You can both court other audiences and put out good stuff. The two are not mutually exclusive.

And yet they're forgetting the mutual part.

I'm not saying Disney is doing it well, just that it can happen. No reason to not try to pull in more viewers into the universe. They're just doing a horrible job at it so far.

It might be unsalvageable. The sequels weren’t all bad but there wasn’t enough good in there to keep that flame lit as they say. I’m sort of burned out myself on Star Wars. I love the franchise as a whole but it feels like enough is enough. I prefer they just do quality shows here and there that look to fill some gaps or whatever. Outside of that, movies that take place post sequels or feature Rey? Nah, I’m out. I dont even know how executed I’d be about more origin stories from the early years. Why do I care? I have the decent prequels, the amazing originals and rogue one to scratch the movie itch. Plus a few good shows.

In my ideal Star Wars universe, we stop worrying about "lore" and explaining things and go back to embracing some mystery. We pull from classic films and history again. Update the "Wars" part to reflect the Cold War or GWOT. Take from 80s films (like Hong Kong action or even slashers), Bollywood, Soviet cinema, James Bond, whatever.

If we want to explore the Force more, better flesh out the real-world concepts taken from Taoism and Buddhism. Add in Indigenous beliefs or even Bahai'i. Pull characters from relatable backgrounds that we have now, like courier/delivery driver, office worker, LGBTQ, POC, freelancer, migrant worker, garbage disposal, and so on. Focus on a simple good versus evil story without "plot twists".

I've said it before, but I think Star Wars has essentially "folded in on itself" and new Star Wars stories no longer draw from real world sources for inspiration, they draw from other Star Wars, to the franchise's detriment.

Good post. This is why I think Andor was so good - it mostly steered clear of "lore" and clearly drew inspiration from sources outside of Star Wars.

The quality doesn't come from what the story is about, it comes from how well that story is told.

Maybe I have a different definition of "lore" but I would say their avoidance of getting into the lore of the world in lieu of shoving SKYWALKER SKYWALKER SKYWALKER down our throats IS the problem. They are forsaking the lore and mystery of the world for 'member berries.

Rogue One, Andor, the first seasons of The Mandalorian . . . all NOT "the family" story lines. All focused on the WORLD of Star Wars. Hell, I will even toss Rebels in there, up to a point.

I remember taking serious umbrage with a podcast that I usually like because one of the hosts believed Rogue One was bad because it made the world smaller by going back and focusing on "that point in time." I strenuously object . . . it is actually quite the opposite. Rogue One opened up the world by showing us there is a galactic war going on, not a 23-And-Me kit gone bad. More Skywalker is a bore, not lore. Exploring the world is lore building.

I have no qualm saying I found the premise to The Acolyte to be phenomenal and promising . . . I was hoping for something that would turn the galaxy on its head. It had the potential, it had the bones of the story . . . then it was bungled beyond belief.

Was this the Daisy Ridley movie? Looks like it's dead with the focus on the new Kinberg movies in development.

X - Formerly Twitter

From the article:
https://variety.com/2024/film/news/s...-6-1236211852/
So there were two untitled Star Wars films on the slate, and they removed the earlier listing. This could mean something was cancelled, or just that of the potential films they have brewing, Lucasfilm doesn't think any of them will hit that Dec 18, 2026 release date. After all, The Force Awakens took over 2 years to make; pre-production started in September 2013, and the film was released in December 2015, so if they don't have a Star Wars movie already in pre-production right now, they probably won't have one ready for release until December 2027, which is the other date on the slate.

It sounds like they can't even get scripts written and approved, so it shouldn't be surprising that they're being yanked from the schedule.

Probably not a good idea to schedule a new Star Wars movie for two years from now when they can't even figure out what it's going to be about.

I'm guessing that the Mandalorian one is still a go since they already have an established director, writer, cast and some sense of what it will be.

I'm pretty sure the Madalorian movie is already done shooting.

