Disney Star Wars General Discussion

[SirClintonPortis]

Not sure I'd agree the sequels didn't make nearly as much money as they hoped, but the fanbase definitely was divided and I think they're wisely steering clear of that era for now.

They spent 4 billion to acquire the IP. They basically only broke even with the trilogy itself.

It's not insignificant that The Force Awakens DOUBLED the intake of TROS and almost doubled TLJ. There was a lot of lost momentum at movie #2. A loss of "repeat buyers" from a franchise that used to create obsession in those exposed to it. Not just in the movies, but the merchandise.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

They spent 4 billion to acquire the IP. They basically only broke even with the trilogy itself.

It's not insignificant that The Force Awakens DOUBLED the intake of TROS and almost doubled TLJ. There was a lot of lost momentum at movie #2. A loss of "repeat buyers" from a franchise that used to create obsession in those exposed to it. Not just in the movies, but the merchandise.

As I mentioned before, this was the case for all three trilogies, except that ROTS made more than AOTC (which didn't even make as much as ANH).

Star Wars Franchise Box Office History - The Numbers

I'm not sure why people are surprised by this.

 

[SirClintonPortis]

As I mentioned before, this was the case for all three trilogies, except that ROTS made more than AOTC (which didn't even make as much as ANH).

Star Wars Franchise Box Office History - The Numbers

I'm not sure why people are surprised by this.

So, you just mean to say that there is a dropoff fromt he first to second film regarding the final numbers.

But there is some qualititative matters not measured in the numbers. TLJ had that Luke Skywalker cliff hanger from TFA. There absolutely was potential to buck trends since Luke Skywalker had no significant part yet at time in the new trilogy.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

As I mentioned before, this was the case for all three trilogies, except that ROTS made more than AOTC (which didn't even make as much as ANH).

Star Wars Franchise Box Office History - The Numbers

I'm not sure why people are surprised by this.

Most importantly, they made money on ALL of them. Not a loser in the bunch.

They might tweak things here and there to maximize profits, but they will not stop making them anytime soon. Even the "bad ones" made a buttload of money.

 

[Shockmaster]

Honestly, some of these are decent-but Filoni should have Kathleen Kennedys job-what a waste her decisions are

Filoni is definitely the best creative mind at Lucasfilm for Star Wars. Would that mean he would make a good president of Lucasfilm? Don't know. He may not even want that position. That said, it's pretty evident Kathleen Kennedy is not the right person for that position regardless.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

So, you just mean to say that there is a dropoff fromt he first to second film regarding the final numbers.

But there is some qualititative matters not measured in the numbers. TLJ had that Luke Skywalker cliff hanger from TFA. There absolutely was potential to buck trends since Luke Skywalker had no significant part yet at time in the new trilogy.

Without being able to demonstrate how that cliffhanger positively/negatively impacted the box office numbers, it doesn't mean much.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Most importantly, they made money on ALL of them. Not a loser in the bunch.

They might tweak things here and there to maximize profits, but they will not stop making them anytime soon. Even the "bad ones" made a buttload of money.

Did the Solo movie make money?

I can’t even remember if I watched that one TBTH.

I think I did... trying to remember some plot points but drawing a blank...

 

[ArGarBarGar]

Did the Solo movie make money?

I can’t even remember if I watched that one TBTH.

I think I did... trying to remember some plot points but drawing a blank...

It did make money, but earned the lowest box office numbers of all Star Wars movies.

 

[Warden of the North]

I gotta say, im surprised theyre going full steam ahead on a show headlined by Gina Carano.

Or was it really only a Twitter echo chamber mad at her?

 

[ArGarBarGar]

I gotta say, im surprised their going full steam ahead on a show headlined by Gina Carano.

Or was it really only a Twitter echo chamber made at her?

I don't think many people outside of Twitter even know the controversial stuff that she said.

 

[Richard]

What decisions are you talking about?

Also what make you think Filoni is the right person for the job Kennedy currently holds? Also Kennedy has openly stated she consults Filoni regularly, so it seems like he is already well-utilized.

Every decision she has made-Filoni was basically forced upon her. She didn't consult him for the bum f*** of a new trilogy

 

[ArGarBarGar]

Every decision she has made-Filoni was basically forced upon her. She didn't consult him for the bum f*** of a new trilogy

Uh huh.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

Uh huh.

Yeah, I do not really get the KK hate either. She is an executive. She has very little interest in the creative process. Did she make some bad decisions? Probably. Should the ST only have had 1 director? Probably. But is an executive supposed to be the creative overlord? I think people expect everybody to be Kevin Feige now.

I do agree that Kennedy could have done better and, well, she seems to be doing better lately. I mean, gees, people will lash on to anything to complain about thinks they do not like.

 

[Habsfunk]

Not a fan of Andor getting his own show, as I found him and Rogue One quite boring & pointless (probably one of the few with this opinion, I stopped watching when they got to Sacrif). Don't see why this is necessary.

I really like Diego Luna as an actor and his character is a great way to explore the dark side of the rebellion, so I'm excited for this

By the way, if you stopped watching Rogue One when they got Scarif, you missed the best Star Wars battle ever put to film. The Battle of Scarif, both the land and space fights, are amazingly well done. The space battle matches Jedi and the land fight is just as good as Hoth, if not better because there's more going on but it never loses focus.

 

[RandV]

Yeah, I do not really get the KK hate either. She is an executive. She has very little interest in the creative process. Did she make some bad decisions? Probably. Should the ST only have had 1 director? Probably. But is an executive supposed to be the creative overlord? I think people expect everybody to be Kevin Feige now.

I do agree that Kennedy could have done better and, well, she seems to be doing better lately. I mean, gees, people will lash on to anything to complain about thinks they do not like.

