Star Wars movies will take a 'hiatus' to 'reset' following Episode IX

There was a good amount of Star Wars news from Disney's formal unveiling of Disney+, including updates on the Rogue One spinoff series, as well as confirmation Jon Favreau's The Mandalorian will hit when the platform goes live November 12.

While things are looking good on the small screen, the franchise's feature films will take a bit of a break when J.J. Abrams' Episode IX hits theaters this December. In an interview with Bloomberg, Disney CEO Bob Iger laid out the strategy they're taking with the next phase of the space opera. 

"We will take a pause, [take] some time, and reset because the Skywalker saga comes to an end with this ninth movie," Iger explained. "There will be other Stars Wars movies, but there will be a bit of a hiatus."

It's been known for a while now that Episode IX will conclude the story of the Skywalker family, and Abrams himself compared the upcoming installment to a diamond, thanks to the pop culture pressure cooker for the last four-plus decades. Now, it seems that Iger and company are going to let Star Wars breathe before deciding to tell new stories on the big screen. 

"We have not announced any specific plans for movies thereafter," said Iger, who promised that, "there are movies in development, but we have not announced them."

These new movies likely include The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson's stand-alone trilogy, as well as another trio of films from Game of Thrones' David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. If there are others in development, Iger wasn't telling. 

Part of this decision to wait a beat before heading back out to a galaxy far, far away may have come from the performance of last year's Solo: A Star Wars Story, which arrived just a few months after The Last Jedi and underperformed at the box office. 

Still, with what Disney+ is offering, and will likely continue to offer as the platform grows, there'll be plenty of Star Wars stories to tide us over in the meantime. 

As far as the still-untitled Episode IX? Iger revealed that "it doesn’t have a name yet," but still said that "we think it will be great."