Star Wars Land announced for Disney's Hollywood Studios

[Ldno]

Now I’m split regarding this, It’s been heavily rumored that Disney will not use the OT at GE because they didn’t want pay royalties to George Lucas, so in my opinion Disney had no clue what to do with ST, which failed, then they made GE with the whole mentality that ”if they make it they will come” that obviously backfired on them, I’ll know I‘ll get flack for saying this but it’s true, otherwise they wouldn’t set up The Trading Post and dumping merch at their shop disney website, so they didn’t expect the huge success of mando, because they clearly weren’t ready for the baby Yoda(grogu) merch demand that now they know they are sitting on a gold mine because it’s uniting fans old and new alike and next thing you know it makes to retheme The park to welcome anything from the Mandalorian, hell throw in Boba Fett as well now.

Interesting turn of events and you could argue that yes it’s rumors so take it with a grain of salt, but in the theme park business when it rains, it pours so nothing surprises me anymore hehe

 

[britain]

Now I’m split regarding this, It’s been heavily rumored that Disney will not use the OT at GE because they didn’t want pay royalties to George Lucas, so in my opinion Disney had no clue what to do with ST, which failed, then they made GE with the whole mentality that ”if they make it they will come” that obviously backfired on them, I’ll know I‘ll get flack for saying this but it’s true, otherwise they wouldn’t set up The Trading Post and dumping merch at their shop disney website, so they didn’t expect the huge success of mando, because they clearly weren’t ready for the baby Yoda(grogu) merch demand that now they know they are sitting on a gold mine because it’s uniting fans old and new alike and next thing you know it makes to retheme The park to welcome anything from the Mandalorian, hell throw in Boba Fett as well now.

Interesting turn of events and you could argue that yes it’s rumors so take it with a grain of salt, but in the theme park business when it rains, it pours so nothing surprises me anymore hehe

Heavily and incorrectly rumored. Disney owns the OT lock stock and barrel, and there's nothing George can do about it.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Now I’m split regarding this, It’s been heavily rumored that Disney will not use the OT at GE because they didn’t want pay royalties to George Lucas,

Whatever source told you that: YouTube video, vlog, blog, Facebook post, friend...

Never talk to them again. That Disney is in 100% control of SW is very well known. People passing that rumor on... are severely unreliable.

 

[Ldno]

Heavily and incorrectly rumored. Disney owns the OT lock stock and barrel, and there's nothing George can do about it.

Whatever source told you that: YouTube video, vlog, blog, Facebook post, friend...

Never talk to them again. That Disney is in 100% control of SW is very well known. People passing that rumor on... are severely unreliable.

I know you guys keep saying Disney has 100% control of the characters but correct me if I'm wrong, but he would make money from Disney stock based from how well the franchise was doing and from the characters he created under the Writers Guild Agreement right?

 

[britain]

Stock, yes, but that doesn't mean they would avoid using the OT characters just because one of their shareholders would make money from that. ALL THEIR SHAREHOLDERS would make money from successfully using the OT characters. There's no such thing as "We're tired of paying George money" via shareholder value.

Even if there was some sort of residual writer's payment because characters George created – which I very much doubt – then avoiding the OT still doesn't make sense because all of the new characters (Sequel Trilogy characters and new Mandalorian characters) are still "Based on Star Wars by George Lucas." It says that in all the end credits. There's no increase of payment based on the number of OT characters being used.

They either don't have to pay George any more money, or they do have to pay him a slim fraction for the rest of eternity - either way, decreasing or increasing the use the original trilogy characters won't change any of that.

 

[Rosso11]

@WDW Pro - I’ve seen your follow up essentially confirming our suspicions. However, I’ve got two big words to throw cold water on the idea of putting Han Solo in the MF ride: Harrison. Ford.

It’s like pulling teeth to get him to do anything SW related. I doubt he’ll grant WDI the rights to his likeness (unlike jolly fanboy Mark Hamill). They could go with Alden... but that’s not gonna happen.

