Mon, Dec 12, 2022
For almost the last 2 years, rumors have swirled that Kathleen "Kathy" Kennedy would be ushered out the door from Lucasfilm by Disney after a string of financial and managerial mismanagement of the world's most commercially valuable intellectual property. Kennedy's only hallmark during her tenure at the Walt Disney Company since the 2012 Lucasfilm Ltd purchase has been one of massive production budget overruns and black holes of cash following The Force Awakens, which Bob Iger largely claims credit for. He essentially directed JJ Abrams to make a new version of 1977 Star Wars to re-launch the franchise under the Disney banner. After the tremendous $2 Billion global box office, Iger was confident enough to relinquish the remainder of the trilogy to Kennedy and her team. What happened next became one of Iger's worst regrets during his reign over the House Of Mouse. The Last Jedi and Rian Johnson rended the Star Wars fan base to shreds. The box office collapsed compared to the first film and Solo A Star Wars Story was abusively punished five months later for the unmitigated temerity of what Kennedy and Johnson and the all-female Lucasfilm led writers conglomerate did Luke Skywalker and the most beloved family saga of all time. Even as fans celebrated Rogue One, Disney was mired in a massive production financial fiasco. That same story played out for Solo and again for The Rise of Skywalker. It all led back to Kathleen Kennedy. She rightfully bore the brunt of fan ire for destroying Star Wars. How could she be renewed? How could Kennedy not be fired for wasting hundreds of millions of Disney dollars in her mismanagement? Even Bob Iger publicly slammed the brakes on Kennedy Star Wars following the humiliating rebuke of The Last Jedi and Solo. Since then, no Star Wars cinematic feature has been greenlit for production (apart from Episode 9 which already had). This was NOT what Disney had spent $4B to languish in. Inexplicably, Kathy Kennedy was renewed in October of 2021. From a purely business perspective, this made ZERO sense. Something in her contract must have overridden any capacity for pragmatism. Perhaps... that was Indiana Jones 5. Since then, rumors have festered about the nature of the final Indy film from channels like @OverlordDVD and the recent trailer release seems to visually confirm a great deal of what Doomcock has previously divulged. Lucasfilm has since gone into panic mode and several sources have repeated the nearly identical refrain of fear and paranoia. Phone and email communications being monitored and scrutinized. Employee inquiries by senior management. If the rumors were all fake, then one might wonder "Why the Concern?" Today, Kamran Pasha brings news from a source inside Lucasfilm, who alleges knowledge that Disney and Kennedy have reached some level of agreement over her retirement following the debut of Indiana Jones and the Dial Of Destiny.
Mon, Jan 9, 2023
Is A New Disney Lucasfilm Star Wars Movie REALLY Happening or Has Disney Had Enough of Kathleen Kennedy? Is Damon Lindelof REALLY working on a new movie or is it all just talk for now? Featuring @WDW_Pro and Kamran Pasha Recently we've seen reports coming from OUTSIDE Lucasfilm (namely from Hollywood director Damon Lindelof) saying that yet ANOTHER Star Wars movie project is in the works. Where have we heard this before?. With one failure to launch after another in the recent years of Lucasfilm, nobody should believe outright that anything of substance is happening inside that studio apart from whatever overpriced mediocrity Disney Plus orders up for streaming canon fodder. Disney CEO Robert Iger seems to have a sour place in his heart for Kathleen Kennedy as her reign over Lucasfilm has been the one real black eye Iger has suffered when it comes to the success of his multi-year, multi-studio buying spree. This includes Lucasfilm, Marvel, Pixar, and of course Fox. The rest have enjoyed unmitigated success even with a few failures in the last 2-3 years. Star Wars should have been a crown jewel in the Disney tiara but reception to Disney's entries in the saga have been tepid to poor and merchandise sales now even of classic Star Wars and Mando / Grogu have been suffering for it.
Fri, Jan 13, 2023
That Park Place contributors WDW PRO and JONAS CAMPBELL drew in Pablo Hidalgo to a conversation after tweeting about a recent @WDW_Pro video discussing recent rumors divulged by KAMRAN PASHA on his Patreon. These rumors were regarding a list of Disney Lucasfilm StoryGroup names (including Mr Hidalgo) who would reportedly be let go once Kathleen Kennedy retires from Lucasfilm's top seat. The conversation steers to Star Wars and the pre-Disney days at Lucasfilm and other Disney related topics.
Fri, Jan 20, 2023
Star Wars Hotel in Disney World Galaxy's Edge CANCELS Summer 2023 Voyages - BIG Changes Coming? DisneyWorld cancels some summer 2023 voyages at the Galactic StarCruiser Star Wars Hotel at Galaxy's Edge in Walt Disney World. Some predictions I made over one year ago on the Disney Star Wars Hotel, the Galactic Star Cruiser in Walt Disney World Orlando Florida are coming true. Will the NEXT big thing be Baby Yoda / Grogu and Mando behind a paywall at the Star Wars Hotel? I think so..
Sat, Jan 21, 2023
Disney Has Star Wars Problems and Wall Street Is Beginning To Take Notice of Missing Theatrical Releases and now problems at The Galactic StarCruiser at Galaxy's Edge in Walt Disney World Orlando, Florida. Recent articles from TheStreet.com may seem like things we've heard before, but it's signals that Disney's Star Wars problems are starting to perhaps finally reach Wall Street eyes and ears. The recent news of The Star Wars Hotel in Walt Disney World having to cancel many of its Summer 2023 experiences (and many on weekends and Holidays like July 4th.
Tue, Jan 24, 2023
Ant-Man and The Wasp Quantumania Early Box Office Projection and Ticket Presales - Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 5 LAUNCHES with Ant Man and The Wasp Quantumania - MCU Phase 5 - Wakanda Forever - China Release - Kevin Feige speaks out on putting Story First in order to better sell his and Disney's brand of social messaging. The first few days of ticket pre-sales for Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania seem to suggest an opening weekend of around $100 - $130M, which would be greater than the last two Ant Man films, but was Disney and Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige able to keep the costs as comparably low as the previous Ant Man entries or will this be another MCU $250M budget boondoggle? We've got the numbers from BoxOfficePro.com to discuss along with some comments recently made by Kevin Feige, as reported by BoundingIntoComics.com.
Wed, Feb 15, 2023
Opening Weekend Box projections for Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania aren't looking very promising when considering the massive $200M production budget for this film before even a dime is spent in marketing, which is likely another $125M or more. If this how Marvel Studios / Marvel Entertainment plan to open the MCU phase 5, they are in for some trouble. DEADLINE MAGAZINE and Box Office Pro both have estimates of around $95M for the opening 3 day weekend and $110M for the 4 day in the domestic market plus another estimated $160M internationally with $40-50M coming from China where the returns to film studios/distributors is rather paltry. Ant-Man also has suffered some of the absolute WORST critic reviews with a ROtten Tomatoes Score now hovering in ETERNALS territory, which is atrocious.