Source: CNBC | Official Star Wars Website | TheForce.net | Posted By: Dan Geer
Today, Disney CEO Bob Iger has confirmed that screenwriters Lawrence Kasdan (The Empire Strikes Back) and Simon Kinberg (Sherlock Holmes) are writing spinoff Star Wars films, validating rumors that have been circulating the web for the last few months. Not only that, but Iger also reveals that Disney plans to release said spinoff films within the six-year timetable of Star Wars: Episodes VII-IX, anywhere from 2015-2021. Hit the jump to watch his interview with CNBC on the matter! (Updated with official announcement from Lucasfilm, as well as EW‘s report on the stories of the spinoffs).
Via CNBC:
What a glorious day it is for Star Wars fans.
Update: Here’s the press release from Lucasfilm, letting fans know that there are currently two standalone films in the works, one written by Kasdan, the other by Kinberg!
The Star Wars cinematic galaxy is about to experience a Big Bang. Lucasfilm is officially announcing new spinoff films that will expand the mythos and depths of the Star Wars universe in previously unexplored ways.
One of the standalone films will be written by Lawrence Kasdan, screenwriter of The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and co-writer of Return of the Jedi while the other will be penned by Simon Kinberg, writer of Sherlock Holmes and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. The movies will be separate from the upcoming Episodes VII, VIII, and IX, on which Kasdan and Kinberg are also consulting, and are expected to be released sometime after Episode VII. Each standalone film will focus on a specific character, and two spinoff films are currently confirmed.
In a call to investors, Bob Iger, chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, revealed while the original focus was on the highly-anticipated sequel trilogy, the idea of spinoff films was bandied about early and the additional films are now becoming a reality. “We are in development of a few standalone films,” he said, “that are not part of the Star Wars saga…there are now creative entities working on developing scripts for what would be those standalone films.”
Stay tuned to StarWars.com as more exciting developments unfold.
Update 2: Entertainment Weekly is reporting that the spinoffs will be a Han Solo origin story, and a Boba Fett adventure. EW does say that these ideas for the standalone films could change, and one of them still could be a Yoda film. We do not know for sure which of these, if any, will be written by Kasdan and Kinberg.
Rest assured, once an official announcement comes from Lucasfilm, you will here all about it here. As of right now, the company has declined to comment, and Deadline is reporting that they are just kicking around ideas, and nothing is set in stone as of right now.
