Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm (after 2021)?

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Re: Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm?

I'm just spitballing but what are the chances of George coming back to helm the company and do a Steve Jobs?

Zero. The difference between George and Steve is EGO. Steve came back to save Apple after they gave him the boot, that was immensely satisfying for a well known brilliant ego maniac. George sold his company to move on to other endeavors in his life and isn’t coming back.
 
Re: Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm?

It would be ridiculous to have this happen because of Solo. It would be a completely asinine move. The defacto rationalization would be you keep your job until one film doesn't do what it's supposed to, then you're toast. No one would take the job if that's the case.

Now, if she's sick of the fan BS (the out of line stuff, not the legit stuff - or even the legit stuff frankly), that's fine. It is possible to have had enough. She goes back a ways too, so maybe she just wants to retire. Who knows. Hopefully it's that. If this is a disney move due to solo, they should be ashamed.

But it wouldn't be just because of Solo. The issues have been piling up under her since TFA. Every Disney SW era movie has had problems. The only one without production problems was TLJ but that did way more damage to the SW name then any of the other production issues.

Since TLJ, multiple times I have been on the fence about totally abandoning this new Disney SW. If she was to go I would be totally willing to give Disney SW renewed support. In my case, I really hope she goes.
 
Re: Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm?

Zero. The difference between George and Steve is EGO. Steve came back to save Apple after they gave him the boot, that was immensely satisfying for a well known brilliant ego maniac. George sold his company to move on to other endeavors in his life and isn’t coming back.

That's not to say that they might not go back to the well for ideas and inspiration? :)
 
Re: Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm?

I don't know, they gave GL several boat loads of money for the franchise, he might just enjoy being paid a bit more to come back on an interim basis to finish the Skywalker trilogy out. That is, if KK left sooner rather than later,
 
Re: Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm?

It would be ridiculous to have this happen because of Solo. It would be a completely asinine move. The defacto rationalization would be you keep your job until one film doesn't do what it's supposed to, then you're toast. No one would take the job if that's the case.

Now, if she's sick of the fan BS (the out of line stuff, not the legit stuff - or even the legit stuff frankly), that's fine. It is possible to have had enough. She goes back a ways too, so maybe she just wants to retire. Who knows. Hopefully it's that. If this is a disney move due to solo, they should be ashamed.

I dont know whether the KK rumor is true BUT it's not just SOLO under performing. TLJ did $300M+ less than TFA domestically. The amount of TLJ merchandise still sitting on shelves, has been pulled or reduced in price AND the number of DVD units still sitting... that a HUGE financial loss that HAS to be explained.
 
Re: Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm?

After Solo, which I DID enjoy, I figured it was time for her to go.

And it's not that I think she's ruined Star Wars... I LOVE TFA and actually quite like TLJ

But the Lord and Miller firing was a huge problem for me.... Not that I think they probably made an excellent movie, but it was just another time she fired someone she gave control of a film over to - once again didn't trust the vision of the person they hired.

If it was once or twice, fine... but EVERY MOVIE has this problem?!

When it was announced Lord and Miller would do Solo, I was excited. GREAT! Young guys, great sense of humor and fun! This will be EXCELLENT!

Oh wait, they were fired for making the kind of movie they make? And this caught the head of Lucasfilm by surprise? How did she not know?


She clearly is not their Kevin Feige.
 
Re: Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm?

I'm just spitballing but what are the chances of George coming back to helm the company and do a Steve Jobs?

Why would he want to? Who needs the headaches and abuse. On the plus side, he's not afraid of revisionism, so he could go back and fix TLJ.
 
Re: Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm?

3E5y.gif... Kennedy!
 
Re: Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm?

I dont know whether the KK rumor is true BUT it's not just SOLO under performing. TLJ did $300M+ less than TFA domestically. The amount of TLJ merchandise still sitting on shelves, has been pulled or reduced in price AND the number of DVD units still sitting... that a HUGE financial loss that HAS to be explained.

It's all about IP, not the movies as such. I don't think Disney mind SOLO being a loss leader as long as the IP contracts are bringing in the bread. But I know little about what SOLO is bringing to the table right now, however I do know that neither TFA not TLJ are bringing back what is projected (at least in the toy business which is my turf)

Sure, what they paid GL for LF and the whole shebang is paid for by now, but I think Disney is looking for a load of billions in the next couple of decades. Right now it's not looking to good though is it?

Maybe KK will step down, maybe her contract ends in 2020, maybe she will continue to hire Rian for the next fourty SW movies. We don't know

I like what Filoni has done so far, he seems to be full of midichlorians. If he could just team up with an experienced film maker (cough Ron Howard or similar) .. that would be a team hard to beat (and yes, I think the Kasdans are done)

Let's wrap up Episode 9 (JJ is fine for me) ST is the new PT anyway and move the **** on. As a proper OT head, I'm REALLY done with the Skywalker saga. GL should NEVER have retconned ANH with "IV" and thus brought of all this mess

I like the cut of DF's jib, I say let him do the next saga. He has the highest SWIQ of all the people in the actual SW biz, right Wook?

