ST Kathleen Kennedy Discussion Thread

Maybe Zack Snyder can succeed Kennedy.

 

And who wants to be stuck home with the husband?
I kid guys!

 

Just saw that poll and I stand corrected. A quick skim of some of the threads here suggests a fair bit of division but that poll certainly suggests otherwise.

 

All the recent Kathleen Kennedy bashing and painting her as some kind of cold executive is for movies that haven't even come out yet. The reasons given for the firings are acceptable. Having been skeptical about the Han Solo movie for several reasons, it is a little comforting to know it is being taken seriously, considering details given about where it was going. Ron Howard has been called a safe choice, but how bold and unconventional do we want Star Wars to be to still be Star Wars?

 

I half-agree with you.
I think she had an idealistic image early on - that she could hire these amazing young directors, agree on what the story and tone would be, let them do their thing within their agreed-upon framework, and the films would be creatively successful and personally rewarding. On that, I completely agree with you.

But I think she always believed they would make money, hand over fist - each time out. $2billion to start, and then settle in at $1bil-to-$1.5bil a pop. Rinse and repeat.

I think she underestimated how different - and, put simply, how difficult - some directors can be to work with. Sure, she's been in Hollywood forever; she knows how to deal with egos. But there are so many moving parts to these stories, and each film impacts the greater shared universe...and there is certainly a time crunch.

...So she turns to the likes of Ron Howard and says: Get.It.Done.

 

While I agree 100% with the reasons for the firings, I question the hirings.

Hire well and you will not need to fire. Or at least, minimize the need to fire.

 

Yes, but there’s a whole lot of uncertainty when hiring. Not least as some incompetent people interview very well.

 

I am not sure how director's guild stuff works, but is it possible for LFL to create a short list of directors, and ask each one to provide a 1-pager high-level treatment as part of the job interview?

This would avoid directors who have an incompatible view with what LFL wants for the long term.

 

I imagine there are a number of conversations wherein KK teases that out. In any case, she’ll likely be doing a more extensive measure of that from now on.

 

blimey , well I would assume she's not hiring incompetents , if she is then why's she getting paid the big bucks ?

 

If she makes quality movies that feel like Star Wars going forward, I won't have any complaints.

 

Iger will not step down. KK will fire him first.

 

The woman executive produced at least half of my childhood. And the thing is, until the Disney sale I had no idea who she was.

She's phenomenal. I trust her completely with Lucasfilm and the franchise. The best part is that she's not just great at the business logistics, she's actually an extremely creative exec. Lucas picking her was one of his most brilliant decisions, and it's paying off so well.

 

It's certainly a possibility.

Then who would replace her at Lucasfilm?

 

This cannot be overstated. IMO, she is one of the (if not the) most creative-minded film studio executives in the business. We're very lucky to have her as Star Wars fans.

It could be much, much worse. For example, we could have Kevin Feige, or whoever is in charge of developing the DCEU.

 

The next Disney CEO needs to be someone the shareholders trust to fix ESPN. This is the biggest problem Disney faces today, by far.

ESPN revenues are going down, fast. All the huge profits that the movies division is making is almost nothing compared to how important the money coming from ESPN is.

This is why shares are down, even after a string of huge successes in the movies.

 

Kennedy has managed to become a sort of metaphorical Sith Lord for a vocal minority in the fandom, so she's got that going for her.

Though I guess the same thing happened to Lucas after the prequels so....

 

The answer re the DCEU is, unsurprisingly, no one (until Nelson, Johns and Berg came on board): http://www.vulture.com/2017/09/dc-wonder-woman-movie-strategy-universe.html

It was almost like Snyder was the guy in charge by default.

But reading that article is a bit of an eye-opener for anyone thinking Disney is some corporate nightmare. In comparison, Kennedy and LFL have been given the trust needed to do what they do best.

 

Yeah, but given how bulletproof Star Wars is, I expected them to take more chances. Now I see that it was very naive of me.

 

Like what? Screwing with Star Wars risks creating the New Coke of the genre film industry.

 

I don’t think it was much of a surprise that they started with a reset that tied itself very closely to the OT. I would have been more surprised if they went a completely different direction right off the bat.

However, I doubt they’ll stick too close from here on out. Less nostalgia boxes checked hopefully. Especially ones that don’t really add anything story wise.


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