Kathleen Kennedy: Taika Waititis Star Wars Script Is Two-Thirds In, Rogue Squadron and Lando 'Still on the Books', and More

While I understand the intense interest in the status of various SW film projects, I don't understand why Kathleen Kennedy weighs in on 'unofficial' projects that can only hurt her and Lucasfilm's credibility down the road. Why go there when the benefits of her little 'news tidbits' are so small and the consequences of it turning out to be Pure BS are so great?

I can recall some intense exchanges here about Tiaka's film a couple of years ago. KK said he was about to begin filming for a 2023 release and I called that BS which set off some angry responses from posters who believed her. Fast forward to 2023 and we hear he's STILL working on the script for crying out loud!

 

I think she is at least now, being very mindful of her statements. Honestly, I don't think she has said anything the past year of so that has or could backfire. Let's not forget she is, more or less, a politician. Part of her job as far as PR goes, is to convey a positive and optimistic outlook on the company. The challenge for her is that she is subject to quite possibly the most critical and unforgiving fandom in existence. She announced three movies at SWC. Three! I think it's fair to say that the most informed and "in-tune" of us fans were honestly only counting on maybe one, the Obaid-Chinoy movie. Yet, the majority of questions asked of her at the press functions were "what about Taika? What about Feige? What about Rian? What about Rogue Squadron?" And, fair enough, those were mostly projects that she had previously discussed. She addressed them, clearly and definitively, and still folks continue to be obsessed. Taika has been given sway to develop his project in his own way first. He could finish it by this summer. He could finish it in 2031. His project is not in KK's control and that's why it wasn't announced. The other three are in-house.

As far as Rogue Squadron and Lando, of course they are "still on the books". There are likely dozens of unknown projects over the past 40 years that are still "on the books". That's how IP works. When it comes down to it, you have to look at it as a glass-half-full or half-empty scenario. LFL having a stash of projects in various stages of development, to me, is simply an enormous potential of future stories. If other people choose to see that as a plethora of ruefully unused stories, that is their outlook. We all have to look at things "from a certain point of view".

 

My counter-argument for my worthy debate opponent is this ----> how good is her attempts at positivity and optimism if the projects she hypes never materialize? At some point, her 'informational tidbits' are received with "yeah, yeah, we've heard that before," responses from fans. How does that help the company?

In fairness to fans, how many "Oops, nevermind" film projects are we supposed to forgive and forget before it becomes a credibility issue?

I'd love to see a new SW film sometime soon. But pardon me if I'm skeptical we'll get more than one of them, let alone all three. Right now, I'd only bet money on Dave Filoni's film eventually making it to theatres.

And -- as you said -- she's getting those questions because she was the one who hyped them in the first place. Hell, Rogue Squadron even went so far as to have had a 'Director-hype' video released for fans.

Look, I am well aware that not every project is under KK's control. But if I'm in her shoes that means she needs to be very careful not to comment on films that are early in their development. Why take the risk of saying ANYTHING about a project to the public early? But in the case of Taika's film and Rogue Squadron, she went so far as to announce tentative release dates!!!!

Take a look at KK's upcoming film and TV announcements to investors and compare them to Kevin Fiege's similar announcements for Marvel Studios. Tell me how many of KF's Marvel film/TV projects never-came-to-be compared to KK's on the Lucasfilm side?

 

There was a story in the past year or so that basically said that someone at Disney, this was before Iger came back, had sternly advised her to quit announcing projects because of the recent run of failed movies and TV series. Possibly, it is largely just a sign of the times now that everybody carries a bullhorn around in their pocket and every statement is likely to be translated, interpreted and potentially weaponized. Again, it's a straw man argument to say :

Because, like she has said, these projects are not dead. They are just not in development. YES, you have a point that she never should have announced them if they were not on solid ground. It is disappointing to the fans. I'm 100% certain those failures are disappointing to Kennedy and LFL as well. Feces occurs, as they say.

Well, "fairness" is maybe a slight stretch, and "forgive
and forget" is very subjective. But for your argument, I will say you are correct, a repeated record of these issues would absolutely become a credibility problem. I don't think it's there now, and I have faith, especially with Iger back in the picture, that KK has course corrected. The other side of that coin is this, how many announced and then completed projects will it take for all the naysayers to stop the "yeah, yeah, yeah we've heard it all before" nonsense?

Ok... No need to pardon being skeptical. Personally, I think this is overly skeptical, because of the points addressed above. I truly believe that all three of the announced movies will absolutely make it to screen, and in a reasonable timeframe. Now, to clarify, and I said this on that Friday morning of SWC, these three may not be the next three to the screen. There's always the chance that Taika pulls gold on his first draft, or Obaid-Chinoy's movie is a massive hit and a sequel to it beats Mangold's Dawn of the Jedi to completion... However, as it stands right now, the three movies announced are three movies far enough into development and commitment to be confidently announced. They will happen. That's not just my hopeful fan desire, it makes business sense.

I am 100% with you on this. That was a stupid move. Even if, and this is my bet, that video was simply a Patty Jenkins ego-trip, look-at-me stunt, it never should have been put out there until the script was complete and production was underway.

Agree completely. And I believe those adjustments have been made. I think KK did indeed get too far out in front of her own skis. I don't think she did it carelessly, and I think she cares about the fans and their feelings. That's why no dates, not even speculative dates were given for the movies. It's also why I don't think any new TV series were announced, even though I pretty firmly believe there is at least one live-action series in development. They have a need, especially right now, to keep the TV series very fluid. I won't be surprised when the next new series is already in production when it is announced.

 

Sigh!..............even when I TRY to have a spirited debate with @MBWilson, we end up agreeing with each other (as usual.)

 

I disagree. If you want to have a spirited debate, just take up the wrong side of the argument and let's go at it, buddy!