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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Speculation Kennedy possibly out in September?

Discussion in 'Archive: Disney Era Films' started by AndrewPascoe, Jun 5, 2018.

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  1. jamminjedi23

    jamminjedi23 Jedi Master star 5

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    Feb 19, 2015
    And the Mods are going to turn this into a Last of Us forum because Last of Us is king right now.
     
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  2. ewoksimon

    ewoksimon Chosen One star 5

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    Oct 26, 2009
    In my eyes, the only truly big mistake that Kennedy made was not foreseeing the production difficulties of Solo under Lord and Miller coming sooner. By many accounts, they were great to work with in preproduction, and their fingerprints remain on the film to a certain extent, but their process during the actual filming was what derailed the production. Had Howard been hired to do the film from the beginning, it likely comes in on time and under budget, and the losses aren't nearly as great. But that's in the past.

    Many point to the increasing number of ex-directors from Lucasfilm as a case of poor judgement by Kennedy, but I think it's worth crediting her for identifying issues with those directors before major problems arose. Josh Trank was let go early on from the Boba Fett film for unclear reasons, although his reported on set reputation had taken a hit. Gareth Edwards' Rogue One was narratively lacking, and by most accounts, Tony Gilroy's reshoots strengthened the film's emotional arc. And Kennedy parted ways with Colin Trevorrow because of narrative disagreements about Episode IX.
     
    Last edited: Jun 12, 2018
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  3. Darth Smurf

    Darth Smurf Small, but Lethal star 6

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    Dec 22, 2015
    Episode IX - The big crunch
    Confirmed!
     
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  4. Jedi_Fenrir767

    Jedi_Fenrir767 Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Oct 16, 2013
    Thanks for letting me know going to listen to movie talk while I finish up some work for the day!
     
  5. jamminjedi23

    jamminjedi23 Jedi Master star 5

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    Feb 19, 2015
    I stopped paying as much attention to movie talk because Collider changed their format around. They have a lot of guests on the show now that can often be hit or miss and people like Ashley Mova have left.
     
  6. Jedi_Fenrir767

    Jedi_Fenrir767 Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Oct 16, 2013
    They had to because of the sale of the company which changed a lot of things about their structure. Sneider addressing the rumor was quite good actually. He stated that while the rumor has been debunked for the foreseeable future the fact that it had to be debunked and currently the word on the street about working with KK is not very good it's entirely possible that she will be leaving LFL just not in September. What Sneider has said is that we won't hear about the difficulties of working with KK anywhere but you can bet that up and coming directors are hearing about the difficulties from Lord and Miller, Edwards and Trevarrow and the perception of the studio and the ability to attract talent will most likely precipitate her departure. That being said it's entirely possible that she changes the way she approaches directors and the films and things get better. The "foreseeable future" is never a great quote in Hollywood it could mean years or months depending on a few things.
     
  7. ComfortablyNunb

    ComfortablyNunb Jedi Master star 3

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    Nov 21, 2015
    So why did James Mangold, Benioff & Weiss and Jon Favreau all sign up to work with her? They're arguably 3 of the Top 10 "hottest" writer/directors in Hollywood right now. They could do just about any project they want and they chose Kennedy and Star Wars.
     
    Last edited: Jun 12, 2018
  8. ComfortablyNunb

    ComfortablyNunb Jedi Master star 3

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    Nov 21, 2015
    In that case, Kennedy's biggest mistake has been listening to OTHER people. Her good friend Brad Bird strongly pushed for Trevorrow. Kasdan was the one who strongly pushed for Lord & Miller. Whether or not people like TLJ, Rian was KK's pick and there was zero drama during production. Casting Adam Driver was also her decision (great choice). To be clear, I'm not saying she's not culpable for those other decisions -- just that trusting her own instincts would result in fewer mistakes.

    Ultimately though, the real question is: who would do a better job? I'm not exactly a big MCU fan, but only Kevin Feige would be a "safe bet" from a commercial standpoint. Nobody else can claim that they have the track record to do a better job.
     
