The Mouse House has made major moves over the past few years with the acquisition of Lucasfilm and Marvel. Disney has since gone on to establish the comic book company as an entertainment powerhouse, and after the incredibly successful debut of The Force Awakens , the future of Star Wars looks quite bright as well. In a world where Hollywood is dominated by ticket sales and merchandising, Disney has struck gold with two of the most popular franchises of all time.
Back in December, WIRED published a feature titled “The Force Will Be With Us. Always” , which detailed the process of Disney’s commitment to Star Wars. That notion has been reinforced by some recent comments by Disney Chairman and CEO, Bob Iger. According to him, both Star Wars and Marvel will continue to produce content for, well... forever.
Speaking with Newsbeat , Iger said, “There are five Star Wars films – four more with Episode VII: The Force Awakens – that are in varying stages of development and production. There will be more after that, I don’t know how many, I don’t know how often.”
And he didn’t stop there, also commenting on Marvel while dropping that infamous F-word. “Marvel, you’re dealing with thousands and thousands of characters – that will go on forever.”
Star Wars and Marvel may be beloved now, but isn’t there a chance that audiences will eventually grow tired of them? Iger dismissed that suggestion, saying, “No, I don’t think they’re getting weary, but I think we keep raising the bar in terms of telling stories that bring them back, that excite them, that make it feel new and that is what we do for a living.”
Fair enough, Bob. And who are we to disagree with him, really? Star Wars: The Force Awakens recently became the biggest domestic film of all time, and Marvel movies consistently generate hundreds of millions of dollars in box office revenue. Clearly there is an enormous demand for that sort of entertainment, especially considering that Disney typically produces it particularly well.
We’ll see how that holds up later this year with the release of Captain America: Civil War on behalf of Marvel, and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story by Lucasfilm.
