Actor Mark Hamill warned in a recent interview that Disney may be moving too fast in expanding the Star Wars universe.
Promoting the DVD release of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” Hamill discussed the growing slate of Star Wars projects Disney has lined up since purchasing Lucasfilm in 2012 and the accelerating pace of their release. The next film, a Han Solo solo story imaginatively titled “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” hits theaters in May.
“I will say they should pace themselves because you don't want to over-saturate it. I said to Disney, 'Really? Five months after we come out comes [Solo]? Can't you at least wait until Christmas?” said Hamill, who has played Luke Skywalker in five Star Wars films, in an interview with Cinema Blend.
“The Last Jedi” grossed $1.3 billion globally. The J.J. Abrams-directed and as-yet-untitled follow-up, Episode IX, is scheduled for release in December 2019. Including 2015’s “The Force Awakens” and 2016’s “Rogue One,” it would mark the fourth year in a row to bring a new Star Wars film to theaters.
In addition to Episode IX and “Solo,” which stars Alden Ehrenreich as a younger version of Harrison Ford’s iconic space pilot, Disney has announced two new trilogies in development from the showrunners of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” series and “Last Jedi” director Rian Johnson.
Though the potentially aggressive release schedule concerns Hamill, the continued exploration of the mythology created by George Lucas in 1977’s “Episode IV: A New Hope” does not.
“It's a canvas that's so infinite,” he told Cinema Blend. “With the standalone films, they can all have their own identity. ‘Rogue One’ can be gritty, and like a war film... I'm assuming, I don't know, but I would assume that ‘Solo’ will be more comedically-oriented because he's a rogue, a scoundrel, and a gambler, and a womanizer and all those things.”
Despite Hamill’s complaints, “Solo: A Star Wars Story” is still scheduled for release on May 25.
