News Dismal Q3 Earnings

[King Racoon 77]

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[DisneyCane]

Wow, what a circuitous route this trilogy has taken. Perhaps the willingness to toss out JJ's treatment came in response to criticism that TFA felt too much like a rehash of ANH and that the next film should be more off the wall? In any event, it didn't really pan out well. Do you have any knowledge about the extent of Palpatine's role in the new film? I know Kennedy and JJ said it was always the plan to bring him back (which I find hard to believe seeing as he was barely mentioned in the previous two films - you'd think Vader ran the Empire all by his lonesome). Totally understand if you can't say anything.

What about the decision to not revise Leia's fate in VIII following Carrie Fisher's passing? Seems like it would have been easier to conclude Leia's arc in VIII rather than relying on archival footage for IX.

And that last bit about plugging leaks is, ironically, right out of Game of Thrones.

TFA basically answers the question of what would ANH have been like if Luke was a girl. If they wanted to have a female as the central character, there had to be a more creative way of doing it than essentially making her story the same.

The problem is that Luke's story arc had the Obi-Wan, Leia and Darth Vader connection. Rey is just kind of dropped in. From what I remember of TLJ nothing was really added to her character. I think she found Luke's lightsaber.

They should have come up with a better backstory for Rey and, in TFA had Luke reunite with Han Solo because they had to find her for a particular reason. Maybe one of her grandparents could have been an unknown survivor of the Jedi Training massacre (or parents, I can't remember exactly when that was in the timeline).

 

[Villains0501]

TFA basically answers the question of what would ANH have been like if Luke was a girl. If they wanted to have a female as the central character, there had to be a more creative way of doing it than essentially making her story the same.

The problem is that Luke's story arc had the Obi-Wan, Leia and Darth Vader connection. Rey is just kind of dropped in. From what I remember of TLJ nothing was really added to her character. I think she found Luke's lightsaber.

They should have come up with a better backstory for Rey and, in TFA had Luke reunite with Han Solo because they had to find her for a particular reason. Maybe one of her grandparents could have been an unknown survivor of the Jedi Training massacre (or parents, I can't remember exactly when that was in the timeline).

Yes. As with the Game of Thrones final season, any number of fan theories and revisions are better than what we got. One of the myriad problems with the ST is that many of the main characters feel like ciphers - there's very little to them and what is there is contradicted from film to film. It's one thing for broadly drawn, archetypal supporting characters (i.e. Yoda as benevolent sage, Palpatine as ultimate evil), but the main characters (heroes/villains) should be as fully realized as possible. Oh, and also maybe go on adventures together? Too much to ask?

 

[WDW Pro]

Wow, what a circuitous route this trilogy has taken. Perhaps the willingness to toss out JJ's treatment came in response to criticism that TFA felt too much like a rehash of ANH and that the next film should be more off the wall? In any event, it didn't really pan out well. Do you have any knowledge about the extent of Palpatine's role in the new film? I know Kennedy and JJ said it was always the plan to bring him back (which I find hard to believe seeing as he was barely mentioned in the previous two films - you'd think Vader ran the Empire all by his lonesome). Totally understand if you can't say anything.

What about the decision to not revise Leia's fate in VIII following Carrie Fisher's passing? Seems like it would have been easier to conclude Leia's arc in VIII rather than relying on archival footage for IX.

And that last bit about plugging leaks is, ironically, right out of Game of Thrones.

Rian Johnson wrote the script before the first viewings of TFA, which is part of the reason the films feel so disconnected. Palpatine was always intended to return, but with no reference to such a thing in TLJ, the script for 9 has been written to feel as a standalone. Unfortunately, my best intel on the movie is that it may be a cluster with so many late changes and JJ isn't a lot of fun to be around at the moment. Leia was always supposed to be the star of the ST, and certain lead individuals at Lucasfilm have had a palpable disdain for Luke. When Carrie passed away, they had no idea about what to do and so deference was given to Rian to make the call. He kept his script as-was, and here we are.

 

[HauntedPirate]

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.

There's a name in the second sentence who is no longer working for LFL, and if online rumblings are to be believed, she was not well-received for a number of reasons.

