The Rise of Reylo: The Toxic Heart of Disney’s Star Wars

INTRODUCTION

Disney’s Star Wars Sequel Trilogy. Episodes 7, 8, and 9. The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker will go down as one of the most lucrative filmic trios ever made.  After buying the brand (along with the rest of Lucasfilm) in 2012 for a mere $4 billion US dollars, Disney immediately lurched into action, determined to churn out profit through the creation of a full three-film addition to the Star Wars “saga” by the end of the decade. 

But where The Force Awakens and its gross returns of more than $2 billion dollars only three years after the purchase suggested clear skies and smooth sailing for the franchise, Lucasfilm under Disney would soon find itself desperately searching for any port in the storm: The Last Jedi would be released to $700 million less than Force Awakens – Solo, another billion less than that. 

Correction was needed, and correction (of a sort) would be found in 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker, the end of what Disney would eventually call “The Skywalker Saga”.

But where the path to the dark side is quick, easy, and sometimes even successful, it is also corrupting, and with The Rise of Skywalker, Disney would eventually sell the soul of Star Wars…for a kiss.