Ever since The Walt Disney Company bought Lucasfilm late last year, Star Wars fans have been alternately worried and hopeful about the world’s most famous sci-fi brand returning to the big screen. The choice of J.J. Abrams to direct Star Wars: Episode VII seems to have gone over well and a new announcement this week means that, regardless of their quality, Star Wars fans will not be wanting for films in the years to come.
During Disney‘s latest financial call with investors it was revealed that two standalone, spinoff Star Wars movies are currently in the works. Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger stated that the original goal of expanding Star Wars cannon with a sequel trilogy has been broadened.
“We are in development of a few standalone films that are not part of the Star Wars saga,” said Iger. “There are now creative entities working on developing scripts for what would be those standalone films.”
Fans shouldn’t have to worry about one of the movies, which is being written by Lawrence Kasdan. Kasdan had a hand in writing The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Interestingly, he also helped write the story for the classic Nintendo 64 game Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire, which hasn’t seen a screen adaptation yet.
The other spinoff movie isn’t off to such an encouraging start. It is currently being written by Simon Kinberg, a screenwriter whose credits include X-Men: The Last Stand and Jumper.
