Kennedy on the hotseat?

[Doug M]

Seems the drama around Star Wars stories has not subsided.

https://www.express.co.uk/entertain...sh-Disney-FIRE-Kathleen-Kennedy-JJ-Abrams/amp

 

[PuppyJonathan]

Seems the drama around Star Wars stories has not subsided.

https://www.express.co.uk/entertain...sh-Disney-FIRE-Kathleen-Kennedy-JJ-Abrams/amp

Well after stalking the box office subreddit and seeing the subject matter of who it was written about, this is clearly a clickbait video getting an article

 

[umichigan10]

this feels like a good thread to leave this under appreciated meme


It wouldn’t surprise me if she’s taken some heat though. But I think removing her because of one poorly marketed, production problem ridden film would be overkill

 

[PuppyJonathan]

this feels like a good thread to leave this under appreciated meme View attachment 333360


It wouldn’t surprise me if she’s taken some heat though. But I think removing her because of one poorly marketed, production problem ridden film would be overkill

I could’ve sworn there was a thread here back in like February were we all discussed how they set up solo to be like mars needs moms

 

[umichigan10]

I could’ve sworn there was a thread here back in like February were we all discussed how they set up solo to be like mars needs moms

I forgot that movie until now. And I still have no desire to see it

 

[PuppyJonathan]

I forgot that movie until now. And I still have no desire to see it

I was one if the few that saw it. Simply because opening day I was on the Disney dream so I attended the midnight premiere, fell asleep solely for being exhausted, left then went back later that day to finish it. Wasn’t that bad but it’s one I will say if you have no desire to see it, don’t

 

[BrianL]

I seriously doubt they would fire her for one misfire, and despite what anyone says the "backlash" is not the major factor that hurt Solo. Certainly, I could see them making some changes to the production schedule and other aspects, but one flop doesn't usually result in that kind of major shakeup.

 

[Liljo22]

Supposedly they already approached JJ and he turned it down as well as a few others. Lucasfilms is split between pro-Kennedy staff and old guard staff that people don't want to deal with.

 

[The Pho]

I seriously doubt they would fire her for one misfire, and despite what anyone says the "backlash" is not the major factor that hurt Solo. Certainly, I could see them making some changes to the production schedule and other aspects, but one flop doesn't usually result in that kind of major shakeup.

Well none of the rumors I've heard have stated it's solely for one misfire. It's for the well publicized production issues on multiple films, staff not getting along, and for the misfire, as well as some other stuff. There's been word that others have been approached and Kennedy may step down in September. Of course this is all from the rumor mill, so who knows how true any of it is, but if true it's not solely because of Solo's failure. Disney doesn't like bad publicity, and the Star Wars brand as a whole has had some very bad publicity the past year alone. Including some that's lead to new laws in some places (Battlefront 2).

 

[jkh36619]

An interesting read. We all kind of knew it but Mark Hamill confirms it.

https://www.cinemablend.com/news/24...s-movies-and-disneys-according-to-mark-hamill

 

[Liljo22]

Well none of the rumors I've heard have stated it's solely for one misfire. It's for the well publicized production issues on multiple films, staff not getting along, and for the misfire, as well as some other stuff. There's been word that others have been approached and Kennedy may step down in September. Of course this is all from the rumor mill, so who knows how true any of it is, but if true it's not solely because of Solo's failure. Disney doesn't like bad publicity, and the Star Wars brand as a whole has had some very bad publicity the past year alone. Including some that's lead to new laws in some places (Battlefront 2).

Correct. Its more than one misfire. Its a split fan base on TLJ plus production delays and major reshoots for both Rogue One and Solo. The Battlefront 2 debacle was more of a hit on EA rather than SW though. Disney came in as the savior and got EA to disable the microtransactions.

 

[Lee Matthews]

Kennedy needs to go. You can't have your employees split like that because it does effecting your product which is what's happening.

They need a Kevin Fiege at Lucasfilm and Dave Faloni isn't it, no matter how much of a Disney fan he is. Probably be way too much for Fiege to oversee both even if he wanted the job.

Totally get why JJ wasn't interested. He only came back for IX to silence the doubters that he's only good for rebooting franchises. They money probably helped too.

