by DirectorKrennic on 6/9/23, 4:35 PM with 151 comments
by bluedevil2k on 6/9/23, 5:36 PM
Took too long for the article to mention this. How can she possibly still have a job? It was her call to hire 3 different directors for the sequels (initially, I know Abrams came back) with no agreed upon direction of the plot. Complain about Rian Johnson’s (awful) episode 8, but ultimately it was Kennedy that gave him free reins to do what he wanted.
It’s just mind boggling that the very same company that’s done an amazing job building a unified “universe” with Marvel by Kevin Feige has done such an awful job with Star Wars by Kennedy.
by it_citizen on 6/9/23, 5:56 PM
As someone who has not watched star wars before being adult but is pretty fond of fantasy and sci-fi, I am wondering if the simplest explanation for the constant disappointments is that the universe and source material are not that great in the first place. Is it possible that in 2023, a good chunk of the love for star war movies is due to fond childhood/90's memories that are impossible to recapture? I am hard pressed to find people that became passionated about star wars by discovering them late in their life.
If I am right, then what to do? People are going to be unhappy if the franchise tries to modernize itself and make drastic changes, but they will also be unhappy if they get more of the same because it won't have the madeleine effect.
by leashless on 6/9/23, 5:47 PM
Marvel works because of the endless nerd wrangling in the comics world imposing narrative discipline and critical standards. Plus the crappy stories don't make it to the big screen. Star Wars just doesn't have that: it's a cathedral and there's no bishop, vs. the much more bazaar and bizarre comic book processes.
Needs a genius at the helm or it flounders. Where's Marcia Lucas these days?
by adsfgiodsnrio on 6/9/23, 5:45 PM
The Rise of Skywalker grossed over a billion dollars at the box office. The current crop of TV shows are some of the most popular things on TV. That isn't what I'd call "desertion". Disney can milk Star Wars for years to come.
It wouldn't surprise me if they've already made back their investment. The five Disney Star Wars movies have made over $4 billion gross. That's not accounting for the parks or merchandising.
I don't see any doom and gloom here for Disney. Things are bad for the moviegoing public, sure, but Disney is doing fine.
by karmakurtisaani on 6/9/23, 5:52 PM
This puts the cart before the horse. What do you expect to get when the whole context of the article is about how Disney could milk more money using some acquired intellectual property? The endless sequels are meant to make money, not be good movies with creative new ideas - those are risky. Whatever wokeness you find in the movies is just a calculated attempt at mass appeal.
by anankaie on 6/9/23, 5:33 PM
I am not entirely sure that matters. Pissed-off fans undoubtedly want to see metaphorical blood for what, to their eyes, was a forced, ideologically-driven tarnishing of their childhood memories. At the end of the day, the buck stops at the top. Chapman was already punted as a general scapegoat, but is it enough?
by d3ckard on 6/9/23, 5:31 PM
by wnevets on 6/9/23, 5:34 PM
by jonhohle on 6/9/23, 6:15 PM
Both of these were created in the spirit of serials, but then the series stopped unceremoniously.
Other entries like Willow weren’t main stream hits and Lucasfilm just stopped making movies for about 10 years. By the time George Lucas directed again it had been 22 years since he had directed a movie.
A lot of wonderful things have come out of Lucasfilm, but it was pretty much abandoned by the 90s.
Both the Star Wars and Indy universes are great, but let new creators make new things. I’d much rather see a mediocre original concept than yet another mediocre franchise movie.
by kaycebasques on 6/9/23, 5:54 PM
Oh, lord. I really hope they don't follow this playbook. The hero's journey is SO played out. I honestly think there is a huge market for stories that do NOT revolve around saving the world/galaxy/universe.
by skizm on 6/9/23, 5:35 PM
by beezlewax on 6/9/23, 5:27 PM
by tiffanyh on 6/9/23, 5:52 PM
They are purposely taking a hit on box office sales, to drive Disney+ subscriptions.
Turning Red, Soul, and Luca were all movies that dropped on Disney+ the same day they hit theaters.
How can you gauge the "success" based solely on box office sales, when Disney's strategy is using this content as a loss leader strategy to drive subscriptions to Disney+?
by frankM80 on 6/9/23, 5:50 PM
by marianatom on 6/9/23, 5:42 PM
by mcphage on 6/9/23, 5:56 PM
I had read that most of that cancellation was due to Disney+ losing the rights to Cricket matches in India. Was that not the case? I think I only saw it in threads here and Twitter, so I don't know if it is true or not.
Edit: Hmm, that seems to be true: https://qz.com/disney-is-losing-subscribers-with-the-loss-of... claims that the loss from Cricket is 4.6 million.
by aSithLord on 6/9/23, 8:28 PM
by kaycebasques on 6/9/23, 5:52 PM
by drunner on 6/9/23, 5:45 PM
by stephc_int13 on 6/9/23, 5:40 PM
Rogue One was not that bad. And Andor was actually good, much better than I expected.
by stuckinhell on 6/9/23, 5:51 PM
It's crystal clear progressive propaganda over took good decision making. The 'force is female' marketing was incredibly dumb and alienating to my young sons, who would have been the perfect target for Star Wars type stuff. The 'force is for everyone' would have been so much better.
Then ruining the legacy of Luke, Han, and Leia was the final touches on destroying the brand. Even Mark Hamill was so surprised by the direction Luke Skywalker took that he had to justify the performance to himself by claiming he played another character named "Jake Skywalker." https://comicbook.com/starwars/news/star-wars-the-last-jedi-...
The Mandalorian is another example of suddenly pushing progressive politics by switching main characters in the later seasons, where it's clear the audience just wanted a cowboy in space series. (I didn't watch it, but my Husband did)
by kaycebasques on 6/9/23, 6:03 PM
* The Mandalorian is some of the best Star Wars content ever produced, period. They really need to get Jon Favreau at the helm of all things Star Wars. By the way, if you've watched Friends, look up his face. You'll recognize him as the late 90s software entrepreneur that dated Monica.
* They need to step away from the cliche hero's journey stuff (as I mention in another comment on this thread). The Mandalorian is great and refreshing precisely because Mando is not really trying to save the world and it's not following that super boring and predictable narrative arc. The Rey saga sucked because they stuck to the playbook too much.
* Visions is pretty cool. Of course it's kind of jarring to see so many different intrepretations of the Star Wars universe, but I respect what they're doing there.
So yeah, I could keep going, but you get the gist: they're doing fine. It hasn't crashed into the ground.
by hindsightbias on 6/9/23, 6:12 PM
by axblount on 6/9/23, 5:32 PM
by daodedickinson on 6/9/23, 5:34 PM
by petee on 6/9/23, 5:43 PM
And lately is "Sasquach Starwars Body Soap" comeon, how pathetic.
by 0zemp3c on 6/9/23, 4:48 PM
I've seen interviews with the directory of She-Hulk where she seems to revel in the fact that the "fandom" was crapping all over her show...
"this will piss off all the right people!" is not a business strategy
they really did kill Star Wars
Marvel too
its probably too late to save either, as Disney thinks more bad, woke content is the answer to too much bad, woke content
its not clear to me why they can't replace Kennedy...its like she has an envelope with compromising photos and can't be fired or something...they should have exited her out long ago but keep protecting her
by the_doctah on 6/9/23, 5:43 PM
And then they can't even practice what they preach, removing black actors from posters to placate countries like China. Disney needs to fail.