    Last edited: Jun 12, 2018
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  9. Jedi_Fenrir767

    Jedi_Fenrir767 Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Oct 16, 2013
    James Mangold is rumor at this point. Jon Favreau signed up because he wanted to work on Star Wars and has done a lot of good work for Disney over the years with the Lion King, The Jungle Book and not to mention his participation in the Iron Man franchise as well. I would be very interested to know how Favreau was brought on board and what are the stipulations of his contract. Benioff and Weiss seem to be a great get for right now we will have to see because their track record outside of GOT was not the best.

    Also, these people didn't choose KK they chose Star Wars. We will have to see how things go because as of right now the only thing we know that's coming is the Jon Favreau TV show everything else in pre-production or early production and may never end up in front of the camera. Not saying it's going to happen but it's possible
     
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  10. ComfortablyNunb

    ComfortablyNunb Jedi Master star 3

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    Nov 21, 2015
    Choosing Star Wars entails working closely with KK though. It's not necessarily a slam dunk for directors/writers just because of the property. You can be sure that the DCEU's rough state is keeping top talent away from their movies, even if it means turning down iconic superheroes. As much as I love many DC characters, if I had Favreau's clout, I would avoid the current movie universe until a reboot.

    KK was an insanely successful and respected producer long before she was head of Lucasfilm. Heck, Daniel Day-Lewis thanked KK in his Oscar speech for Lincoln. I find it hard to believe most filmmakers don't like working with her. Lord & Miller seem to be the only major "director drama" she's had. Trank had terrible drug problems and an all-time debacle in Fantastic 4. Trevorrow was always an underwhelming pick and Book of Henry drove that home. Having some producer/director conflict is normal and often good for movies. You could argue that TLJ needed more pushback and fights.
     
    Last edited: Jun 12, 2018
  11. eko32eko7

    eko32eko7 Jedi Master star 3

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    Jan 10, 2018
    One day, it will end. LOL. J/K

    As much as I dislike almost every step taken in the sequel trilogy after the first act of TFA, I love the cast and I really don't want to see Kathleen Kennedy go. KK is an excellent producer and we are lucky to have her. Though, I am afraid that LFL under KK has made a very similar error that FLF did under George... with a twist.

    You don't have to go very far to hear someone bemoan the prequel trilogy, but the one thing most prequel detractors will admit is, under Jar Jar and all the awkward dialog, the story, lore and intrigue of the prequels were all spot on. I, personally, love the prequels for the story, lore and intrigue, but I admit that the pacing, dialog and Jar Jar are quite harsh and difficult to get over. I think George tried to do too much. He should have simply supervised the creative development/process and allowed others to write/direct/produce.

    Now, with LFL under Kathleen Kennedy, we have two thirds of a sequel trilogy where the dialog and acting are, mostly, impeccable. The the story, lore and intrigue are, however, are decidedly inferior to everything that preceded it. I hope, one day, I will be able to get over TLJ and the second half of TFA, but I'm working on it. In this case, Kathleen has corrected the issue of having others write/direct/produce, but the franchise is now missing that singular creative voice/vision.

    The best possible scenario I see would have been to stick to the original premise as outlined by George and Kathleen in 2012. George should have been allowed to retain creative control as a creative supervisor, an employee of Disney, while Kathleen would handle all of the nuts and bolts of production. As we all know, this pooch has, likely, long since been screwed.

    Bottom line, to me, is they need ONE creative supervisor (Lucas/Filoni) who can oversee development of the entire STAR WARS franchise (Movies, Books, Comics, Video games, Action Figures, ETC.) and ONE collaborative producer to create opportunity and put the wheels in motion (Kennedy). I hope they keep Kathleen on and, either, extend an olive branch to George or promote Dave Filoni to some sort of creative supervisor role.
     
    Last edited: Jun 13, 2018
  12. black_saber

    black_saber Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 4, 2002
    that
    I agree that dave fioni should be the creative supervisor and president of lucasfilm but I don't agree about Kathleen Kennedy running thing anymore despite the fact that I did enjoy TLJ and Solo.

