Star Wars spin-off films confirmed by Disney

In a post on the official Star Wars website, Disney’s CEO Bob Iger confirmed that the studio is currently developing a line of new films, which will be separate from the upcoming ‘sequel trilogy’ of Episodes VII, VIII and IX.

At least one of the proposed standalone films will be written by Empire Strikes Back screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, while another will be penned by Sherlock Holmes’s Simon Kinberg.

Iger said: "We are in development of a few standalone films that are not part of the Star Wars saga.

“There are now creative entities working on developing scripts for what would be those standalone films.”

The CEO also told CNBC: “We plan to make Star Wars VII, VIII and IX over roughly a six-year period of time starting in 2015. But there are going to be a few other films released in that period of time too."

There are currently only two standalone Star Wars features confirmed.

The announcement comes a day after movie blogger Harry Knowles of Ain’t It Cool News suggested that the first of Disney’s Star Wars spin-offs will centre on the diminutive green-skinned Jedi Master Yoda.

He wrote: “The first Stand Alone film is going to center upon Yoda. At this stage specifics are sparse, but [Lucasfilm president] Kathleen Kennedy is putting together a Star Wars slate.”

Knowles also mentioned rumours about another standalone feature about the villainous Jabba the Hutt but, according to the blogger, “word is Yoda is first.”

The two spin-offs are expected to appear some time after Episode VII, which is tentatively scheduled for release in 2015.