Disney CEO Bob Chapek Reaffirms Kathleen Kennedys Secure Future at Lucasfilm

And you call him honest.

 

I declare this topic (not the thread as a whole) closed.
I have spoken.

 

Personally, I think she should have stepped down. She is undoubtedly one of the greatest producers of all time but personally, I think she has struggled to manage the studio.
Take away whether you love or hate the Disney era films, the number of mess-ups behind the scenes has been way above average.

• You have had the basically reshooting of Solo with a different director
• Having to basically replace the director for Rogue one and re-write a massive chunk of the script after intial photography had been done.
• The getting within a whisker of announcing the Josh Trank Fett movie just to change your mind last second.
• The stupidness of having a trilogy people, had been wanting to see for 30 years and not having anything close to a plan before it started shooting.
• Then once adopted the no plan strategy, allowing the director to go all-in on a mystery box that they had no answers for, ( which was always going to come back and bite them in the behind).
• The firing of the director for episode 9 meaning a film that was meant to close out a 9 film saga spanning over 40 years was always going to be incredibly rushed.
• On top of that, the box office for each saga film has gone down, and solo even lost money.
• The announced Benioff and Weis deal that fell through
  
• The announced Rian Johnson trilogy that if it happens is likely to at least be a decade after its announcement, which was clearly never the plan, and it's much more likely it's just not happening and no one wants to admit it.
• The going from the idea of having 1 film a year, "forever" to basically things going so badly that they have to take a 4-year gap in films because the can't seem to come up with any ideas or keep hold of directors or producers long enough to get a decent idea together.
• Then there have been the balls up in the TV shows, standing on stage saying the scripts were done for the Obi-Wan series, only for them to be heavily re-written. Andor has had more delays than British southern rail, and after announcing Tudyk he's apparently not even in it.
• Then the announcing indy 5 with a release date when they weren't even close to having a script.

Granted the huge success of the Mandalorian has taken the car crash like feel away from what's been going on at Lucasfilm. But certainly, with the record Kennedy has of simply organising the studio behind the scenes has been a mess.

 

Yet it's the film by Rian Johnson which went perfectly smoothly that seems to have triggered much of the vitriol towards Kennedy.

That's always been the case with all the saga trilogies, including the OT.

Has it? Have they ever said when it was supposed to air? I can't say I've heard much about any of that. If there have been any delays, can't it possibly be because of the current viral pandemic? The same reason lots of things got delayed?

Also, Tudyk IS going to be in it - all they said is that he won't be there from the start.

Solo is the only thing that 'bombed' - and I thought the claim was it bommed because of some mass boycott by fans' dissatisfaction with TLJ. Everything else has been a success, including the move into a new live action show.

What happens behind the scenes doesn't really matter. Re-shoots? So what. Changes in personnel? So what. What's important is what gets to the screen, and if what makes it onto the screen is good and a success then it doesn't really matter.

Films have been dogged with such issues since the industry began - it's just that in the old days we rarely got to hear as much about it. But in the modern age we have the internet and a craving and a demand to know what's happening and when and what the latest news is and for leaked pictures from the sets etc etc etc. So every little detail makes it to our news feeds. And some of those things are just creative people changing their minds or deciding it can be better.

Star Wars, particularly with TFA, TLJ and The Mandalorian, has also critically been the most well received it has been in years. To me that's something we as fans should be rejoicing in. But nah.. haters gotta hate and find someone to scapegoat for what they just don't like.

 

I've heard some people suggest that Kathleen is great on the executive end, but it would be great to have another head for creative direction--somebody more like Favreau, Filoni, or Feige (as long as it's an F).

I tend to agree with that. You don't need to be a "Kathleen Kennedy hater" to see that what's happened at Lucasfilm is definitely abnormal, and largely due to (according to Lucasfilm) "creative differences." They've left a trail of delays, cancellations and firings that's much more public and constant than any other studio except for maybe DC.

 

The car crash.

--- Double Post Merged, Mar 11, 2021, Original Post Date: Mar 11, 2021 ---

The inability to please everybody all the time is far from abnormal. It's also often said that the supposed "controversies" that Lucasfilm is supposedly plagued with are consistent with the "culture" that Disney is submitting to. That also at odds with them being abnormal. I don't agree that there is a problem with output at the moment.