    The reason why is because Kathleen Kennedy.has said things l ididn't like.for example The force is female and we don't cater to men and I am concerned it will be put into future star wars projects.
    .
     
  13. AndrewPascoe

    AndrewPascoe Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Apr 26, 2014
    Keep Filoni where he belongs in animation. I do not want him in charge of the creative direction of all Star Wars. Saber-Coptors and Gandalf the white lite are enough to convince me that he is not suited for the role.
     
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  14. Bilbo Fett

    Bilbo Fett Force Ghost star 5

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    Apr 19, 2017
    The force is female (I assume you're talking about something she wore here and not something she said) wasn't a Star Wars thing. It was a Nike thing. There's even a thread about it: http://boards.theforce.net/threads/the-truth-about-the-force-is-female.50049374/
     
  15. jamminjedi23

    jamminjedi23 Jedi Master star 5

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    Feb 19, 2015
    Can't people see that all the 'Force is Female' type of thing was was promotional material for younger girls to help build on the female audience of Star Wars since the franchise was traditionally known as movies young boys got into. Sometimes people just need to remember to think first and react second.
     
  16. Bilbo Fett

    Bilbo Fett Force Ghost star 5

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    Apr 19, 2017
    No, it wasn't promotional material to pull females into Star Wars (as fine as that would be). It was quite literally a Nike campaign. The "force" in this case was a tie-in to their Air Force 1 product line.

    https://www.nike.com/us/en_us/e/cities/nyc/the-force-is-female
     
    Last edited: Jun 14, 2018
  17. oncafar

    oncafar Force Ghost star 6

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    Jan 10, 2017
    I detect some cherry picking, and bending things to the worst possible interpretation.

    Wasn't Last Airbender an M. Night Shyamalan film, and wasn't Sixth Sense and Signs on that list as well? Shyamalan is interesting to me because he has the potential to make good stuff, but often there's something fundamental missing from my POV. His films are unique, beautiful, imaginative, mythological and visually and emotionally rich. They're always full of this compassion about the human condition. Often they aren't very practical or believable--realism seems to be lacking. Anyway Sixth Sense did very well, and showed that Shyamalan can make a successful film that brings in lots of money. Signs and Last Airbender flopped basically? It seems after Last Airbender, there's no more Shyamalan on the list?

    So a decision was made to stop backing Shyamalan films after that? 1 hit, 2 flops, bye bye?

    ETA okay I looked at the list. Sixth Sense and Signs are close in time (1999, 2002). It makes perfect sense to back Signs after Sixth Sense. But you could look at it and say since Signs didn't do so well, then there's no more Shyamalan until ten years later, and you could interpret Last Airbender as potentially different (a new direction for Shyamalan?) so knowing his potential, they backed him again. But it flopped.

    You can interpret this list in multiple ways, is my point. And see how I just made it all up to make it sound more favorable? I can make it all up to sound less favorable too.
     
    Last edited: Jun 15, 2018
  18. eko32eko7

    eko32eko7 Jedi Master star 3

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    Jan 10, 2018
    Interesting; I found the helicopter sabers to be quite bothersome as well. They always felt, to me, like a Disney (we can sell toys) influence and not an organic Filoni idea, but I have no evidence to back that up. However, the as much as the trend of gimmicky light sabers grates, I don't feel it is quite as harmful to the brand of Star Wars as some other choices which have come to fruition since November/December 2017.

    Would you agree that the Star Wars franchise would benefit from the focus afforded by central creative authority who can properly direct the development of the TGFFA? If so, who would you suggest or recommend?

    Personally, I'm not, at all, enthusiastic about the idea of the TGFFA being developed by committee.
     
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  19. Darth Chiznuk

    Darth Chiznuk Superninja of Future Films star 8 Staff Member Manager

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    Oct 31, 2012
    This thread has run its course. Time to lock it up.
     
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