Global media company Turner has announced today they’ve entered a multi-year licensing agreement with Walt Disney Studios and 20th Century Fox, granting them the basic cable rights to the entire Star Wars film series. The deal includes the network premiere for five of the six original Star Wars films, last year’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, this year’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and the next three yet-to-be-released films, including Star Wars: Episode VIII, the Han Solo spin-off, and Star Wars: Episode IX.
This deal, coupled with a separate arrangement with 20th Century Fox, means TNT and TBS are the only home on basic cable for all 11 films in the Star Wars saga.
“The Star Wars movies and characters are beloved across generations, captivating audiences and breaking box office records around the globe for nearly four decades,” said Deborah K. Bradley, executive vice president of networks optimization, content strategy and commercialization for Turner. “Through this deal, TNT and TBS will be the exclusive basic cable home of one of the most iconic, enduring and valuable movie franchises of all time, giving viewers the chance to watch this amazing collection from the very beginning.”
The Star Wars films will come to Turner beginning Tuesday, September 20, when TNT kicks off six consecutive nights of the original classic films. The movies will also air in December, in conjunction with Disney’s theatrical release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. TNT is set to premiere last year’s blockbuster Star Wars: The Force Awakens in early 2018, followed in 2019 with this year’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story tells the story of resistance fighters who have united to steal plans to the dreaded Death Star. Felicity Jones leads the cast as Jyn Erso alongside Mads Mikklesen who plays her father, Galen Erso. Diego Luna (Milk) stars as Captain Cassian Andor with Donnie Yen (Ip Man, Blade II) as the blind spiritual warrior Chirrut Imwe, Jiang Wen (Let the Bullets Fly, Devils on the Doorstep) as his heavily armored best friend Baze Malbus,, Alan Tudyk (Firefly) as the droid K-2SO, Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler, Four Lions) as the Rebel pilot Bodhi Rook, plus Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland) as Saw Gerrera, a character first introduced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Ben Mendelsohn (Bloodline, Mississippi Grind) as the film’s main antagonist, Director Orson Krennic.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, directed by Gareth Edwards, opens in theaters on December 16.