Imho that is

Cheers,

Ole
 
Re: Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm?

I liked Solo. I liked it quite a bit. That aside, who decides when a film has officially "bombed"? Is it when it doesn't make back it's money? Is it when it breaks even? Is it if it doesn't double its investment? Also, what are the parameters to deem it a "success"? With that, it was my understanding (please correct me if I'm wrong) that by the time Solo leaves the theaters they predict that it will break even. When it comes out on DVD and starts streaming it will actually make money. If true, personally, I wouldn't call that a failure. And as mentioned above, Ms. Kennedy has made the franchise quite a bit of money. I didn't think the lukewarm reception of Solo alone is enough to fire her.
Again, as mentioned above, I think it's coming from the haters fan base.
(Side note: I've noticed this phrase comes up very often - on any topic in social media where haters are present: "why don't you just kill yourself?!" I find this remark startling and quite appalling. How could anybody suggest suicide over something petty to a total stranger?)
 
Re: Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm?

Kathleen Kennedy steps down....


“Rian Johnson made the new President of Lucasfilm.”

We are in the darkest (and most hilarious) timeline.


(I realize that this would almost certainly never happen, but man would it be hilarious. Ultimate trolling by the mouse.)
 
Re: Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm?

^ You touch on something here that I agree with.

Even if she steps down, I don't think that's gonna solve all the problems and the world will right itself. The problems with Star Wars aren't solely with Kennedy, it's with the property and "fandom" itself. It always has been.

- - - Updated - - -

Watching the revival of Lucas-worship is fascinating. Fandom was prepared to lynch him a decade ago. Now he's good ol' uncle Georgie again?

This. So. Hard.

Gotta give credit where credit is due to the man, but even he didn't know what to do with Star Wars after the original movies.
 
Re: Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm?

^ You touch on something here that I agree with.

Even if she steps down, I don't think that's gonna solve all the problems and the world will right itself. The problems with Star Wars aren't solely with Kennedy, it's with the property and "fandom" itself. It always has been.

Gotta give credit where credit is due to the man, but even he didn't know what to do with Star Wars after the original movies.

I don't think it's the Star Wars IP, pretty much every film Lucas made after Return of the Jedi has been a complete disaster.

The man just doesn't know how to make good movies because his ego gets in the way.
 
Re: Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm?

It's all about IP, not the movies as such. I don't think Disney mind SOLO being a loss leader as long as the IP contracts are bringing in the bread. But I know little about what SOLO is bringing to the table right now, however I do know that neither TFA not TLJ are bringing back what is projected (at least in the toy business which is my turf)
Cheers,

Ole

Side note on this:

How are toy sales generally these days? Like, are kids still...buying toys in general? Like, action figures and such? Lego toys? I'm not even sure what all the toy lines are for Star Wars.

How do the Star Wars toys compare to, say, Marvel toys, on an apples-to-apples basis?
 
Re: Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm?

@LordHorusNL

While that may be a factor, this man also realized what Star Wars became shortly after its original release (I touch on this in another post). I'll quickly summarize it here, Lucas realized then that Star Wars had become a brand and people will/have expect certain things from it. Any slight deviation from it is going to be met poorly. Though it presents itself as vast and full of endless imagination, Star Wars is actually very small and limiting. You try and take Star Wars someplace new, people hate it; you give them what they recognize, and people say it's derivative and empty. There's just no winning in this current system. You can have the most competent people making your stuff but when there's a bunch of fingers in the pie, and everyone's got something to say, you're not going to have a clear and concise vision.

The broad strokes of the EU were just ideas Lucas let writers toy with to satiate an audience still wanting Star Wars, even after it was over (I'm sure some people liked some of the stories it had to offer but I found much of it to be terrible), but even then the EU had the same issues now of just regurgitating the same old things. Hell, they also recycled original cut story ideas, which were cut for good reason, just---because! RotJ still gets flack today because it really started then, with bringing back the Death Star.

I'm not saying Star Wars is dead, but, let's face it---who honestly cares anymore, beyond a small group of people? If it hadn't been impressed on the two generations of people that it did, I don't think kids today would honestly care about Star Wars. There are plenty of things that came after it that have filled the void for them. The Marvel movies are the prime example. Kids, I think, only have any interest in Star Wars because their folks show it to them and they like it through them, more than recognizing and sharing why we like these old movies. They just enjoy the time they're spending with their folks. I tried this with my nephews when they were young and they tried really hard to like them for my sake but, frankly, they wanted more Iron Man, Transformers, and Spider-Man. It wasn't my place to try and impress on them what I liked. I learned the same lesson their father did and came to know why he didn't bother with it.

Honestly, I think the only way to make a decent Star Wars is one that just won't happen in the current studio system. One man comes up with the story, focus on making sympathetic characters with ideas of the Force and grand galactic conflict sprinkled in, and he makes the movie to his vision. Forget about making it "for kids," say "screw the fans, they don't know what they want", and makes the movie(s) as he intends them to be made. However, that's just not going to happen now.
 
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