Well damn, it was fun while it lasted.

Don't worry, Disney will make their money back if they haven't already. Between the movies, the merch and the theme-parks, that $4B purchase was a no-brainer. Say what you will about the quality of the product, those guys know a thing or two about milking.

My uneducated guess is they'll do scripts and maybe some light pre-production (i.e. the cheap stuff) on a couple of possible new trilogies, and reassess where things stand after Episode IX hits. They could always do a couple of one-off filler movies (Obi Wan, Boba Fett, etc.) if they need to buy some time and make easy cash with fan service while they figure out their next big move.

I'd forgotten that Rian Johnson directed Brick, I liked that one. His new movie sounds like a return to form, might just be worth a look.

Back in September 2018, when his new trilogy was still in development limbo, he shifted gears and starting shooting some murder movie called Knives Out. He claimed the same bullshit back then, that he is "still working" on his trilogy.

The dude is so full of shit. You don't go off to make some other movie when you've been handed the keys to the Star Wars kingdom. That amount of pressure & creative development would require all of your time.

His trilogy will never see the light of day. Dude is a dipshit who enjoys trolling fans on twitter. Period.

Covered a couple of weeks ago, they are losing money on the merch and Solo cratered in the box office.

It WAS a good buy until TLJ, they will be lucky to salvage the situation.

Yeah, I saw the article you posted, and was not impressed that the author knows how to read a financial statement. If his argument is that Disney is losing money on licensing and direct manufacturing SW merch, I'm calling bullshit (if he meant revenues have declined that's certainly possible, but that's not what the headline says).

Agreed that Solo was a box-office dog, I'm sure that one stung. But it's silly talk to suggest Disney won't ultimately turn a profit on SW.

You offer a false choice- Make money or lose money which is far different than A GOOD BUY.

Disney spent 4 billion for the franchise and expected to make more than just a profit on it, they expected to make obscene profits for some time.

The Last Jedi clearly put that plan in danger, look at all the pull back on Star Wars spin off movies.

FYI; Star Wars toy sales during the 2017 holidays were the lowest since Disney relaunched the brand in 2015, according to NPD Group.

There is several sources who state merchandise is off, hell The Force Awakens merchandise can STILL be found in stores.

SW merch sales may well be down. I took the article you posted to say that Disney is actually losing money on SW merch. Which would be an outlandish turn of events.

Disney may have cost themselves hundreds of millions in SW profits through some of their decision-making in the past few years. But to move from that reasonable premise to conclude that Disney won't cover the $4B they spent buying SW is, well, extreme. I'm all for gleefully routing for our corporate overlords to lose money when they do things we don't like. But fantasy-driven data analysis won't hurt Disney's bottom line.

That trilogy will not see the light of day in my opinion. Not a chance Disney let’s him touch the franchise. I think they only announced he was going to do the trilogy to make it seem like they had confidence in his work product before episode VIII was released...

There are few good videos out there about this subject... not Kiri specifically but its the realization of "get woke - go broke" and how people are sick of having SJW movements crammed down their throat in every single aspect of entertainment from sports shows to sci-fi movies, and its backfiring for companies as such Disney and they're cutting the fat so to say

Social Justice Warriors

Yes you are right. The social justice thing is more than female presence, its when you sacrifice the plot or good of the story just to push the agenda.... heres an example like when 300 people in the rebellion died and Rose thought the trip to Cantobite was a waste, but then she released the space camel horse thing from its harness and now all of a sudden "it was all worth it!"
That is a very light example.

Other dumb subtle examples are like when Poe saw Haldo for the first time and they direct him to be BLOWN AWAY its a woman....
Really?! You report to Leia, why would anyone that does something impressive be such a shocker that its a woman? So its just little things like that mixed with other major things and ignoring plots and story arcs just to obviously or subliminally push agendas.

another example is Rey, OK she is awesome, and mysterious and is extremely powerful with the force. But if I question why, the response is
"Oh youre questioning her because shes FEMALE, you pig. you sexiest pig, what she cant be awesome AND a girl, you misogynist pig!!!!"

No.... I would just like someone to explain to me why she is amazing and how she only knowing the force for the span of 4 days can beat Luke Skywalker in a physical confrontation. To say shes awesome just because shes a girl and no explanation is needed, is a slap in the face to women. And IF that's the route it goes without explanation then Disney will have completely RUINED star wars to push an agenda

You see it everywhere in society now. A small extremely vocal minority (SWJs) force their agenda onto others, via social media & other platforms, to enact change. Unfortunately if you have a difference in opinion with these SWJs, you are falsely judged & immediately declared as part of the problem & attacked. You see if from both sides of the spectrum. Corporations are targeted often in these attacks. "Twitter-rage" if you will. Companies don't like bad publicity, so they fall in line to this toxic vocal minority, which can prove to be a poor decision & they lose profits. Hence the term "Get Woke, Go Broke."

Star Wars & Lucasfilm are an excellent example of these forces at work. Their agenda took precedent over fans desires & the franchise has suffered as a result. Weak male characters, overpowered female characters, disrespected classic characters, and just flat out shitty poorly-written storytelling. Fans were duped with Episode 7, got furious after Episode 8, and flat out rejected Solo. Box Office in the tank, toys of these new characters not selling, etc etc. Expect more of the same for Episode 9, after which Disney will admit error of their ways, fire everyone, sadly end the Skywalker Saga & reboot with an all-new trilogy. Wasted opportunities to say the least.

