Star Wars Spin-Offs Will Be Origin Stories

The planned Star Warsspin-off movies will be origin stories, a Disney executive has revealed.

And Jay Rasulo also told Variety magazine that either a main trilogy film or a spin-off will be released by the corporation on a yearly schedule from 2015.

So the first film will be JJ Abrams' Star Wars Episode VII - followed by a spin-off movie in 2016.

No details have been revealed about which characters will feature in the spin-offs, although Han Solo, Boba Fett and Yoda have all previously been mooted.

Speaking to an audience of investors in Beverly Hills, Rasulo said that "the market is extremely hot for everything 'Star Wars'".

And he also addressed the potential to merge Star Wars with Disney's theme parks, saying: "The sky's the limit.

"There’s incredible flexibility. It's an unbelievable palette to create from."

Benedict Cumberbatch recently insisted that he has not been offered a role in Episode VII yet.