News Dismal Q3 Earnings

[Rodan75]

What’s the rumored health and safety issues?

That ROTR had OSHA type issues that needed to be addressed. It is discussed in the various SWGE threads.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I think it is also possible that Chapek demanded what we all think is possible...Bigger, Cheaper and Faster. WDI isn’t engineered for cheaper and faster and so I suspect everyone agreed to cut items that Ops already indicated would be problematic. In the end I blame WDI for not coming up with more practical, operational ideas that could have been executed on budget and on time.

And for as much as WDI is spending on project governance and management things like the cooling issues in Pandora’s server room and the rumored Health and Safety issues on ROTR shouldn’t be possible. Those execs should be removed and those teams completely re-evaluated.

It is easier to blame Chapek and Iger than it is to see fault in the invisible middle management tiers, but WDI has some big issues and until Chapek clears house in those areas these projects will be plagued with issues. UC isn’t in much better shape given their last few projects. It is hard to build experiences, but they still need to do better.

It’s hard to clear house when you don’t really know who does what, who is important and who is expendable.

 

[Rodan75]

It’s hard to clear house when you don’t really know who does what, who is important and who is expendable.

That is disturbing on a whole different level.

 

[vaderren1983]

JJ created a broad map for the ST, though he left a great deal of wiggle room for subsequent directors. Per Kathleen Kennedy and Kiri Hart, however, Rian Johnson was allowed to jettison all of JJ's outline and completely write his own script without regard to the original binding narrative. Trevorrow objected to this, as well as the removal of Luke Skywalker from his finale, and after many protests to stick with JJ's original script... he was canned. JJ was brought back in out of sheer panic as the firing of Trevorrow and Iger and Horn's first negative response to their views of TLJ came rather close to each other. Subsequent changes to JJ's reviesed Ep 9 script occured this past January and again in May after directives were given from the top to "fix" Luke Skywalker in Ep 9. This has resulted in reshoots all the way until September with post-production going until at least late October. This movie will be right down to the wire.

As for Benioff and Weiss, I have no idea because I no longer have interactions with Lucasfilm employees on a regular basis, and the contacts I do have would be extremely hush hush about such a thing given that Lucasfilm makes a habit of providing false info to employees in an effort to track leakers.

I have a few questions, when you say that there were direct orders from the top to fix Luke Skywalker in the reshoots, do you know to what extent they will try and fix Luke? Would that mean Luke is going to come back to life in the movie or will he just have a larger role as a force ghost.

Is Rian Johnson still going to do his trilogy or has that been canned?

Did Rian and JJ actually communicate on Episode IX or is the rumours of JJ and Rian not liking each other are true

How much do you know about JJ's original outline?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I have a few questions, when you say that there were direct orders from the top to fix Luke Skywalker in the reshoots, do you know to what extent they will try and fix Luke? Would that mean Luke is going to come back to life in the movie or will he just have a larger role as a force ghost.

Is Rian Johnson still going to do his trilogy or has that been canned?

Did Rian and JJ actually communicate on Episode IX or is the rumours of JJ and Rian not liking each other are true

How much do you know about JJ's original outline?

If you assume that rian Johnson is a disaster, it answers all your questions

 

[Mouse Trap]

I have a few questions, when you say that there were direct orders from the top to fix Luke Skywalker in the reshoots, do you know to what extent they will try and fix Luke? Would that mean Luke is going to come back to life in the movie or will he just have a larger role as a force ghost.

Is Rian Johnson still going to do his trilogy or has that been canned?

Did Rian and JJ actually communicate on Episode IX or is the rumours of JJ and Rian not liking each other are true

How much do you know about JJ's original outline?

Rian Johnson's trilogy is still in development. And since many are unaware of this "in development" means hundreds of things. Literally as long as he thinks about story ideas and remains in loose contact with Lucasfilm the project is considered "in development".