 

[Villains0501]

Rian Johnson wrote the script before the first viewings of TFA, which is part of the reason the films feel so disconnected. Palpatine was always intended to return, but with no reference to such a thing in TLJ, the script for 9 has been written to feel as a standalone. Unfortunately, my best intel on the movie is that it may be a cluster with so many late changes and JJ isn't a lot of fun to be around at the moment. Leia was always supposed to be the star of the ST, and certain lead individuals at Lucasfilm have had a palpable disdain for Luke. When Carrie passed away, they had no idea about what to do and so deference was given to Rian to make the call. He kept his script as-was, and here we are.

Yikes, I don't envy JJ his current task. Not sure I understand the dislike of Luke on behalf of leading Lucasfilm folks - sort of like disliking Dorothy or Alice, no? He's the star of the show.

Crazy to hear about all the behind the scenes shenanigans. What a strange position for Iger to be in, having successfully put the right people in charge of Marvel and left incompetents in charge of Lucasfilm. It sounds like he's taking a more active approach in IX's development than in either of the previous two films. I take it you're also not sure about the future of Rian's trilogy, which might be folded into the Benioff/Weiss films? What were some of the other "Star Wars Story" projects in development? I've read about an Obi-Wan film, but that was never confirmed.

 

[Villains0501]

There's a name in the second sentence who is no longer working for LFL, and if online rumblings are to be believed, she was not well-received for a number of reasons.

Yes, I had heard this too. But there's now Michelle Rejwan, who I believe will be fulfilling the Feige role of creative supervisor. I wonder how that decision was reached. Is she a Star Wars fan or just equipped with great networking skills? Or both, of course?

 

[mikejs78]

Crazy to hear about all the behind the scenes shenanigans. What a strange position for Iger to be in, having successfully put the right people in charge of Marvel and left incompetents in charge of Lucasfilm. It sounds like he's taking a more active approach in IX's development than in either of the previous two films. I take it you're also not sure about the future of Rian's trilogy, which might be folded into the Benioff/Weiss films? What were some of the other "Star Wars Story" projects in development? I've read about an Obi-Wan film, but that was never confirmed.

I'd take all this with a large grain of salt.

 

[Indy_UK]

I think these quarterly results are pretty good considering all the merging with Fox, takeover of Hulu etc.

Don't see what the fuss is about

 

[Villains0501]

I'd take all this with a large grain of salt.

Maybe, but there's an undeniable disconnect in tone and intent between the two films released so far in what is intended to be a coherent, unified trilogy inside a larger coherent, unified saga of nine films. There has to be a reason for this. And the behind the scenes scrambling on IX would be par for the course for Lucasfilm, which also had production trouble on Rogue One and Solo.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Yikes, I don't envy JJ his current task. Not sure I understand the dislike of Luke on behalf of leading Lucasfilm folks - sort of like disliking Dorothy or Alice, no? He's the star of the show.

Crazy to hear about all the behind the scenes shenanigans. What a strange position for Iger to be in, having successfully put the right people in charge of Marvel and left incompetents in charge of Lucasfilm. It sounds like he's taking a more active approach in IX's development than in either of the previous two films. I take it you're also not sure about the future of Rian's trilogy, which might be folded into the Benioff/Weiss films? What were some of the other "Star Wars Story" projects in development? I've read about an Obi-Wan film, but that was never confirmed.

Pretty sure the other solo movies that had been planned were mothballed after 'Solo'.

And Feige came with Marvel, IIRC. Iger was just smart enough to let him run the MCU and execute his plan. I'm not sure if any of the Phase 4 slate of movies had any management "influence" as far as their inclusion goes, since most of them deal with characters that arguably can be used in a Disney theme park east of the Mississippi and thus get $hapeked to the bejeezus belt. I'm certainly curious to see what they do with them, but many people, myself included, need to temper expectations and realize that they simply cannot compete with the Endgame saga. That was absolutely masterful.

 

[Quinnmac000]

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3488554-disney-minus-5_4-percent-theme-park-attendance

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Mandalorian likely to change that.

its a streaming show...for a subscription service with currently 0 subscribers.
And nobody has any clue if it will be decent at all.

There’s no substance to you’re faith in its power as of today.

