Children of Blood and Bone

New Lucasfilm movie coming based on the New York Times best seller

 

This is a good book. I just finished it a few weeks ago and can't wait to pick up the sequel. I am looking forward to seeing who they cast.

 

I have heard nothing about this book but I am so glad they are branching out from Star Wars

 

It is considered a young adult novel I guess. I found it near the Hunger Games, Harry Potter books at Target.

 

Ahem

 

Oh lol

@LAJ_FETT @anakinfansince1983 merge or lock please

 

Apparently it’s really good

 

I heard it is really bad.

 

I have heard nothing

 

Sad news to report on the Lucasfilm front. Looks like this project has been setup over at Paramount Pictures now, with a new team involved. Details at the link below. Initial reports didn't seem to have much info concerning what exactly happened, but it now appears that Lucasfilm let the rights on the book lapse, which is a real bummer. I thought this was the perfect project for Lucasfilm, and it gave me hope that they would continue to be a production house interested in exploring their own projects, perhaps becoming a label for Disney that would be not just a Star Wars factory, but a sci-fi, adventure, and fantasy label. I mean, they still can be, I suppose, and I know we still have Indy and Willow coming out, but that's just old content they're re-churning out.

I don't know what happen here, but it honestly doesn't look great for Lucasfilm. I feel this could be another example of behind-the-scenes production issues that the company has faced over the past ten years. This is a very popular book series, with a lot of cinematic potential, and the initial rights bid was very competitive. It was of great interest to Kennedy, who really pushed to make the deal happen, and I think there was a lot of fanfare within Lucasfilm when the deal was closed a couple of years ago. The project was even mentioned at that one Disney Investor Conference by Kennedy herself as still in active development. Among others attached to it, they had Rick Famuyiwa set to direct.

Maybe I'm reading too much into all of this, I dunno. This is certainly not the only project from that Disney Investor Conference that's been left to the wayside (Rangers of the New Republic, perhaps Lando, maybe Rogue Squadron?....). Maybe this is simply Lucasfilm being stretched too thin with too many active projects in production and in pre-production, and the book/author probably had a set time period for the film to be released, or the rights would revert back to the author to explore a different studio. I dunno. I just know Lucasfilm could have done something special with this book, and it could easily have been a new franchise for Disney. I hope they'll continue to explore other projects (including original content), because I really don't want Lucas' former company to be nothing but a Star Wars factory.

Details at the link below, although Lucasfilm related info is sparse. Also, I highly encourage ya'll to check out the book series. Good stuff!



https://deadline.com/2022/01/paramount-pictures-tomi-adeyemi-children-of-blood-and-bone-1234908812/

 

Probably LFL overloaded with projects to the rights lapsed seems the most likely answer

 

This peculiar because they don’t seem to be working on any Star Wars movies all there announced creators aren’t developing them yet, I really want lucasfilm to do well they could have done a great job with this

 

Looks like we've received some further clarification regarding this news:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/m...-rethinks-its-non-star-wars-slate-1235078906/

After reading through this, I'm even more disappointed. Writing novels and short stories is different than writing screen/stage plays, and while authors cross-over on occasion, it doesn't always work out, however, it's disappointing to hear that Lucasfilm was not very open to some collaboration with Tomi Adeyemi, the author of the series. Seems like she wanted to be more involved creatively, and even support the film writing process. They had a great opportunity to bring such a cool story to the big screen, and even start a new fantasy franchise, one that fits perfectly under the Lucasfilm brand. It was also a great opportunity to work directly with Adeyemi herself, a young woman and person-of-color--and those individuals have it challenging not only in the publishing industry, but in the film industry, too. Who knows what all exactly happened behind the scenes, but dang, I'm just bummed out.

