Following the success of 1977′s Star Wars, two additional movies were released in 1980 and 1983. Together, they told a complete story, now referred to as the original trilogy. After 1983, cartoon shows and new toys were released, attempting to keep the franchise going, but these dried up within a few years, and the Star Wars franchise entered an extended period of hibernation (although it experienced a renaissance in novels and comics in the early 1990s).
George Lucas helmed a prequel trilogy, released in 1999, 2002, and 2005. It was poorly reviewed overall, although it did flesh out the Star Wars franchise in important ways. After 2005, Star Wars returned to TV, much as it had after the original trilogy.
In 2012, Disney bought Lucasfilm, including the Star Wars franchise, and began production of a sequel trilogy, released in 2015, 2017, and 2019. In between these years, Disney released “anthology films,” including Rogue One (2016), which led directly into the original film, and Solo (2018), which took place between the prequel trilogy and the original trilogy.
