2020, and November 6, 2020. That may seem like a lot of superhero movies over the next four years to you. But not to Bob Iger…

“No, I don’t think they’re [the audience are] getting weary, but I think we keep raising the bar in terms of telling stories that bring them back, that excite them, that make it feel new and that is what we do for a living.”

Well, one area that the film industry is expert in is reboots, which gives them a great deal of synergy with modern day comic publishing I guess. It would certainly be foolish to waste money on movies that might in some way challenge the audience.

Hi. Bob Iger here!