The other part that bums me out is the mention of Lucasfilm shifting away its focus on original content and stories, and instead on just mining its properties. I've feared this for years since the Disney acquisition. And while I'm excited to see Ford again as Indy, and while I'm excited for a couple of SW projects, and while, yes, I am intrigued at the Willow sequel, Children of Blood & Bone gave me real hope that Lucasfilm would continue exploring new stories outside of their vault of established properties. I know Disney specifically bought them to basically be a Star Wars factory (which is sad), but I had hoped for other projects, too. It's not to say that won't ever happen in the future, but it seems that at least for the foreseeable future, this is the course of action Lucasfilm has chosen.

Kudos to Adeyemi for pushing to ensure her voice is heard in this adaptation and for pushing to ensure her film project didn't just disappear. Best of luck to her and Paramount Pictures. Paramount's been looking for some new franchise opportunities, and I think they've scored a good one here.

 

Ironically, this seems like the kind of project Kathleen Kennedy would excel at, which is probably why she went out and got it in the first place.

At this point, I feel like KK is just staying at Lucasfilm out of pride/obligation -- she doesn't want to leave on a low note (at least film-wise). To which I would say: you're a GOAT-level producer, who's made several SW projects that most fans DO enjoy. You're not letting George or the fans down by moving onto projects that you're more passionate about.

One thing I admire about KK is that she seems much more grounded and mature than most A-list producers (e.g. Joel Silver or Amy Pascal). That's why I doubt she enjoys dedicating her 60s and beyond to making franchise popcorn fare. I doubt even Kevin Feige wants to keep making MCU flicks when he's 60+.

KK's last non-franchise movie was Lincoln in 2012... and it was wonderful. Arguably Spielberg's last "masterpiece." I really think she should make those kinds of movies again. For example, the Cleopatra biopic Patty Jenkins is working on? Kathleen Kennedy should be producing that.

 

Interesting observations there, ComfortablyNunb. I also get a sense that Kennedy is honoring her friend Lucas, and I feel like she may have a few milestones she wants to achieve before stepping down. She has always been a very talented producer, and one would think she probably has many projects she would like to pursue that don't revolve around the Star Wars brand, which makes it strange that they would let the rights lapse to this project. Understandably, Lucasfilm is probably spread pretty thin right now with so many active projects, but I would think that Kennedy would have fought to make this film a possibility. I think Disney was shortsighted here, as well. If Lucasfilm couldn't do it, Disney should have let 20th Century Studios just do it (LFL was co-producing it with them), but then it probably doesn't really align with Disney goals. They also seem content just mining past properties for films (all the live action remakes, sequels, etc.). It's been some time since Disney really invested in some original content to try and generate new series/franchises.

Kennedy also has been on the sidelines somewhat from her own production company with her partner Frank Marshall. Marshall has been working on several projects over the year, but I don't know how involved Kennedy is these days with their company. I feel like she'd probably would like to focus more on her own company at this stage of her career. But who knows...

 

I think she'd have a more manageable slate if she delegated Star Wars projects to someone else.

Hire someone as "Chief Creative Officer, SW Content" whether it's Filoni or Favreau or, I don't know, Doug Chiang. Someone who lives and breathes SW and knows how SW gets made. The CCO would map out the overall creative strategy and supervise the making of those projects. As President, Kennedy would have the right to reup/fire the CCO if they do a good/bad job. She would also be the one to deal with Disney's top brass and board of directors.

She's kind of doing this already on the TV side, delegating to Favreau and Filoni. Why not make it official across all SW projects?

 

Yeah, I love that approach. Didn't John Knoll have some sort of C-suite title, similar to that? Does he still have it? I feel like he was promoted to something like that around the Rogue One period. Not sure what all that entailed.

 

Knoll, Chiang and Filoni are all listed as "Executive Creative Directors." Only Lucasfilm knows what that title actually entails, but yeah, it's worth noting.

I know everyone wants Filoni to take over but he's a director/writer -- he wants to make Star Wars, not manage Star Wars. I think Knoll or Chiang are more likely candidates to take on an overarching strategic role. They share the same title as Filoni, also worked extensively under George, and aren't writers or directors. I'm getting way ahead of myself of course, but it's something to think about going forward.