“Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope” had been out less than a year when actor, Bill Murray, famously parodied the theme song as Nick the lounge singer on “Saturday Night Live.” “‘Star Wars’/Nothing but ‘Star Wars’/Give me those ‘Star Wars’/Don’t let them end,” he sang, perhaps prophesizing the continued, unstoppable growth of the “Star Wars” franchise.  

The original trilogy, known today as the “Skywalker Saga,” was a standalone and for well over a decade seemed to be the end and beginning (although, technically, it was the middle). And that’s ignoring (as one should), the extremely forgettable made-for-TV films, “Star Wars Holiday Special” (1978), “The Ewok Adventure” (1984) and “Ewoks: The Battle for Endor” (1985).  

It took 16 years to relaunch the franchise with the second “Star Wars” trilogy (technically, the prequel trilogy). “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace” (1999), “Episode II – Attack of the Clones” (2002) and “Episode III – Revenge of the Sith” (2005) gave us all the back story we never needed to the Skywalker Saga. 

For über franchise geeks, 2008 brought the animated film, “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” (2008), and its subsequent TV series. But it was in 2012, when creator, George Lucas, sold the “Star Wars” franchise to Disney when the metaphorical Millennium Falcon really took off. A sequel trilogy consisting of Episodes VII through IX was released, consisting of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” (2015), “The Last Jedi” (2017) and “The Rise of Skywalker” (2019). In between all that, there were two standalone films, “Rogue One” (2016) and “Solo: A Star Wars Movie” (2018). 

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In case you’ve lost count, that’s 16 Star Wars films … so far.  

A mere drop in the bucket compared to the 31 films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), but it clearly points to a hungry fan base. In box office revenue alone, The Numbers reports the films have collectively made $10,318,192,963. In 2015, before the first of the sequel trilogy was even released, the retail sales of Star Wars licensed merchandise had already reached $3 billion in North America. In 2021, EA Games reported in an earnings call that they had sold over 52 million “Star Wars” games, representing over $3 billion life-to-date net bookings. Chew on that, Chewbacca. 

“Star Wars” Celebration Europe 2023, which wrapped up in London last week and was reported on by License Global, had light sabers flashing as Lucasfilm president, Kathleen Kennedy, announced three new live-action “Star Wars” films are coming to a galaxy near you … at some point.  

Helming the movies are James Mangold (director of the upcoming “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”), Dave Filoni (“The Mandalorian”) and Academy Award- and Emmy Award-winning director, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (“Ms. Marvel”). 

Mangold’s movie will go back to the dawn of the Jedi. Filoni’s film will focus on the New Republic and close out the interconnected stories told in “The Mandalorian,” “The Book of Boba Fett” and other Disney+ series. Obaid-Chinoy’s film already seems to be eliciting the most excitement as it takes place after the events of “Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker” and marks the return of Rey (actress Daisy Ridley), as she builds a new Jedi Order. 

“As you can see by all the television we’ve been doing, we’re exploring a lot of different storylines,” says Kennedy. “This really spawns from what George Lucas said years ago, that he created Star Wars to move forward and backward along a mythological timeline. Now we’re looking to broaden that timeline, building a rich future, expanding upon the present, going deep into the past to tell our stories, and we’re thrilled to be working with some of the best and most-passionate filmmakers on projects that will span the past, the present and the future.”