As Star Wars fans prepare to discover season 2 of Andor: A Star Wars Story, we learn that Lucasfilm has another very risky project in the pipeline, but one that could well be exciting. We'll explain!
After Andor, Lucasfilm's crazy project
The acquisition of Lucasfilm by the Disney group in 2012 led to the development of numerous film, series, and comic book projects. Thirteen years later, the results are mixed, to say the least. Although the Star Wars post-logy was a worldwide box office hit, it angered many fans; as for the series linked to the universe developed in 1977 by George Lucas, while some of them met with immense critical and public success (The Mandalorian and Andor), others, on the contrary, received very negative reviews, such as The Book of Boba Fett, The Acolyte and Skeleton Crew.
In 2025, Lucasfilm puts its foot down by limiting releases; For now, only two dates are given to fans of Star Wars on the Disney+ platform: season 2 of the series Andor from April 23, 2025 and the animated series Tales of the Underworld, scheduled for May 4, 2025. In comparison, we had four series in 2023 (season 3 ofThe Mandalorian, season 2 ofThe Bad Batch, season 2 ofStar Wars Visions, season 1 of Ahsoka) and four series in 2024 (season 3 ofThe BadBatch,Tales of the Empire, The AcolyteandSkeleton Crew).
Internally, Disney and Lucasfilm are trying to change strategy for the second half of the decade 2020-2029. Indeed, while the last Star Wars film was released in theaters in 2019, with Star Wars, Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, the big-eared group plans to return to theaters in 2026 with Jon Favreau's The Mandalorian & Grogu, which will serve as a sequel to season 3 of Din Djarin's adventures. Several other projects are in the pipeline.
While promoting season 2 of Andor: A Star Wars Story, showrunner Tony Gilroy made a strange revelation: a horror film set in a galaxy far, far away is in the works. "They do. I think they do." While these statements may seem surprising at first, given that the marvelous DNA of Star Wars seems so far removed from the horror genre, it is nevertheless understandable that Disney and Lucasfilm are considering this possibility. First of all, the production of Skeleton Crew, described from the outset as a "Stranger Things in space," seems to demonstrate Disney and Lucasfilm's desire to target some of its productions at specific, identified audiences. Then, the success of Alien: Romulus by Fede Alvarez in 2024 could have definitively convinced Disney that the public is definitely fond of horror fictions in space.
Finally, the horror variations of general-audience licenses seem to have become a Hollywood fashion. We remember that Sam Raimi's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was announced as the first horror film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. DC Studios, for its part, announced that Clayface would be a true horror film. The script was written by Mike Flanagan, the writer and director of The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, and Midnight Mass. However, one might wonder: what would a Star Wars horror film look like? Does the universe created by George Lucas have what it takes to satisfy fans of the genre? Certainly! Darth Vader's final appearance at the end of Gareth Edwards' Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was a great moment of tension, demonstrating that the Sith Lord could definitely become a horror movie character - why not a slasher? Other characters, like the droid 0-0-0 (featured in our selection of the 13 best droids in the Star Wars universe) could also serve as material for horror fiction.
While this Star Wars horror film project is certainly interesting, it's unclear whether audiences will respond. The Star Wars universe remains a family universe; Will Disney and Lucasfilm dare to produce a PG-13, or even R-rated, film? And what do you think? Let us know in the comments section.
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