Fan's anxiety about "delays" after "announcements" are not exceptional or surprising either. Some fans just like being in the loop and able to predict and pre-empt everything. Anything that doesn't let them feel as if they are on top of everything is considered bad even though it makes no material difference to the finished product(s).

How many people cared or knew about Rogue One behind the scenes? How many would be aware if they watched the blu ray documentaries for that movie?

Is everyone forgetting Iger's admission that the release schedule that Disney imposed on the initial film projects was, in hindsight, not optimal?

 

I'm not really talking about fan reactions. I'm more concerned with the sheer number of times that Disney has made a big public announcement of projects/directors only to cancel them or make huge creator changes late in the game. The Lord & Miller thing, the Trevorrow thing, the GoT creators thing, essentially re-directing a ton of Rogue One. The number of public, high-profile about-faces here is simply usual practice for major studios (again, with the exception of DC, whatever is going on over there). And it erodes the trust between the studio and the fans.

You post that picture of upcoming projects as evidence that Lucasfilm isn't a "car crash." I agree that it's not a total car crash. But several years ago, that slate looked much different. They have yet to give me confidence that they will actually accomplish these plans--history just isn't on their side.

 

I might get **** on for this, but I really don’t think she is the worst thing ever as some people claim.

Most Star Wars projects have been good or at the very least financially successful. And that’s really all you want as a Disney shareholder. That’s who she has to please. And through that her boss. Who obviously likes her. The only failure was SOLO. Mando the ST have both been financial success. Resistance was meh but fine. I can almost guarantee you that the next few Star Wars shows will be reviewed positively. She isn’t going anywhere.

My point is if you credit her with the failure of the ST or whatever you also have to credit her for the good things as well such as Mandalorian, Rebels etc.

She isn’t going anywhere and if you ever thought she was you were deceiving yourself.

Also a question for people who want her gone? Who replaces her? It’s not gonna be Filoni. That would be a horrible business decision on the part of Disney. Filoni is a creative not a business guy. Whenever Kennedy retires in like 9 years she’ll probably be replaced by someone outside the company. Not Filoni or Jon.

Let’s say you replace Kennedy with Filoni. Let’s ignore the business side. It would literally take Filoni away from any of the shows or whatever he is working on. Making Filoni the president is a bad idea. Same goes for Jon. Which are the two names I hear thrown out. No KK should stay. Then after that they’ll hire most likely someone outside the company or promote the Vice President. Or someone else high up in the company.

Filoni doesn’t even make it on the leadership page

https://www.lucasfilm.com/who-we-are/leadership-team/

 

Aren't you contradicting yourself by saying the fan's reaction to those announcements and the way things sometimes pan out differently or at a different time is to feel their trust being eroded? Gareth's lack of involvement in the reshoots for Rogue One certainly did not erode trust in that movie. Lord & Miller decided they were still trying to figure out what movie they were making midway through production even though a direction had already been agreed to by everyone before shooting began. The Treverrow thing was a result of Carrie passing away and the timescales imposed by Disney.

The disappointment of Solo is often attributed to The Last Jedi. And yet Kennedy called it as satisfying and rewarding a collaboration and working experience with a creative team as she's had in her whole career.

 

Also it’s of note it was Kennedy who wanted to move Solo to December a year after TLJ. It was Iger who vetoed the decision. I blame Iger over anyone else foe Solo’s performance. It could have been a success if it launched in December.

 

The next LFL president will likely be someone who has a similar record in handling talent and production to Kennedy. Some people seem to think the person who replaced Lucas should have been the new George and that a new George is needed to replace Kennedy. That's just not the case. Lucas was continually embarrassed by being the head of a corporation. But he endured it because it meant he didn't have to answer to anyone as a film-maker, which was always his ultimate goal.

 

Lucasfilm is still in their Growing Pains phase, and slowly moving out of it.

Doesn't mean I'm completely happy with Kennedy, but I'm not entirely unhappy either. Do I wish she had more of a vision for the future of the franchise? Absolutely! But her lack of vision also may allow different perspectives to come in and shape their corner of this awesome universe.

Right now I just feel...ambivalent for most Star Wars projects. I want to care about everything or at least most things, not be selective about what I might partake in due to cynicism, burn-out, and unmet expectations.

And that's all I want or hope to say on this matter.

 

Didn't the GoT guys claim that they took the meeting and agreed to work on material for them but in truth they had no real interest in actually developing anything.

