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Disney CEO Bob Iger says there will be a 'slow down' in the Star Wars movies

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Credit: Disney/Lucasfilm)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Credit: Disney/Lucasfilm)

Many put the failure of Solo: A Star Wars Story at the box office – the first Star Wars movie to flop – down to over-saturation of the franchise following its purchase by Disney.

And it appears that the company’s CEO Bob Iger thinks so too.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Iger has said that it plans to ‘slow down’ releases in the series, having pushed out four movies since 2015.

“I think the mistake that I made – I take the blame – was a little too much, too fast,” Iger said. “You can expect some slowdown.

“But that doesn’t mean we’re not going to make films. J.J. [Abrams] is busy making [Episode] IX. We have creative entities, including [Game of Thrones creators David] Benioff and [D.B.] Weiss, who are developing sagas of their own, which we haven’t been specific about.

Disney CEO Bob Iger and Donald Glover (Credit: AFP)
Disney CEO Bob Iger and Donald Glover (Credit: AFP)

“And we are just at the point where we’re going to start making decisions about what comes next after J.J.’s. But I think we’re going to be a little bit more careful about volume and timing. And the buck stops here on that.”

Solo’s final box office haul was just $393 million (just under £300 million) worldwide, a fraction of that seen by the main franchise movies, and more than likely representing a sturdy loss for the Mouse House.

Although the vast sums of the The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi were not necessarily expected, even Rogue One, the first of the spin-off movies, made over $1 billion.

In all, the Disney Star Wars movies have brought in over $4.5 billion since the studio bought Lucasfilm from George Lucas for $4.05 billion in 2012.

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