Okay let’s not act like the Sequel trilogy is a failure because of ones personal feelings towards the content of the product.

has it not been “arrow down” since the farce awakens?

Even Disney has acknowledged the issues...as had JJ Abrams. It’s a rough life on be defensive line when you can’t even back the horses mouth.

Even though she got a 3 year contract extension last year?

What are the terms? Maybe that extension isn’t worth much? In which case it could be a cover to allow them flexibility...all “performance based” clauses.

She's getting close to retirement age and then and only then when she leaves the company because of the sole reason of retirement, will the haters claim victory that they got her fired for reasons.

Nothing a “hater” has proposed hasn’t fallen in line with what we have observed in real life. Name one thing that has gone well for her since 2017??

 

[brb1006]

Iger's been throwing money around like candy, buying up stuff like 20th Century Fox (what the heck for, when he's already got Star Wars - a franchise that's pretty much played out, by the way, and mishandled on top of that) while cynically cutting back on ride development and hiking prices in the parks. My guess is that Star Wars fans have cooled on the franchise after Solo and Last Jedi. And regular park-goers are fed up with the price hikes. Iger needs to learn that you can't keep preying on your customers without paying a price yourself. I hope it gets worse for him. And that he's shown the door ASAP and a better CEO is chosen to replace him (when you wish upon a star...)

At least the X-Men and the Fantastic Four are back and heading to the MCU in the future.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

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.

JJ did a reboot ...his speciality...and wrote Ford a check.

Whatever “hashed out” arc he created...what ended up being was a pretty bland Rey/ren thing, useless ancillary characters...and pretty bad mishandling and offing of the original characters.

He gets little grief for his part in all this. He made a complete reboot and gleaned box office off the prequel angst and “event” status.

Can we call it a shovel...or do we need proof in December still?

Wow, what a circuitous route this trilogy has taken. Perhaps the willingness to toss out JJ's treatment came in response to criticism that TFA felt too much like a rehash of ANH and that the next film should be more off the wall? In any event, it didn't really pan out well. Do you have any knowledge about the extent of Palpatine's role in the new film? I know Kennedy and JJ said it was always the plan to bring him back (which I find hard to believe seeing as he was barely mentioned in the previous two films - you'd think Vader ran the Empire all by his lonesome). Totally understand if you can't say anything.

What about the decision to not revise Leia's fate in VIII following Carrie Fisher's passing? Seems like it would have been easier to conclude Leia's arc in VIII rather than relying on archival footage for IX.

And that last bit about plugging leaks is, ironically, right out of Game of Thrones.

Swapping Fisher for hamill was the only logical move...but that was too easy I guess?

Fisher shouldn’t have been brought back at all, frankly, it was a disservice to her own character.

Nothing in the trailers or coverage of this next movie doesn’t scream “desperation”...it all looks desperate.

Billy dee?

I do hope for legacy that it’s ok...the franchise has taken such a beating that I don’t want any more damage.

Those not old enough can’t understand...it was an amazing, one of a kind thing. It was.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

At least the X-Men and the Fantastic Four are back and heading to the MCU in the future.

X-men is big...gonna take time to get that right though...

Ironically
...X1 and X2 were right from a tone standpoint...they’ve just beat it to hell since.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3488554-disney-minus-5_4-percent-theme-park-attendance

What clown wrote that “managing demand” excuse...

Jeez, try a little next time

 

[zurj]

He is overly aggressive for quarterly profits and doing so in a matter that may (probably...actually) leave whatever management that follows a slew of new problems that will trickle down to us.

Yeah I think the guy who follows Bob is totally screwed. That guy is getting hired just to get fired. BUT I think that'll be good news for us (unless you're the share holder) because it's going to force management to come back to the people that were loyal customers. They'll have to start offering the value that brought people in and kept them happy Disney customers. So the trickle down to the fan base will ultimately be a good thing.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I'd take all this with a large grain of salt.

Episodes 7, 8 and 9 being written independently and in a surprising isolated manner is not a secret. It’s even been acknowledged by those involved.

 

[peter11435]

What clown wrote that “managing demand” excuse...

Jeez, try a little next time

They blocked out nearly all of their clientele. What is that if not managing demand?

Obviously they managed far too much but that’s exactly what they did.