Director wise, the really need to get Gareth Edwards back for a trilogy, although things weren't perfect on Rogue One

 

[Doug M]

An interesting read. We all kind of knew it but Mark Hamill confirms it.

https://www.cinemablend.com/news/24...s-movies-and-disneys-according-to-mark-hamill

Yea it is pretty evident that these movies are not as cohesive as they should be and it makes sense if it is just 1 movie and then build off of it rather than an arc already in place from 7 onward. Thanks for the link.

 

[OSUZorba]

I think if they don't end up making some kind of changes at Lucas, the Star Wars brand will start taking major hits. Even though I like TLJ as a stand alone movie, I really don't have much desire to watch it again and again and the only reason I really liked it is because it fixed a lot of the things I found very annoying in TFA. I would personally rather watch Episode 1 on repeat than TFA. But it is clear they did not have a plan for this trilogy, which is why we got a complete remake of A New Hope with emo Vader in TFA, and then a second movie that was basically Rian Johnson flipping the bird to JJ.

 

[tlmadden73]

I think if they don't end up making some kind of changes at Lucas, the Star Wars brand will start taking major hits. Even though I like TLJ as a stand alone movie, I really don't have much desire to watch it again and again and the only reason I really liked it is because it fixed a lot of the things I found very annoying in TFA. I would personally rather watch Episode 1 on repeat than TFA. But it is clear they did not have a plan for this trilogy, which is why we got a complete remake of A New Hope with emo Vader in TFA, and then a second movie that was basically Rian Johnson flipping the bird to JJ.

After seeing Infinity War (finally) this weekend it makes me feel even stronger that Star Wars is floundering and needs a vision like they've had with the MCU.
Wow .. Marvel was able to put together a big movie with tons of stars and characters .. and it just worked. Each movie builds to the next and helps build the character so you laugh and cry with them (feel for them) during the big climatic Avengers movie.

Star Wars just lacks direction .. "hey .. let's just forget about everything built up in Force Awakens and make my own movie"

 

[Josh Hendy]

An interesting read. We all kind of knew it but Mark Hamill confirms it.

https://www.cinemablend.com/news/24...s-movies-and-disneys-according-to-mark-hamill

Remember, George had an overall arc [in the original trilogy]. If he didn't have all the details, he had sort of an overall feel for where the three were going. But this one's more like a relay race. You run and hand the torch off to the next guy, he picks it up and goes.

The original trilogy and also the prequels. For all the prequels' faults they at least had a very strong, epic story arc. On the basis of screenwriting (dialog, characters etc.) the prequels probably would have been box office flops except that the strong and sustained story arc leading to the creation of Darth Vader and the birth of the twins kept people streaming into the theaters. Even now, as DVDs/downloads I'll bet that the prequels are included in a lot more fans' movie marathons than TFA and TLJ. I just don't think that the questions of "what's Kylo Ren going to do next" and "what are Rey's origins" are very compelling.

You have to seriously question the intelligence of the people running Lucasfilm for not grasping the importance of story arc in sci-fi epic trilogies.

I know that everyone is gaga about "reboots" and "fresh directions by new directors" in Hollywood lately but thinking that those should be applied to the main stream of Star Wars films is just plain dumb.

 

[BrianL]

You know, I do understand why people don't like the way TLJ pivoted from TFA, even though it doesn't really bother me. I actually think that TLJ should have come first, instead of the rehash that was TFA, then we could have a strong new direction for the entire trilogy. That said, I think they can and need to stick the landing and if Episode IX can bring it all together, then I think people may come around on TLJ. It may all end up more cohesive in the end.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Even now, as DVDs/downloads I'll bet that the prequels are included in a lot more fans' movie marathons than TFA and TLJ. I just don't think that the questions of "what's Kylo Ren going to do next" and "what are Rey's origins" are very compelling.

As much as I didn't like TLJ, I would still watch it over the prequels. Unfortunately the prequels really suffered from bad dialog and plot and wooden acting. I did find Rey's origin compelling in TFA (as well as the lightsaber and Maz). But all that got thrown out in TLJ.

You have to seriously question the intelligence of the people running Lucasfilm for not grasping the importance of story arc in sci-fi epic trilogies.