I have a bit of a unique perspective on this. I know the stories of Harrison Ford supposedly being anti Han Solo and only wanting him to die to be done with the character. However I had the opportunity to have lunch with him before he was publicly signed onto the new Star Wars films. He freely admitted he was signed on and didn’t know why Disney was still keeping it a big secret. I asked him about the rumors of him hating Han Solo and how he wanted to be finished with the character. However, he claimed that couldn’t be further from the truth. He loved Han Solo and loved playing him. He just truly felt him dying in Return of the Jedi would have been much more impactful. It was simply for the good of the story and not any ill will for the character. However the story got out there and he played it off as such for laughs. He told me today he picks parts purely if he thinks he’ll have fun doing it. It’s not for the money and it’s not for the prestige. He has enough of both at this point. So as long as Disney can persuade him that he’ll enjoy doing it, he will.

 

[Disney Maddux]

I have a bit of a unique perspective on this. I know the stories of Harrison Ford supposedly being anti Han Solo and only wanting him to die to be done with the character. However I had the opportunity to have lunch with him before he was publicly signed onto the new Star Wars films. He freely admitted he was signed on and didn’t know why Disney was still keeping it a big secret. I asked him about the rumors of him hating Han Solo and how he wanted to be finished with the character. However, he claimed that couldn’t be further from the truth. He loved Han Solo and loved playing him. He just truly felt him dying in Return of the Jedi would have been much more impactful. It was simply for the good of the story and not any ill will for the character. However the story got out there and he played it off as such for laughs. He told me today he picks parts purely if he thinks he’ll have fun doing it. It’s not for the money and it’s not for the prestige. He has enough of both at this point. So as long as Disney can persuade him that he’ll enjoy doing it, he will.

Jealousy... totally not rising...

 

[TDLFan]

I still can't believe they built a 14 acre land based on one of the most successful film franchises ever, and decided not to prominently feature the characters or identifiable locations that made it so successful in the first place. It's like having the rights to build OZ, and Disney builds the rescue shelter where Dorothy picked up Toto and the meet and greet is a Wheeler and the Talking Gump Sofa - and even those are more interesting than what Galaxies Edge ended up with.

 

[1HAPPYGHOSTHOST]

I still can't believe they built a 14 acre land based on one of the most successful film franchises ever, and decided not to prominently feature the characters or identifiable locations that made it so successful in the first place. It's like having the rights to build OZ, and Disney builds the rescue shelter where Dorothy picked up Toto and the meet and greet is a Wheeler and the Talking Gump Sofa - and even those are more interesting than what Galaxies Edge ended up with.

This ^^^^^

 

[marni1971]

I still can't believe they built a 14 acre land based on one of the most successful film franchises ever, and decided not to prominently feature the characters or identifiable locations that made it so successful in the first place. It's like having the rights to build OZ, and Disney builds the rescue shelter where Dorothy picked up Toto and the meet and greet is a Wheeler and the Talking Gump Sofa - and even those are more interesting than what Galaxies Edge ended up with.

Excellent analogy.

 

[WillWrambles]

I still can't believe they built a 14 acre land based on one of the most successful film franchises ever, and decided not to prominently feature the characters or identifiable locations that made it so successful in the first place. It's like having the rights to build OZ, and Disney builds the rescue shelter where Dorothy picked up Toto and the meet and greet is a Wheeler and the Talking Gump Sofa - and even those are more interesting than what Galaxies Edge ended up with.

They wanted to gamble on the success of the sequels.... too bad someone set it all on fire, someone else shoddily built something new out of the ashes, and then the first guy again set it all on fire, then froze the ashes, destroyed the ice, and then chucked the chunks into a volcano. I hate episode 9 if ya can’t tell.

 

[SpoiledBlueMilk]

Excellent analogy.

Kathleen Kennedy

 

[marni1971]

Kathleen Kennedy

Shudder.

 

[SpoiledBlueMilk]

I have a bit of a unique perspective on this. I know the stories of Harrison Ford supposedly being anti Han Solo and only wanting him to die to be done with the character. However I had the opportunity to have lunch with him before he was publicly signed onto the new Star Wars films. He freely admitted he was signed on and didn’t know why Disney was still keeping it a big secret. I asked him about the rumors of him hating Han Solo and how he wanted to be finished with the character. However, he claimed that couldn’t be further from the truth. He loved Han Solo and loved playing him. He just truly felt him dying in Return of the Jedi would have been much more impactful. It was simply for the good of the story and not any ill will for the character. However the story got out there and he played it off as such for laughs. He told me today he picks parts purely if he thinks he’ll have fun doing it. It’s not for the money and it’s not for the prestige. He has enough of both at this point. So as long as Disney can persuade him that he’ll enjoy doing it, he will.

