During a Disney earnings call today, CEO Bob Iger announced plans for a live-action Star Wars TV series and a new trilogy likely coming after 2020.

The series will apparently be part of the previously announced Disney streaming service. In August, Disney unveiled those plans after it acquired a video-streaming company called BAM Tech. Currently, Disney has an exclusive deal with Netflix for streaming its films and TV series; that deal began in 2012 and expanded last year.

Iger shared a handful of original projects in-progress for Disney's streaming service, however. The first Star Wars live-action TV series rightfully garners headlines, but the CEO also noted series based on Monsters Inc., High School Musical, and a new Marvel property would be coming, too. Further details like creative teams or time frames were not shared regarding those projects.

The other major news impacting a galaxy far, far away centers on a familiar name to the Star Wars-universe. Iger said that Rian Johnson, director and screenplay writer for The Last Jedi, has agreed to a deal to create a new Star Wars trilogy down the road (presumably after the current trilogy wraps with the JJ Abrams' led Episode IX in 2019). In a statement to Entertainment Weekly, Lucasfilm said this project would be “separate from the episodic Skywalker saga... Johnson will introduce new characters from a corner of the galaxy that Star Wars lore has never before explored.”

This is a developing story. Disney's earning call is on-going, but several reporters have been sharing announcements as they happen including The Wall Street Journal's Ben Fritz and MediaPost's Alex Weprin. We'll update this post as more information becomes available.

'Star Wars' TV Series: Disney Developing "a Few" for Its Streaming Service

Fresh off of news that Game of Thrones creators/showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss would be creating a new trilogy of Star Wars feature films, Disney CEO Bob Iger told investors Tuesday that the company is developing more than one Star Wars TV series.

"We are developing not just one, but a few Star Wars series specifically for the Disney direct to consumer app. We've mentioned that and we are close to being able to reveal at least one of the interties that is developing that for us. Because the deal isn't completely closed, we can't be specific about that," he said during an earnings call Tuesday. "I think you'll find the level of talent … on the television front will be rather significant as well."

Iger first announced that Disney was developing a live-action Star Wars TV series in November when he revealed that the company's forthcoming direct-to-consumer digital platform would also feature a Monsters, Inc. and High School Musical series. It's unclear if the other Star Wars TV series for the Disney digital platform will also be live-action.

The as-yet-untitled Disney digital platform will target families and launch in late 2019, the company said Tuesday. To prepare for the as-yet-unnamed platform, Disney has pulled its Marvel features from rival Netflix.

While Benioff and Weiss would seem to be prime candidates to create a live-action Star Wars TV series given their success in building HBO's Emmy-winning genre hit Game of Thrones, Iger used his time with investors Tuesday to explain why they'd be fronting a new trilogy for Disney's film unit.

"Their interest was in creating a series of films that are Star Wars-based and we've actually been talking to them for a long time," Iger said. "To my knowledge they didn’t express interest in creating a series. They have an idea for number of films and at some later date I'm sure we'll disclose to all of you just what those are. They are focused on a point in time in the Star Wars mythology and taking it from there."

With Benioff and Weiss moving to Star Wars after the final season of Game of Thrones (which will air in 2019), that leaves the future of HBO's controversial slave drama Confederate in limbo. HBO has yet to make a decision on the future of Confederate; Benioff and Weiss were to begin work on that straight-to-series drama after Thrones wrapped.

Jon Favreau to Executive Produce and Write Live-Action Star Wars Series

Lucasfilm is excited to announce that Emmy-nominated producer and actor Jon Favreau has signed on to executive produce and write a live-action Star Wars series for Disney’s new direct-to-consumer platform. Favreau is no stranger to the Star Wars galaxy having played roles in both the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series and in the upcoming Solo: A Star Wars Story.

“I couldn’t be more excited about Jon coming on board to produce and write for the new direct-to-consumer platform,” says Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. “Jon brings the perfect mix of producing and writing talent, combined with a fluency in the Star Wars universe. This series will allow Jon the chance to work with a diverse group of writers and directors and give Lucasfilm the opportunity to build a robust talent base.”

Favreau is thrilled to be returning to the Star Wars galaxy: “If you told me at 11 years old that I would be getting to tell stories in the Star Wars universe, I wouldn’t have believed you. I can’t wait to embark upon this exciting adventure.”

Disney’s collaborations with Favreau extend back a decade, when he helped launch the Marvel Cinematic Universe as director of Iron Man and Iron Man 2 and as an executive producer of the Iron Man and Avengers films for Marvel Studios. For Disney, he directed and produced the massively successful The Jungle Book, which won an Academy Award for its groundbreaking visual effects. He is currently in production on Disney’s highly anticipated reimagining of The Lion King, set for release in 2019.

The untitled Star Wars live-action series does not yet have a release date.
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