Star Wars Cancels Biggest Movie Project In The Works, Franchise Running Out Of Steam?
The WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes of 2023 have finally come to an end, allowing Hollywood productions to resume shooting. Unfortunately, a number of industry trends, including those that led to the historic work stoppages, have caused massive franchises such as Star Wars and Marvel to scale back, potentially devastating their current release schedules.
Kevin Feige Star Wars Movie Canceled
According to a write-up in GameRant, Kevin Feige’s long-rumored Star Wars project is one major casualty of this change, with the Marvel head confirming that the film has been canceled.
For Disney, pairing Kevin Feige with Star Wars likely felt like a no-brainer. After all, the 50-year-old film and television producer is responsible for helming the MCU since its inception in 2008, making him one of the most successful architects of a film franchise of all time.
Massive Rollbacks On Franchise Growth
The Mickey-mascotted corporation’s other biggest franchise, Star Wars, has seen a myriad of entrants of a wide variety of quality and fan-fare, making it a perfect match for Feige’s long-term planning.
Of course, recent industry trends have seen corporate executives such as Disney CEO Bob Iger announcing massive rollbacks on franchise growth. The Star Wars brand is specifically being paired down to only one or two films every few years.
Rogue Squadron Also Canceled
As a result, many announced projects in the early stages of active production have been stricken from the release schedule. Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron and David Benioff & D.B. Weiss’ unnamed Star Wars trilogy getting the axe.
During a recent appearance at the premiere of Disney’s The Marvels, Kevin Feige officially laid to rest any rumors that his Star Wars film was still in the works.
Star Wars In Trouble?
When asked by the press about his still-unnamed Star Wars project, and whether fans could still look forward to the Marvel head’s romp in the galaxy far, far away, Kevin Feige offered a simple “No.” He then quickly moved on to other questions.
There are many moving parts behind the scenes of a franchise as massive as Star Wars. This may have resulted in the cancellation of this film.
The choice to not move forward with Feige’s film has led many fans to question the future of Disney’s flagship franchise, as well as Feige’s career.
Marvel Also Struggling
In addition to massive cuts in the Star Wars universe, Disney has been looking to shave costs from its Marvel division. Cinema trends have begun moving away from large-budget comic book films as fans cite superhero fatigue.
Movies like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Shazam 2, Black Adam, and The Flash serve as stark examples of this trend, hemorrhaging money for the studios. Meanwhile, more original and grounded films such as Avatar: The Way of Water, Barbie, and Oppenheimer rake in record-breaking profits.
Still A Chance?
The 2010s seemed to be a time of growth and prosperity for massive franchise movies and cinematic universes, with more new superhero films and Star Wars outings produced than ever before.
Perhaps Disney can still manage to revive vigor within their major brands with their paired-down approach, especially in the wake of the strikes. That being said, it seems likely that the 2020s will be mired with a notable shift in the cinema landscape.