It may be a case of Kennedy being a square peg for a round hole but I have to strongly disagree here. It's not that she herself should necessarily be the "creative overlord", but it was her responsibility to make sure it had a unified creative vision. We're talking about a Star Wars trilogy here, you're going to be putting 7 hours of content to the screen while leaving the door wide open for spin offs and additional content. You're going to get haphazard results if you're passing the story and creative decisions around like a hot potato.

To extend my analogy lets consider the 'square peg' to be a cinephile, where the emphasis is on creating a 2 hour movie theatre experience, while the round hole is the long form fandom where people get a little crazy about the universe and want more expanding beyond the movie. This distinction was most telling in the response to Rian Johnson's TLJ, which was fine for the former '2 hour experience' and that's how positive reception tended to view it but was a complete mess for the latter 'big picture'.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

It may be a case of Kennedy being a square peg for a round hole but I have to strongly disagree here. It's not that she herself should necessarily be the "creative overlord", but it was her responsibility to make sure it had a unified creative vision. We're talking about a Star Wars trilogy here, you're going to be putting 7 hours of content to the screen while leaving the door wide open for spin offs and additional content. You're going to get haphazard results if you're passing the story and creative decisions around like a hot potato.

To extend my analogy lets consider the 'square peg' to be a cinephile, where the emphasis is on creating a 2 hour movie theatre experience, while the round hole is the long form fandom where people get a little crazy about the universe and want more expanding beyond the movie. This distinction was most telling in the response to Rian Johnson's TLJ, which was fine for the former '2 hour experience' and that's how positive reception tended to view it but was a complete mess for the latter 'big picture'.

I don't understand the argument that TLJ was bad in terms of the bigger picture. It had the rest of the Resistance leaving in safety (where they could go anywhere or do anything that the next movie needed), the First Order under new management (which could go well or horribly depending on what the next movie needed), and had the hint of Luke's sacrifice paving the way for the new phase of the force (which again could be a variety of things depending on what the next movie needed). Not to mention Rey, Finn, and Poe are all together and can stay together or split up as necessary.

What do people mean when they say than it is bad in terms of the bigger picture?

 

[Osprey]

2019:
Disney CEO Bob Iger:
"A little too much, too fast"
"You can expect some slowdown"
"I think we're going to be a little bit more careful about volume and timing"
"I think that there's something so special about a Star Wars film, and less is more"

Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy:
"You can't turn this into some kind of factory approach"
"You can't even do what Marvel does, necessarily, where you pick characters and build new franchises around those characters"

2021:

 

[Warden of the North]

2019:
Disney CEO Bob Iger:
"a little too much, too fast"
"You can expect some slowdown"
"I think we're going to be a little bit more careful about volume and timing"
"I think that there's something so special about a Star Wars film, and less is more"

Kathleen Kennedy:
"you can't turn this into some kind of factory approach"
"You can't even do what Marvel does, necessarily, where you pick characters and build new franchises around those characters"

2021:

Ill be first to admit they overdid it with the film schedule (sequel trilogy + existing standalones), but Disney+ needs fresh content in the form of shows. The current film schedule seems acceptable.

 

[MadDevil]

I have faith in the people who have done Mandalorian being involved in some of these shows. Filoni and Favreau are involved in the Ahsoka and Rangers series. Deborah Chow is running Obi-Wan (and we know what McGregor can do as the character). Tony Gilroy, who helped finish Rogue One, is doing the Andor series. They all have track records of doing pretty good Star Wars stuff. Plus Patty Jenkins doing the Rogue Squadron movie. So while it is a lot of stuff they announced, I feel better about this schedule because of the people involved than I did with the movies.

 

[Tawnos]

"You can't even do what Marvel does, necessarily, where you pick characters and build new franchises around those characters"

I do think the studio made a pretty big error in judgment on that one when they cast out the old EU without a care. They should've taken the approach that they were going to keep the characters, but maybe reimagine some of the stories. That's essentially what Marvel did. I'm not sure they knew what they already had there. There are enough great characters from the EU, plus what they did keep in the animated series, to have been able to do that. By all means, cast out the Jacen/Jaina/Anakin/Ben next generation if you want to do a new sequel... but all of the EU was too much.

 

[Cas]

I do think the studio made a pretty big error in judgment on that one when they cast out the old EU without a care. They should've taken the approach that they were going to keep the characters, but maybe reimagine some of the stories. That's essentially what Marvel did. I'm not sure they knew what they already had there. There are enough great characters from the EU, plus what they did keep in the animated series, to have been able to do that. By all means, cast out the Jacen/Jaina/Anakin/Ben next generation if you want to do a new sequel... but all of the EU was too much.

Is there anything stopping them from cribbing whatever they want from whatever books they want as it is?

 

[Jussi]

I gotta say, im surprised theyre going full steam ahead on a show headlined by Gina Carano.

Or was it really only a Twitter echo chamber mad at her?

It's not sure she's headlining it. There's no other information other than it runs in the same timeline as The Mandalorian.

 

[Tawnos]

Is there anything stopping them from cribbing whatever they want from whatever books they want as it is?

There isn't, and they have essentially been doing that here and there, but they painted themselves into that corner initially when they didn't need to.

 

[Jussi]

2019:
Disney CEO Bob Iger:
"a little too much, too fast"
"You can expect some slowdown"
"I think we're going to be a little bit more careful about volume and timing"
"I think that there's something so special about a Star Wars film, and less is more"

Kathleen Kennedy:
"you can't turn this into some kind of factory approach"
"You can't even do what Marvel does, necessarily, where you pick characters and build new franchises around those characters"

2021:

None of the live action shows are coming next year.

 

[Osprey]

ArGarBarGar "liked" one of my posts about Star Wars, proving that there's a first time for everything.

Jussi missed the point, though, proving that some things never change.