 

That's very true. but from a studio heads point of view, going hang on the previous film was basically the biggest mystery box in film history, which was clearly going to cause more speculation than any film in history and they decided they were going to follow it up with a film that basically goes the mystery box is empty. Artistically you can argue if that was right or wrong till the cows come home, and there isn't a correct answer its 100% down to taste. But from a business point of view, that was always going to insanely polarising and cause a backlash which the franchise was going to have to cope with going forward.

Personly I think she was incredibly brave for doing it, but from a business point of view and from point of view of telling a coherent story in the new trilogy they really made it hard for themselves, and I think Kennedy massively underestimated that.

The OT wasn't planned, When the original star wars films were made Geroge had no idea he was going to get the chance to make all the other film. It wasn't episode 4. it was just Star Wars.
The new trilogy 100% new it was going to get 3 films. It new it had the pressure of following the story of the most beloved film trilogy in history, that the new was going to pick apart to death and over-analyzed probably more than any film series in history. And they went into it without a plan, without really a story they wanted to tell. That's more than a bit foolhardy!

It was originally due to shoot in 2019. then you had Gilroy replacing Schiff, rewrites, then you had the pandemic.

As for Tudyk "They're shooting it right now, I'm not in it. But, if it stays on the air, stories keep getting told, I'll end up in there," Tudyk which is basically saying I'm not in season 1 I might be in a later season if they get made. Clearly, that was not the plan when they bought him on stage what was it 3 years ago?

I don't necessarily agree that Solo bombed because of fans boycotting it. But say your right? fans been so upset they are boycotting films shows there this hasn't been particularly well managed. I know everyone likes to put all the blame on the fans, but the fact things got to that stage shows things could have been managed better.
As for everything been a success, your right everything else has made money. but we have seen a huge decline at the box office. the last Jedi made 700 million less than Force awakens. Rise of Skywalker made 300 million less than the Last Jedi. That shows they are shrinking the audience rather than growing it.

Of course its star wars the audience is huge, so the films do well.

Yes, what's important is what you get on screen. but if projects are constantly needing last-minute patch jobs because the prep, either in scripting terms or getting the correct director in, wasn't correct then that is not a sustainable strategy.

Yes films will always have issues, not every film will be smooth sailing. you would 100% expect the odd bump in the road. and if it was just the odd bump know one would bat an eye lid.

But they have made 5 films, 3 of them have had severe production issues 2 where the director has been replaced mid film. That's not normal! Add to that all the other announcements that have proved not come true, the slowing down the of the film production, issues with tv re-writes.... thats more than the odd bump

I'm not sure i 100% agree with this TFA, TLJ, definitely got positive reviews when they came out. There has definitely been a lot or revisonism since then. similar to the way the Phantom menace got praised from pillar to post when it came out. but the underlining fact is a critical reaction to the films genuinely got worse with each passing film, which is not a good sign

That the default answers these days, people don't say something 100% positive and its "haters are going to hate". I don't hate Kennedy, she is a producer of some of my favourite films ever made that has given me so much joy. I just think the way she has made the leap to been a studio head very well and has made a lot of mistakes in the role.

 

And they new that not being planned out proved to be no obstacle to producing the most beloved film trilogy in film history. In addition to that the new structure at Lucasfilm meant that there was no longer the inverted pyramid that was perceived as a drawback in creating a prequel trilogy that resonated the way the original one did.

 

I mean that's your personal opinion rather than fact. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Very few people would agree with the sequel trilogy being "most beloved film trilogy in film history"

But if that's your feeling on the trilogy all power to you. I remember when i was the only one of my friends who loved the prequels when they came out and people took the mick out of me. You love what you love, you like what you like and you hate what you hate and there is nothing wrong with any of those opinions

 

[visible confusion] I never claimed that it was. Where are you getting that from?

I think I made it perfectly clear I was responding directly to your invocation of the originals being the most beloved trilogy in film history, to which not planning it all out proved to be have been no obstacle.

 

Exactly. It always makes me laugh about people who denegrate the ST as ostensibly not having a plan' when they dismiss, hand wave and excuse the inconsistencies and plot holes in the OT. Or even worse can't follow the pot points of TROS. .

--- Double Post Merged, Mar 11, 2021, Original Post Date: Mar 11, 2021 ---

And how exactly is that different from what I just posted? The complaints of the people in the video mirror the definition you provided above.

Can you provide evidence to the fact. Because this is news to me.