 

[the.dreamfinder]

I have a few questions, when you say that there were direct orders from the top to fix Luke Skywalker in the reshoots, do you know to what extent they will try and fix Luke? Would that mean Luke is going to come back to life in the movie or will he just have a larger role as a force ghost.

Is Rian Johnson still going to do his trilogy or has that been canned?

Did Rian and JJ actually communicate on Episode IX or is the rumours of JJ and Rian not liking each other are true

How much do you know about JJ's original outline?

Well, if Bob’s office hadn’t blocked JW Rinzler’s book on the making of “The Force Awakens” maybe we’d have better idea of what the development process was like and not baseless internet speculation.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Rian Johnson's trilogy is still in development. And since many are unaware of this "in development" means hundreds of things. Literally as long as he thinks about story ideas and remains in loose contact with Lucasfilm the project is considered "in development".

I have a 3 picture deal with Disney “in development”...I’m just as likely to get it made

Well, if Bob’s office hadn’t blocked JW Rinzler’s book on the making of “The Force Awakens” maybe we’d have better idea of what the development process was like and not baseless internet speculation.

That wasn’t bob...that was the “fixer” and his decontamination squad

 

[prberk]

I am also of the opinion that, in addition to opening with only one ride and high prices without much "Streetmosphere," I can't help but think that another big reason that SW:GE is lagging is because they decided to use the new trilogy as the setting instead of the classic, universally known characters and more familiar setting.

Nerds and current children know and care about Batuu and its inhabitants, perhaps, but the classic characters and scenes have nearly universal recognition and appeal. This will continue to be true, as it is the heart of the story.

They were already following the lead of Universal by developing a land based on one movie series; and they should have noticed that HP land in Universal is based most on the original film and features well-known characters and scenery from it.

SW:GE should have gone for more universal appeal.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Yes, Iger bought into his own Star Wars GE hype. But he does genuinely seem to be a fan of Star Wars, he has an energy when describing SW that he doesn’t have for Pixar or Marvel.

I find this impossible.

If Iger was an actual Star Wars fan...not just a fan of it’s accounting history...he would have been able to immediately sniff out that Kennedy was In way over her head.

I think her entire mandate may be: “Steven says George is a genius and George agrees...so I love Star Wars”

So I call foul here. Kennedy was a plant. A Hollywood vet skilled taskmaster that was put there as an admin without any creative juice at all.

The question is who wanted it? Iger or Lucas prior to the sale?

I think it was Lucas...knowing he could manipulate her when HE made his new Star Wars material...
Disney derailed that train - wisely - but never went back to the Kennedy problem.

 

[bartholomr4]

I find this impossible.

If Iger was an actual Star Wars fan...not just a fan if it’s accounting history...he would have been able to immediately sniff out that Kennedy was In way over her head.

I think her entire mandate may be: “Steven says George is a genius and George agrees...so I love Star Wars”

So I call foul here. Kennedy was a plant. A Hollywood vet skilled taskmaster that was put there as an admin without any creative juice at all.

The question is who wanted it? Iger or Lucas prior to the sale?

I think it was Lucas...knowing he could manipulate her when HE made his new Star Wars material...
Disney derailed that train - wisely - but never went back to the Kennedy problem.

Last April when Disney did the Disney+ dog and pony show for Wall Street, Iger was asked if he had seen any of the Disney+ productions and which was his favorite.... His answer was he had seen a little of all of it, but the Mandalorian was something special and he had watched it multiple times. I do think he has a special place in his heart for SW.

I also think Kathleen Kennedy was part of the deal to get George to sign the sale of Lucas Films..... But she is also an extremely experienced producer... her list of movies is long and includes a lot of big dollar flicks, along with a partnership with Marshall and Spielberg to creat Amblin Entertainment..... She might not be right for the job as president of Lucas today, but she had some big shoes to fill. The job is not without its challenges.... and the fan base is fragmented for sure....

