Disney to release one Star Wars movie every year, beginning 2015

In a recent convention in Las Vegas, USA, Disney made the bold announcement that it is planning on releasing a new Star Wars film into theaters every summer starting with 2015’s Star Wars: Episode VII.  The studio will alternate every other year with an “Episode” film and a standalone film, and based on previous rumors there certainly won’t be a lack of characters for them to mine. [READ MORE AFTER THE JUMP]

Here's Hoping to a Better Whole New World (Or New Universe, for that matter)
As we already know, director J.J. Abrams is currently busy in the development of Star Wars Episode VII, which will most likely see the return of original cast members Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher. Aside from what possibly would be a continuation of the saga that properly ended with (Episode 6) Return of the Jedi, Disney confirmed that it was developing standalone Star Wars films back in February. The studio has yet to reveal which characters those films would focus on, previous reports claim that films focusing on Yoda, Boba Fett, and a young Han Solo are in the works.

Screenwriters Lawrence Kasdan (The Empire Strikes Back) and Simon Kinberg (X-Men: First Class) were brought into the Disney/Lucasfilm fold early on in the Episode VII development process, and while we initially thought they would be working on the scripts for Episode VIII and IX, subsequent reports claimed that the two are also developing the standalone films as well.

If Disney is really serious about releasing one Star Wars film every year (which sounds dangerously close to overkill), it makes sense that Kasdan and Kinberg have been busy drumming up outlines for subsequent films.  Like Matt, I would much rather see standalone films about new characters in the Star Wars universe rather than prequels or spinoffs of characters from the original trilogy, but I’m interested to see what kinds of filmmakers the studio will rope in to bring these things to fruition.  Will they take the Marvel approach and mine the TV world for affordable directors that can carry out the studio’s singular vision, or will they allow a bit more creative freedom within the world of Star Wars?

At this point, very little is certain, but with an indefinite amount of Star Wars movies on the way starting in just two years, expect to hear much more information sooner rather than later.  What do you think, readers?  Is a new Star Wars movie every year too much or do you think Disney can keep the quality up?

SOURCE: COLLIDER