I agree with you 100% on this. Seriously JJ, did you not learn from Lost? Lucasfilm, did you not remember that JJ did Lost? Letting 2 different directors just go where they wanted to go without having some ground rules about a plot arc is truly asinine.

With all the production issues, hiring and firing of various directors, stars speaking out openly about disagreeing with the direction their characters were going, it's pretty obvious that Lucasfilm is a mess. They need to fix something.

 

[DVCcurious]

I wrote about Kennedy leaving a month ago (go back a few pages) and the mods locked the thread. I also had my “Solo will be boycotted” thread deleted. The reason is I have no proof of what I’m writing about. So odds are this post will be deleted, but maybe since I’ve been right in the past the post will stay up.

Here’s what’s happening according to my sources:

Bob Iger had to get involved. This is a Big Deal! Disney is much bigger than movies. Galaxy’s Edge opens next year and the Board and C suite are concerned about the state of Star Wars right now. They want positive buzz going into next summer and all they have is a poorly performing movie, bickering fans, and angry-tweeting employees.

No more tweets. Leadership (I’m unsure who specifically) has come down hard on the employees who have gotten into online arguments with fans. Expect no more angry tweets from Rian Johnson, JJ, Kasdan, and Boyega.

Kathleen Kennedy is gone. She will resign in September coinciding with the end of the financial quarter. The reason has more to do with overall leadership than Solo. She was already on her way out before May 25th. Specifically, she is gone because of two reasons: first is the lack of a plan. There was no coherent plan for the new trilogy and she allowed Rian Johnson to do something totally different than JJ. The entire trilogy should have been planned before the first director of EP 7 was chosen. Second, and this is the huge factor: she has had to fire the director and reshoot both anthologies. This is a huge problem because it costs a lot of money to reshoot and Iger can’t stand by and watch as Disney wastes $75 million on reshoots.

It costs 3 times as much to get a new customer than it does to retain an old customer. Leadership was told the old fan base would stick around no matter what. They were told that Star Wars has to change to attract new fans and continue growing. Solo’s box office proved those ideas were wrong. This is not just on Kennedy, it was all the top brass at Lucasfilm. So now Iger and co have to figure out how to bring back the old fans. They are hoping a change at the top of Lucasfilm will do it. The #1 focus at Lucasfilm is bringing back the old fans. This is the reason for the tweet ban I talked about earlier.

Rian Johnson’s trilogy. It’s still going to happen with the first movie in December 2020. However they are still discussing if Rian will direct all 3, or any of the 3. The most extreme idea is to give him Executive Prodecer credits on all 3 films but let someone else direct them. All that’s been decided is he will not have free reign to write and direct all 3 by himself. This will be a team effort and all 3 movies will be planned before production begins on the first (major story arc and what the major plots are for all 3).

Episode 9. JJ has almost free reign. Kennedy has no involvement. Disney Leadership (not Lucasfilm leadership) have faith in JJ due to The Force Awakens strong box office and good reception. It’s too late to have a group effort so they are relying on JJ to finish the trilogy on a positive note. Expect Ep 9 to be a lot like TFA and nothing like TLJ.

Finally is the anthologies. Boba Fett is on hold indefinitely. Obi Wan will be made, but it’s going to have a low budget ($100 million) and be released exclusively on Disney’s streaming service. They have decided they need a reason for people to sign up for Disney Streaming and Obi-Wan seems like a good bet. The also are gun-shy about releasing another back story film in theaters after Solo’s failure.

 

[Josh Hendy]

Seriously JJ, did you not learn from Lost? Lucasfilm, did you not remember that JJ did Lost? Letting 2 different directors just go where they wanted to go without having some ground rules about a plot arc is truly asinine.

Probably with all its acquisitions and parks Disney has become far too large and it can't focus on anything really well any more. They have to delegate authority most of the time, and there isn't enough time or knowledge at the top of the organization to babysit the projects which for various reasons have hit a rough patch.

I get the impression that they're brainstorming and coming up with a handful of what they consider to be solid, no-brainer directions and then sending out executives like clone troopers to hit them hard, hard, hard.

Like the character-based ride makeovers, live-action remakes, endless variations of Star Wars and Marvel movies, and so on.