Iger runs this company trying to get all of these A type personalities to work together and do so productively. I think his decision to keep Kathleen at Lucas is more about keeping the company whole, growing and profitable, than it is about micro-managing a story line..... I also think finding her replacement is like replacing Iger himself.... No one wants to be the one to replace her (or Iger), they want to be the one who comes in after the replacement, because the shoes are so hard to fill, and you’d rather someone else take the beating, and then step in to pick up the pieces.....

Personally, I like the idea of Jon Favreau taking the chair.... He needs to be somewhere in a permanent role in the Disney C-suite as Iger rides off in the sunset...

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Good god, these what's wrong with Star Wars threads are multiplying!

 

[tirian]

We've been through this before with Wall Street and their concern for ESPN's loss of subs... which turned out to be such a no big deal that when D+ was announced, Wall Street was all very happy for Disney forgetting all about ESPN and bumping up their stock.

Then a quarter... just one quarter, that things didn't grow as fast (there was no backsliding) as was "predicted," then Wall Street is dumping on Disney.

Mind you, these investors who just boosted Disney this Spring and are now dumping Disney this Fall are speculators trying to "beat the market" with crazy amounts of buying and selling in ever shorter intervals of microseconds. If all investors agreed with them, Disney's stock would drop to nothing.

In that same article bemoaning Disney's shortfalls, it says....

• The company's Studio Entertainment segment reported revenues of $3.8 billion during the quarter, representing a 33% increase from the same period one year ago.
• Disney's Media Networks unit reported revenue of $6.7 billion, which is a 21% rise from the same quarter one year earlier.
• The company's Parks unit posted revenue of $6.6 billion during the quarter, marking a 7% rise from the third quarter of 2018.

It then goes on to mention the greater expenses and drag that streaming has had, which was as expected. Iger's been saying as much in the quarterly calls for a year. How this was unexpected by Wall Street is the great mystery here.

Hey, Wall Street speculators: Disney will have losses in streaming for year and be sinking the equivalent of some nations' GDP in capital improvement rather than buying back stock. So, sell off your Disney stock now and stop whining. In 2022 when there are record profits, you can come back and create a speculative bubble.

I agree with you, but sadly enough, Wall Street and Bob’s Burger Board rely on short-term profits to prove things are successful.

Not making enough money? Hike tickets! Losing gate numbers? Hike merch, hotels, and food! Still not making enough money to fund enormous bonuses? Cut entertainment and use FP+ to cut staffing and artificially inflate queues!

Make those short-term numbers look good! Otherwise, heads are going to roll! Pin the blame on somebody!

How many P&R VPs has Iger churned through in fifteen years? If we look at corporate and the resort levels, I’ve lost count.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

I find this impossible.

If Iger was an actual Star Wars fan...not just a fan if it’s accounting history...he would have been able to immediately sniff out that Kennedy was In way over her head.

I think her entire mandate may be: “Steven says George is a genius and George agrees...so I love Star Wars”

So I call foul here. Kennedy was a plant. A Hollywood vet skilled taskmaster that was put there as an admin without any creative juice at all.

The question is who wanted it? Iger or Lucas prior to the sale?

I think it was Lucas...knowing he could manipulate her when HE made his new Star Wars material...
Disney derailed that train - wisely - but never went back to the Kennedy problem.

Iger’s problem was that he was too interested in SW and he was second guessing LFL/KK and pushing them too fast, remember he originally wanted Ep VII out for May 2015

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Iger’s problem was that he was too interested in SW and he was second guessing LFL/KK and pushing them too fast, remember he originally wanted Ep VII out for May 2015

The revelation in Iger’s recent book brought to light/connected the dots on what Lucas had in mind: continue to make Star Wars without worrying about the money.

Disney shut that down.

As far Kennedy being “rushed”...she’s had 7 years and Star Wars is leaking oil both creatively and financially...so that excuse has expired.