Out of the two characters, doesn't Ford prefer Indy over Solo? It was always my impression that of the two, Indy was the one he was more interested in pursuing?

 

[ptaylor]

I still can't believe they built a 14 acre land based on one of the most successful film franchises ever, and decided not to prominently feature the characters or identifiable locations that made it so successful in the first place. It's like having the rights to build OZ, and Disney builds the rescue shelter where Dorothy picked up Toto and the meet and greet is a Wheeler and the Talking Gump Sofa - and even those are more interesting than what Galaxies Edge ended up with.

Great post.

I sadly can believe it - when you realize some of the egos that are involved. Like what we are seeing at EPCOT right now. A current crop of creatives seem to think they know better than those that came before them.

 

[SpoiledBlueMilk]

Shudder.

Just those two words are enough to make people shake in anger.

But seriously, Kennedy really wants the ST characters to be the focus, but they just aren't catching fire like Mando, Grogu and Ahsoka. I bet they will try to shoehorn Batuu into the new High Republic universe they're trying to make, but that won't work either. It feels like there are two competing camps over at Lucasfilm - Camp Favreau/Filloni and Camp Kennedy. It just seems the more compelling characters are coming out of the Filoniverse. I bet to see more of them at GE. Personally, I'm waiting for the Bill Burr experience, but that project must be on ice somewhere at imagineering.

 

[Sundown]

I just found out two days ago that our fellow forum member WDWPro contributes articles to a site called PiratesandPrincessess (hahah, neat name). He has a few articles, and one of the recent ones addressed discussions of potential changes at Galaxy Edge. I enjoy the way WDWPro constructs/writes articles.

I hope it's okay to link the article. If not, I apologize WDWMagic.

Most Likely Options for Disney to Change Galaxy's Edge

With the discussions ongoing, both inside and outside of Disney, about bringing The Mandalorian to Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge, we though it was a good time to discuss the options available to Chapek and company on changes. We know they’re seriously moving into planning stages, so let’s take a look...

www.piratesandprincesses.net

 

[MisterPenguin]

I just found out two days ago that our fellow forum member WDWPro contributes articles to a site called PiratesandPrincessess (hahah, neat name). He has a few articles, and one of the recent ones addressed discussions of potential changes at Galaxy Edge. I enjoy the way WDWPro constructs/writes articles.

I hope it's okay to link the article. If not, I apologize WDWMagic.

Most Likely Options for Disney to Change Galaxy's Edge

With the discussions ongoing, both inside and outside of Disney, about bringing The Mandalorian to Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge, we though it was a good time to discuss the options available to Chapek and company on changes. We know they’re seriously moving into planning stages, so let’s take a look...

www.piratesandprincesses.net

I thought insiders knew what Disney was going to do, not guess at their options.

 

[Sundown]

MisterPenguin, respectfully...that was kind of a snarky response. Not sure if that was your intent. Seems it is a knock at the author WDWPro.

I enjoyed the article and wanted to share with the group if they hadn't already seen it. And I think the author has been pretty good about putting in caveats in his articles to readers too, that much is speculation. Informed speculation, but speculation.

 

[J4546]

To me, the craziest omission from Galaxies Edge is that there is no use of the force....thats the 1 thing that makes star wars really great imo. Its like if universal built harry potter land but decided not to have magic wands....its insane.

I figured theyd start selling new magic bands (call them force bands) that have gyroscopic and bluetooth capabilities that let it link to your phone that you could use to interact with objects around the land. Imagine being able to "lift" up the static x wing by standing in a certain place, having your force band connect with a pulse or something and then displaying the hand motions to interact with it, like raising your arm and lifting it like a jedi would. You could expand that tech all over the park as well....Imagine standing in line for Indiana Jones and being able to make the spikes with skulls on them go up and down, or a stalagtite spin around....simple stuff like that would go a long way into making a really cool augmented reality and digital version of the park to explore with 100s of things to unlock and discover. You would have it all linked to your phone with the "disney force" app and you could see stats like youve found 78 out of 160 things to use the force on, creating a reason to explore areas you wouldnt normally. It also doesnt have to use physical objects, you could use the force to trigger sounds, gusts of wind, water features....its really an imagineers dream imo. Its limitless