In 2012, when Disney first bought Lucasfilm and its sprawling Star Wars universe, there were those who thought the $4bn price tag represented something of a gamble. If it was, it’s a bet that’s paid off handsomely for Mickey Mouse and Co. By 2018 they’d already recouped their outlay by releasing four new Star Wars films which together brought in $4.8bn, leading CNBC to call the deal: “One of the smartest acquisitions ever made in corporate America.”
However, a decade is a long time in the heady business of intergalactic space westerns, and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy now says the future of Star Wars could look very different from its big screen past. In the age of streaming, even the concept of film trilogies has become somewhat passé. “I hesitate to use the word ‘trilogies’ anymore,” Kennedy this week told Vanity Fair. “Because Star Wars is much more about persistent storytelling”.