Great points. Quality, quality, quality... look at the turnaround that happened with Game of Thrones with just one show. Yes it'll never be at it's high point but the brand has been mostly rehabilitated imo. Now, because of their output, Star Wars needs to string together two or three home runs in a row to begin it's comeback, but it could happen. Unfortunately it won't happen under the current leadership and the inmates running the asylum at Lucasfilm. College courses will be taught about how they destroyed a once thought of indestructible IP. And make no mistake, that was the goal - break down the old, traditional themes and rebuild it under the new tenants of the faith.

The main thing I’ve hated with the Disney Star Wars properties is bringing back deceased characters (and I don’t mean a force ghost appearance).

I think it cheapens the character’s death in the previous movie scene.

Let the franchise rest. Release the Mandalorian film and wait a decade. Let the foul stench of Disney/Kennedy Star Wars waft away. Take some time to build characters and storylines, expand the universe, plot it out, have a real plan and take the time to develop it. Drop tantalizing hints here and there about what's coming, but don't look back. Don't bring back Rey. Don't bring back ANYONE. Make it all new. Set it 2000 years AFTER The Battle of Yavin. And Baba Booey to you all.

Rey will be back. Bet on it.

The Rey re-enactors that they have walking around the Disney parks are apparently some of the most popular, especially with the younger set. She has more appeal than folks think

As long as we also get the wrap up of the Filoni universe first. Ahsoka S2 and the wrap up movie. We deserve to have the finale and not be left hanging.

I mean considering the fact that the parks exclusively focus on the sequels I don’t think that’s the most fair way to gauge it.

I don’t doubt her popularity though because she’s part of the newest films and a lot of the Disney park crowd is younger kids and families.

I was just at Galaxy’s Edge earlier in the year with my wife and still had fun but did wish there was more of a balance between the eras of Star Wars.

Rey is far from Star Wars' biggest problem these days.

Yeah, you look at the parks and you really get the sense that a lot of the problems with the sequel trilogy is that Disney wanted to do a reboot of the franchise and had no interest in an actual continuation or conclusion for the nine-part saga.

Remix, reuse, and repurpose a bunch of stuff from the OT, put a bland Disney princess in the lead, drop some of the older characters into the mix to satisfy the older fans, then unceremoniously kill off the old characters to get them out of the way. Hire J.J. Abrams fresh of Star Trek to do to Star Wars what he did to that franchise.

You can even see Disney doing this with the post-Phase III MCU, introducing in all of these Mark 2.0 versions of the original characters as a sort of soft reboot.

Amen to this. Palpatines bull shit "somehow he returned" is what buried the sequels for me and they were hanging on by a thread as it was when I got to rise of Skywalker. Just terrible. He was dead. Lucas knew it, the fan base knew it and so did even most non fans. But, due to bad writing, no plan and a desperate move he magically came back. Even worse is the hilarious attempts at explanations from the sequel apologists. See, his spirit transferred to a waiting decrepit old body of his as he was blown up and fell 50 miles down a shaft…. Blah blah yada yada. Sure, Jan.

She might be back but not enough of the fans will be, IMO. Lame character that just has no real story or intrigue as far as I care. Glad 12 yer old girls dress up as her for Halloween or at Disney parks but that’s a relatively small portion of the fanbase.

Perhaps not, but she isn’t a real solution to any problems either.

While I agree bringing Palpatine back for Rise of Skywalker was a dumb move, the idea was from 30 years prior. The Dark Horse comic book series Dark Empire was where the clone idea came from. Actually Lucasfilm ended up raiding that series for Boba Fett's return and it was the first appearance of Anakin Solo. It was a great comic book series.

It was still somewhat lazy in the Dark Empire series, but at least that was a non-canon comic, and it set Palpatine's return very shortly after ROTJ, and gave him a new, younger body, from what I recall. The idea that Palpatine stayed hidden for 30 years while siting on an armada of Star Destroyers with Death Star lasers just stretched credibility to the breaking point.

Aside from the Dark Empire comics (which Lucas apparently liked) already touching on the idea of him returning, there are also certain recent events in real life that have made me appreciate the "somehow Palpatine has returned" line a bit more, to be perfectly honest.

Definitely... I am not a fan of his return in RoS. Yes, the Dark Empire series was set soon after RotJ and Palpatine had a different superweapon... World Devastators.


That is also true!