It has been nearly five years since a "Star Wars" movie graced the silver screen. That movie was "Star Wars: Episode IX -- The Rise of Skywalker" and it brought the sequel trilogy to a close on an uneven note. What just about everyone seems to agree on is that the second and third entries in that trilogy were divisive, leaving Lucasfilm on uncertain ground when it comes to the future of the franchise. The future is, slowly but surely, starting to come into focus, with several "Star Wars" feature projects currently in development. And while much remains mysterious, it does seem that Disney and Lucasfilm have learned at least one lesson from the recent past.
Previously, Disney had not one but two new "Star Wars" movies dated for 2026, which seemed like a mistake. We'll get into the why in a moment. One was set to arrive in May 2026, while another was due to arrive in December 2026. Fortunately, Disney recently announced that the December 2026 date has been handed over to "Ice Age 6," meaning that we're only going to get one movie set in a galaxy far, far away that year. That is the right move, as we've seen in the past that too much of a good thing, when it comes to this franchise, can be a bad thing.
In December 2017, director Rian Johnson's "Star Wars: Episode VIII -- The Last Jedi" hit theaters. Riding high off of the wild success of " Star Wars: Episode VII -- The Force Awakens" two years aerlier, Disney and Lucasfilm were feeling very confident. The film proved to be intensely polarizing, which seemed to catch the studio by surprise. "The Last Jedi" still made $1.33 billion globally, but "Star Wars" was unquestionably changed in its wake.
Because Disney and Lucasfilm were feeling confident, they also had "Solo: A Star Wars Story" arriving just a handful of months later in May 2018. The film suffered a tumultuous production and wound up costing a whopping $275 million after original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller were replaced by Ron Howard mid-filming, with Howard proceeding to oversee a ton of reshoots. "Solo" ultimately bombed at the box office, making just $393.1 million worldwide (easily the lowest total for a live-action "Star Wars" movie to date).