Back in early November, during a quarterly earnings conference call, Disney CEO Bob Iger dropped some huge news, revealing that the studio is working on aStar Wars Live-Action TV Show, which fans have been waiting years for. Another fiscal quarter has gone by, with Bob Iger holding another earnings call today, where he revealed that they are developing “a few"new showsset within theStar Warsfranchise, that will ultimately air on Disney’s new streaming service that will debut sometime next year. Here’s what Bob Iger had to say during the earnings call below.
“We are developing not just one, but a few Star Wars series specifically for the Disney direct-to-consumer app. We’ve mentioned that and we are close to being able to reveal at least one of the entities that is developing that for us. Because the deal isn’t completely closed, we can’t be specific about that. I think you’ll find the level of talent on the television front will be rather significant as well.”
The Disney streaming service was first announced last year, and has been the topic of much debate since then. After the studio’s deal with Netflix ends, theStar Warsmovies will be switched over from Netflix to the currently unnamed streaming service, but, despite rumors to the contrary, we reported in November that theMarvel TV showsthat are currently airing on Netflix will not be switched over to the new service. Disney is slated to debut this streaming service in late 2019, which may coincide with the release ofStar Wars 9on July 29, 2025, with Disney already pulling its Marvel movies from Netflix as well. As for the TV side, they already have a few shows in development thus far.
During the November conference call, Bob Iger teased plans for original shows based on movie franchises such asMonsters Inc.,High School Musicalalong with a brand new original Marvel show. Unfortunately, Bob Iger didn’t reveal any additional programming plans for the Disney streaming service, but we learned last month that anew original seriesbased off theMighty Ducksfranchise is in the works. ABC Signature Studios, which focuses on cable and streaming shows, is developing the show for Disney’s streaming service with riter Steven Brill and producer Jordan Kerner, who both worked on the firstMighty Ducksmovie that helped launch a successful franchise. This upcoming streaming service could also be bolstered by the massiveDisney/Fox merger, which includes a number of Fox’s TV properties.
There has been talk of aStar Warslive-action show for many years, most recently in 2016, when there were reports that ABC was developing a new series, but there has been no indication of that project moving forward. With the animated hit seriesStar Wars Rebelsalso coming to an end, there has also been talk of a newLucasFilm animated seriesbeing developed as well. If this is true, it remains to be seen if that new show will be developed for Disney XD, or for this streaming service. you may head on over toThe Hollywood Reporterfor more on the Disney earnings call.
