Despite plenty of bumps along the way in various stages of production, overall the Star Wars franchise is humming along. They’re coming out at a pace of one new movie every year, and those movies make a ton of money at the box office not to mention all the ancillary revenue they generate through merchandise, theme parks, etc. Right now, the furthest Star Wars film scheduled right now is Star Wars: Episode 9, which is due out in December 2019, but Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy says that the Star Wars story group is thinking much further ahead. Speaking on The Star Wars Show [via CS], Kennedy said:

“We’re sitting down now, we’re talking about the next ten years of Star Wars stories and we’re looking at narratively where that might go; future stories beyond Episode 9, with these new characters, Rey, Poe, Finn, BB-8, but we’re also looking at working with people that are interested in coming into the Star Wars world and taking us to places that we haven’t been yet, and that’s exciting too because it’s a vast galaxy far, far away… The possibilities are endless.”

While that’s an encouraging statement, so far Lucasfilm’s M.O. has been to cling to what’s popular rather than venture out into anything that might rock the boat. The possibilities may be “endless”, but the only possibilities Lucasfilm seems to be interested in are stories that tie back to the original trilogy. An Obi-Wan spinoff is in very early development and there are rumors that Lucasfilm is considering movies about Boba Fett, Yoda, and Jabba the Hutt. That’s all well and good, but it keeps the universe small and safe. For a big galaxy where the defining feature is the rich, interesting universe that George Lucas created, Lucasfilm seems determined to keep its focus on a handful of already-established characters. Maybe sometime in 2027, we’ll get word of a Star Wars movie that doesn’t feature someone who was introduced between 1977 and 1983.

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