While Disney’s upcoming streaming platform, Disney+, will be home to at least two new Star Wars original series, there are no plans to premiere any new Star Wars films anywhere but the multiplex. Speaking with Barron’s (via /Film), Disney CEO Bob Iger explained the strategy behind the franchise going forward, and how Disney+ will factor into the equation.
“We wouldn’t make a Star Wars movie for this platform. When everybody goes out on the weekend and you have a movie that opens up to $200 million, there’s a buzz that creates that enhances value. We like that,” said Iger. “And eventually, the movies we’re making are going to [end up on] the service.“
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Along with the two original series, which includes Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian and the Rogue One prequel starring Diego Luna as Cassian Andor, Disney+ will be home to all new Star Wars movies… but not until after their theatrical runs. Iger went on to explain that due to the massive budgets that go into every Star Wars feature film, it wouldn’t make sense to premiere them on a streaming platform. Clearly, Solo’s lackluster box-office performance doesn’t have him worried.
“Almost every movie the studio makes is a $100 million-plus movie, and we’re not looking to make movies at that level for the service,” Iger said. “We’re looking to invest significantly in television series on a per-episode business, and we’re looking to make movies that are higher-budget, but nothing like that.”
Disney is still planning on launching Disney+ sometime in late 2019.
10 Scrapped Ideas From Star Wars: The Last Jedi
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Rude Awakening
In initial storyboards, the standard opening crawl panned down to Finn waking up in his medic pod, as opposed to later in the film after the initial battle as it is in the final cut.
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Rose Was Originally Poe
Johnson had originally thought of Poe going on the journey with Finn to Canto Bight, but decided against continuing their epic space bromance.
"It was so boring," Johnson said. "It was just these two dudes on an adventure. I knew something was wrong when I looked at their dialogue and realized I could interchange any of the lines. There wasn't conflict between them. So I realized I had to come up with something else. Finn needing somebody else to go with who would actually challenge him and push him and contrast with him was where Rose came from."
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Finn and Paige in the Bomber
The book also mentions that initial drafts took place a bit later in the timeline, as opposed to nearly directly after the events of The Force Awakens. This is most evident when you learn that Paige (Rose's sister) was originally onboard her bomber with Finn, as opposed to the random Resistance bomber who died, forcing Paige to initiate the bombing of the First Order Dreadnaught herself.
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Luke Skywalker and Kylo Ren Could Have Been Bald
Concept art shows one iteration of the elder Skywalker as bald as a Buddhist monk, with a ringlet of hair coming out the back like a Padawan, and three blue lines on his forehead. This was in keeping with Lucas's original conception that Luke had become a kind of Colonel Kurtz figure from Apocalypse Now. Another piece of concept art also shows what Kylo Ren would have looked like with a shaved head as well, though it was decided destroying his helmet was good enough. Another piece of concept art showed Adam Driver de-aged to be a much younger boy during the flashbacks to Luke's Jedi training temple.
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Luke's Temple… George Lucas-Style
The idea of Luke hiding on a secluded island actually dates back to the period prior to J.J. Abrams being hired for Episode VII, when George Lucas was in charge of the transition team working off of his own story ideas for the sequel trilogy. Rather than the rustic, ancient ruins that wound up in VII and VIII, Lucas imagined a more streamlined building, one that looked like a golden bell. The visuals harken far more to the look of the prequels. Rey's name in this initial story discussion was Kira, and scenes of her training were based on shots from The Seven Samurai.
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Luke's Skiff and the Falcon in the Water
Seeing the Millenium Falcon underwater was an idea the art department toyed with for The Force Awakens, and there is an interesting image of the ship floating on water, having been ditched in the sea. There's also art of a skiff Luke uses for fishing and to show Rey the Jedi Ruins carved in the base of the island. The skiff looks similar to the ones Jabba the Hutt used to escort his sail barge in Return of the Jedi.
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AT-AT Attack on Ahch-To
Another thing we never expected to see underwater is an AT-AT, but someone conceptualized a nighttime assault on Ahch-To island with armored carriers walking with their heads just above water, and troop carriers flying alongside with Kylo's ship in the rear. They also conceptualized a massive Walker dropper, as well as a Spider-Leg Walker with 16 to 22 legs that proved too complex to be visually memorable.
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Luke Battling Sith Ghost
This is something the fans have wanted to see for some time, namely some manifestation of what the Sith look like in the afterlife and if they could combat a dead Jedi in that realm. One image shows a shadowy figure behind Luke as he meditates in a temple. Perhaps Snoke meeting a quick end in The Last Jedi means we could potentially see him take on Luke in Episode IX!
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Codebreaker Musical Number
The Master Codebreaker played by Justin Theroux in the film originally had a much bigger part in the story, as well as backstory for what he was doing on Canto Bight. Turns out he was there to steal jewels from a warlord named "the Butcher of Brix," and he was originally introduced playing a musical number on an exotic piano while an alien woman sang. Finn and Rose followed the Master Codebreaker along a rooftop to help him steal the jewels, but were captured by police. It was a lot of extraneous plot for a character that winds up having little impact on the story, although we hope the Master Codebreaker and DJ can make it back into the plot for Episode IX!
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Finn and Rose on The Supremacy
There was much more material of Rose, Finn and DJ sneaking aboard The Supremacy, some of which may show up on the Blu-ray in the form of deleted scenes. There was a scene where they steal their clothes from First Order officers, as opposed to finding them in the laundry room. There was also a scene where they stumble on a bureaucratic commons area with First Order worker drones sitting in what is essentially a big cubicle farm/map room, giving us a look at the more mundane side of the bad guys' organization. This was followed by a scene where the trio is chased across a bridge by Phasma, and a big laser gun battle erupts over the precipice.
