What's Next for Disney's Star Wars Franchise After Ahsoka's Mediocre Performance?

Summary

• Star Wars is one of the most famous franchises in the world.
• The franchise was extended by a new series this summer.
• Ahsoka has impacted Lucasfilm immensely.

By the end of 2023, it's hard to impress anyone with a media franchise. There are so many of them, in fact, that any viewer would need more than two hands to count the ones they can remember. Marvel, DC, Harry Potter, Twilight, One Chicago, TBBT – the list goes on and on, as it seems that every successful movie or TV project is turned into a franchise these days.

However, among these numerous titles, there's one franchise that's been around for decades and transcends the big and small screens. Obviously, it's Star Wars. Created by George Lucas, this epic space opera debuted in 1977 and immediately won over audiences. Over the years, its popularity has only grown, while the franchise itself has expanded exponentially.

Star Wars' Most Recent Project

After Lucasfilm, which produces the franchise, was purchased by Disney in 2012, there have been a number of movies and even more TV shows released by the media giant. You must have heard of The Mandalorian, starring Pedro Pascal, whose most recent third season premiered this spring.

More recently, the show's spin-off, Ahsoka, debuted on Disney+. Following the titular character, the new miniseries further expanded the Star Wars franchise. Over the course of eight episodes, Ahsoka has managed to change the landscape of the entire SW franchise, even though the show's score is quite moderate - 7.6 on IMDb.

Ahsoka's Impact on the Franchise

After the release of Ahsoka on August 22nd, the creator of the new series, Dave Filoni, was promoted to the position of Chief Creative Officer at Lucasfilm, which means that the man will be more seriously involved in the studio's creative processes and oversee its productions from scratch to the screen. More importantly, the showrunner will now have a say in the consideration of future projects. As a result, Filoni will be able to bring his vision of how the studio should move forward.

'In this new role, it's opened up to basically everything that's going on. When we're planning the future of what we're doing now, I'm involved at the inception phase,' the creator of Ahsoka said in an interview. 'I'm not telling people what to do. But I do feel I'm trying to help them tell the best story that they want to tell. I need to be a help across the galaxy here, like a part of a Jedi Council almost.'

In other words, despite Ahsoka's subpar performance, the show has had a tremendous effect on the Star Wars franchise in general. Namely, it has given Lucasfilm a new creative chief, which may lead to major changes in the studio's work in the near future.

Source: Vanity Fair.