Disney has revealed just what a massive gamble it’s placing on audiences still be excited about Star Wars, as after paying $4 billion for Lucasfilm, it’s now planning on spending hundreds of millions more to release a new movie from the franchise every summer from 2015 onwards, continuing for the foreseeable future. Disney boss Alan Horn announced the news at CinemaCon in Las Vegas.
Star Wars: Episode VII will be the first of those movies, and will launch a new trilogy that will be a continuation of the main story told in Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi. The current plan is to bring characters such as Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Princess Leia back, with JJ Abrams directing. The main trilogy will alternate every summer with standalone films looking at other parts of the Star Ward universe, the first of which will be released in 2016.
An young Han Solo movie and a film about Boba Fett are rumoured to be in the works, although there’s been no official announcement about there. It is also suspected that Yoda and Jabba the Hutt may get their own movies.