Star Wars sequel trilogy

The Star Wars sequel trilogy, released between 2015 and 2019, is the third trilogy of the main Star Wars franchise, an American space opera created by George Lucas. It is produced by Lucasfilm Ltd. and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Set within the franchise's canon universe, the trilogy consists of episodes VII through IX, chronologically following the prequel trilogy (Episodes I–III; 1999–2005) and the original trilogy (Episodes IV–VI; 1977–1983), serving as the final act of the "Skywalker Saga". Lucas had planned a sequel trilogy as early as 1976, but canceled it by 1981. He produced only the first six episodes, and for a time described these as comprising the complete story. The sequel trilogy concept was revived when the Walt Disney Company entered negotiations to acquire Lucasfilm in 2011. Lucas produced new story treatments, but these were largely discarded. Both the acquisition and plans to produce the trilogy were announced in late 2012.

The first installment, The Force Awakens, was released on December 18, 2015, after a 30-year hiatus between the original and sequel trilogies. It was directed by J. J. Abrams who co-wrote the screenplay with Lawrence Kasdan and Michael Arndt. Original trilogy cast members including Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher reprised their roles, co-starring alongside franchise newcomers Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver, and Oscar Isaac. The second installment, The Last Jedi, was released on December 15, 2017, with Rian Johnson as screenwriter and director, and most of the cast returning. The final installment, The Rise of Skywalker, was released on December 20, 2019. It was directed by Abrams, who co-wrote it with Chris Terrio.

The trilogy follows the orphan Rey and the plight of the Resistance against the First Order, which has risen from the fallen Galactic Empire. Rey learns the ways of the Force under Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa, and confronts Kylo Ren—the son of Leia and Han Solo, nephew of Luke Skywalker, and grandson of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader—who has fallen to the dark side. The first two films received positive reviews from critics, while the third received mixed reviews. The trilogy grossed over $4.4 billion at the box office worldwide, with each film surpassing $1 billion worldwide.

Background

Early development

According to Mark Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker, Star Wars creator George Lucas told him in 1976 that he planned three or four Star Wars trilogies. Lucas suggested that Hamill could have a cameo appearance role in Episode IX, which he imagined filming by 2011. A Time magazine story in March 1978, quoting Lucas, stated there would be ten Star Wars films after The Empire Strikes Back. Gary Kurtz, the producer of the first two films, was aware of proposed story elements for Episode VII to Episode IX before 1980. At the time of the release of The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Lucas said there were seven further Star Wars films he wanted to make. He said he had "twelve-page outlines" for those films. In an interview with Jim Steranko in Prevue magazine published in late 1980, Lucas described how the expansive scope of Star Wars had started with an overlong screenplay:

So, I took the screenplay and divided it into three stories, and rewrote the first one. ... Then, I had the other two films, which were essentially split into three parts each, two trilogies. When the smoke cleared, I said, 'This is really great. I'll do another trilogy that takes place after this.' I had three trilogies of nine films, and then another couple of odd films. ... It's a nine-part saga that has a beginning, a middle and an end. It progresses over a period of about fifty or sixty years with about twenty years between trilogies, each trilogy taking about six or seven years.

By the time of Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back's release, Lucas had written story treatments for all nine Star Wars episodes. In 1999, Kurtz revealed a brief outline of these treatments:

• Episode I would have explored the methodology of the Jedi.
• Episode II would have developed the backstory of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
• Episode III would explain the rise of Darth Vader.
• Episode IV had already seen Luke decide to become a Jedi and Obi-Wan's final confrontation with Vader.
• Episode V was filmed essentially as written.
• Episode VI was to feature Leia as an isolated monarch, Han's death, and Luke showing down with Vader before exiling himself. Luke and Leia were not related.
• Episode VII was to be the first part of a trilogy continuing the story of Luke as a Jedi.
• Episode VIII would have featured Luke's sister (distinct from Leia).
• Episode IX would introduce the Emperor and depict Luke's ultimate battle with him.

In late 1980, Lucas stated that he had "titles and ten-page story outlines for each of" the nine episodes. In an interview with the same magazine, Gary Kurtz explained that the total number of films or their content might change as they were produced. Lucas similarly stated in an interview with Starlog magazine in September 1981 that he had the nine-film series plotted, but:

... it's a long way from the plot to the script. I've just gone through that with Return of the Jedi, and what seems like a great idea when it's described in three sentences doesn't hold together when you try to make five or six scenes out of it. So plots change a lot when they start getting into script form.

As part of his biographical research on George Lucas in the early 1980s, Lucas allowed author Dale Pollock to read the plot outlines of a 12-film saga on the condition of signing a confidentiality agreement. Pollock said these sequel trilogy drafts would "involve Luke Skywalker in his 30s and 40s" and that they would be "The three most exciting stories ... They had propulsive action, really interesting new worlds, new characters." Lucas's plans were drastically changed after The Empire Strikes Back was released, owing to the stress of producing the first three films as well as pressure from his wife, Marcia, to step back from this kind of filmmaking. By 1981, Lucas had decided to make only one Star Wars trilogy.

Cancellation period

According to Gary Kurtz, details of elements from the discarded sequel trilogy which were incorporated into Return of the Jedi include:

• Luke Skywalker becomes a full-fledged Jedi knight.
• Luke's sister, who was originally meant to be a new character, was revealed to be Leia.
• The Emperor would first appear and Luke would confront him.

Through the 1980s, Lucas variously hinted at plot elements from his abandoned sequel trilogy, which he said would have revolved around moral and philosophical problems, including distinguishing right from wrong, justice, confrontation, and passing on what one has learned. Ideas which seem to have been used in Disney's sequel trilogy include:

• Episode VII would begin 20–40 years after the end of Return of the Jedi (Lucas in 1980 and 1982).
• R2-D2 and C-3PO would be the only characters to appear in all nine films (Lucas in 1980, 1981, and 1983).
• The key actors, Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Ford as Han Solo, and Fisher as Princess Leia, would appear in their 60s or 70s (Lucas in 1983).
• Lucas stated in 1980 that "what happens to Luke ... is much more ethereal. I have a tiny notebook full of notes on that." Hamill said in 1983 that if his character were to return again, it would be "on another plane of existence, or not the same character."

Ideas that were apparently not retained in Disney's sequel trilogy include:

• The trilogy would deal with the rebuilding of the Republic (Lucas in 1980).
• Luke might have had a romantic relationship with a female partner (Lucas in 1988).

Timothy Zahn, who wrote the Legends non-canonical Thrawn trilogy of novels, was interviewed about the sequel trilogy after its development by Disney was announced in 2012. He confirmed that it was never meant to be based on his Thrawn trilogy nor the rest of the Expanded Universe, and said that he had been briefed years before on Lucas's plans for the sequels:

The original idea as I understood it—and Lucas changes his mind off and on, so it may not be what he's thinking right now—but it was going to be three generations. You'd have the original trilogy, then go back to Luke's father and find out what happened to him, and if there was another seventh, eighth, or ninth film, it would be Luke's children.