Some people suck at their jobs even though they shouldn’t. Call it the “ovitz effect”

 

[shernernum]

Ovitz....there’s a blast from the past. Is it appropriate that my autocorrect tried to change his name to Obits?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Good god, these what's wrong with Star Wars threads are multiplying!

It’s currently the biggest thing in Disney portfolio to discuss...along with the streaming service.

It also has a fanbase that’s unparalleled in loyalty and expectations...which Disney bought.
Package deal.

And here we are.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Well, yes for Pixar and Marvel.

Whether LucasFilm is going to make back the investment is yet to be seen, depending on merch sales. Because, for the films so far, the *profit* hasn't made up for the $4B price tag. And that's because of the budget and advertising and theater-profit-sharing that eats into the Box Office. Disney has only made $660M in profit in the theatrical window for their new SW movies.

Now, the old movies and the post-theatrical window and the merchandising are certainly bringing in big buck. But, I don't know if all that has surpassed the $4B investment (plus another billion for SWL).

Also, Disney Movie Studios, my usual whipping boy, is still only breaking even on average in the theatrical window (I'm sure post-theatrical puts it far into the black). But, that studio still needs to be straightened out as much as the current Fox movie studio, IMO.

This is excellent...spinning your numbers well here

The handling of Star Wars, at least the films themselves and the parks implementation, has been shockingly bad, especially considering how well Marvel has been managed, at least on the film end of things.

Correct. Opinions vary...but this is the correct one.

If your only reason for purchasing Lucas Films was for the SW movies, you may be true.... There is alot more to the investment. Your point is well taken, in the law of large numbers, SW movies haven't made the same percentage as Blue Sky......

Well their cupboard isn’t exactly stocked beyond it. The reality is LFL’s individual components fell out of elite status as George fought the prequels and their fallout.

Agreed, which is why I get more and more antsy at the fact that Feige's contract is still not yet renewed and expires in the next few months.

Well I’m not as convinced marvel is gonna continue as it has...it very possibly has peaked.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Star Wars merchandise is a multi Billion dollar industry annually. They've likely already made their 4 billion back.

https://fortune.com/2015/09/03/star-wars-disney-toys-force-awakens/

Star Wars is the biggest licensed movie product franchise in history...over $100,000,000,000 by estimations...

But I see what you did there...look at the date of that article. How’s it been going since?

There are more recent articles that highlight the turning of the worm.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

The revelation in Iger’s recent book brought to light/connected the dots on what Lucas had in mind: continue to make Star Wars without worrying about the money.

Disney shut that down.

As far Kennedy being “rushed”...she’s had 7 years and Star Wars is leaking oil both creatively and financially...so that excuse has expired.

Some people suck at their jobs even though they shouldn’t. Call it the “ovitz effect”

She had 3 years to start a massive tentpole sized operation for a film a year with a director who was NOT her or Disney’s first choice. Just building a proper pipeline for these films should have pushed VII to the end of 2016 or May 2017. Like do you not understand how hard it is to make films at this scale when your boss wants the job done under an unrealistic timeframe- his original retirement year, might I add? Animated films can take 4-7 years from conception to completion. Live-Action tentpoles need that much time to be good, which TFA was not because JJ plagiarizes Spielberg stylistically and can’t write cohesive stories to save his life. Dude refused to speak with the Pixar brain trust for feedback at the invitation of
screenwriter Michael Arndt.

I’ll let you in a little secret, John Favreau, Brad Bird and David Fincher were KK’s first choices for VII. They all balked because of the timeframe and they didn’t want to be one to screw up SW. KK, Filoni and others have tried to do the best under the circumstances and great work has been done like Rebels, The Last Jedi (yeah, it’s a masterpiece) and Resistance. Galaxy’s Edge was hampered by Chapek but its greenlit vision would largely have been a home run and blown away Potter.

As they say, “YOU CAN’T RUSH ART!!” and some old dead guy once said “quality will out”, Iger, a manager, appreciates neither and that’s what we got the SW films we got.