Star Wars feature films going "into hiatus"
Disney will focus instead on the franchise's potential for new Disney+ TV series
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is one of the biggest and hotly-anticipated feature films of the year, released in cinemas this December and concluding the current film trilogy.
However, Disney has now announced that the film will mark a "hiatus" for the Star Wars feature films.
The news comes as Disney CEO Bob Iger gave a conference call on Thursday discussing quarterly results, during which he finally announced the UK release date for streaming service Disney+.
The timing doesn't seem to be a coincidence, as the company begins to explore the franchise's potential for TV content, including The Mandalorian starring Narcos actor Pedro Pascal, and an upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series starring Ewan McGregor.
The news also comes after Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss "regretfully" pulled out of producing and directing their upcoming Star Wars films which now appear to have been put on hold.
Disney+ will be available in the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain from 31st March 2020, a few months after the US release date, and will boast an impressive array of new content, including The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, WandaVision, and the live-action remake of The Lady and the Tramp.
Disney+ launches on 31st March 2020 in the UK