The exception here is Rogue One, which as the first stand alone Star Wars film. Written & directed by Gareth Edwards, huge Star Wars fan whose dream job was to create a Star Wars film. Gave the fans what they wanted, and the final results reflect that. No SWJ agenda, and sure it might have some flaws, but it's just good old fashioned storytelling. It's not that hard to please the fans & save the franchise. Stop forcing your agendas & just give us what we want.

Yes!! Can The other "K" be far behind? Btw, I couldn't agree more with your comment regarding ep. 7, 8 and Solo. They ruined SW not because of the gratuitous female heroine slant but due to poor, tasteless storytelling and the "Let them eat cake" attitude for the multi generational fan base.

Wow. No wonder things are the way they are. It's kind of like reading the leaked Sony emails about Ghostbusters. Makes me wish Lucas was back in charge.

https://cosmicbook.news/captain-marvel-trouble

Speaking of SJW... They have been hyping this movie like crazy, as we get closer to show time the pullback has started.

I don't know anyone who "wants" to see this movie. In the comix she isn't even a second string character and the trailers have been underwhelming. It doesn't help Brie Larson comes across as wooden in them and has started spouting BS at press conferences.

Get woke, go broke.

A New Hope merchandise can still be found in stores as well. Not exactly a reliable indicator.

From 1977?

Doubtful.

I will wait for actual box office receipts on opening weekend from box office mojo

The "projected ticket sales" months before release seems to be the newest scam in trying to plump up movie goers to turn out.

FYI- I go to movies to be entertained, its what I'm paying for. A number of movies now are placing the entertainment in the backseat and being used as vehicles to preach certain political or social values the movie maker wishes to convey. We saw this in The Last Jedi, which is a factor along with bad writing as to why it is so poorly regarded.

In all honesty there has always been a subset of movies that had politics or values the filmmaker wanted projected, but usually in a subtle manner as they still wished to turn a tidy profit and entertainment was foremost.

Now messages are being applied with a hammer and making a profit is less of a concern.

Which is why a film maker with one "major" movie (Looper) was given the keys to one of the most lucrative film franchises in history?

It wasn't money.

My point was that just because it says The Force Awakens, doesn't mean that it's actually stock from when the movie came out. Just like A New Hope figures that you see in stores aren't from 1977. Hasbro is still manufacturing Force Awakens figures / toys / etc.

Hasbro is making toys with NO movie title now so people don't know which movie they are from, even a lot of the classic figures from A New Hope just state "Star Wars"

Notice none of the examples below state The Last Jedi even though they are clearly from that movie?

s-l1602 (resized).jpg

s-l1603 (resized).jpg

starwars rey (resized).jpg

I’ve stayed away from all the Captain Marvel pullback drama. I’d rather just go in fresh & just for myself. But with Infinty War wrapping up, actor contracts expiring, etc Marvel has some big decisions to make about their future. If the film division decides to suddenly get woke like the comics division, they’re going to end up killing the golden goose.

Marvel has forced this SJW agenda onto readers for years, with horrible book sales & really disgruntled fans. I’m sure many here would be shocked to read the changes to characters they’ve made. Iron Man (black female), Captain America (black male & white female), Hulk (Korean male), Thor (white female), Hawkeye (white female), Spider-Man (white female & black male), Wolverine (Mexican female), Deadpool (white female)...and a whole host of new female characters like Ms Marvel, America Chavez, Squirrel Girl, Mockingbird.... it’s over the top at this point.

I think they’ll be phasing some of these ideas into the movie universe sooner than you think. On the bright side though, they did just obtain the x-men & fantastic four licenses, so if they were smart, they’d focus on them instead.

Wolverine’s a woman now too? And not just in a one-off or something? I really haven’t been keeping up with the times.

The Marvel comics division has been absurd for some time now, it doesn't exist to make money at this point but it is a tax write off and used to keep the IP alive and mine for movie material. Problem now is that the SJW themes and trope from the comics are starting to cross-over to the movie division..

Things are really going to be interesting after the Russo brothers retire and Infinity War arc is complete. You are already starting to see indications of the rot with Marvel attempting to launch a slew of "grrrrrl power" movies.

https://darkherald.net/2019/02/13/captain-marvel-is-going-to-suck/

The fact Larson is flapping her gums in public indicates the higher ups in the Marvel Movie division are comfortable with her statements and she is being allowed to insult critics and fans alike with impunity.

Just like Sony with Ghostbusters 2016 and The Last Jedi. They think they are going to ride any controversy to ticket sales.

That was a really interesting article and is so true. The rise of the “influencer” has really had interesting impacts...generally, the “influencers” are pretty much all for sale and they are easy enough to buy with early access to things.

I agree that the star of Captain Marvel preemptively attacking the critics is likely a sign this will not be one of the better Marvel movies. The character isn’t going to pull at anyone nostalgia either. Will be interesting to see what happens but my guess is the movie is going to have a good box office (how could it not as the follow up to Infinity War?).

Yeah, I'm not surprised, I've been saying that about pinside, these so called influencers, more like hyper posters/shills on here telling us to quit complaining about quality issues or late code updates, etc. about our games...I mean is it that hard to see that these people are bought off? The hype train that gets started by podcasters, dealers and hyper posters on here is legendary. $20K reskinned Beatles pin anyone?

Nope.

Captain Marvels shown below.

Ms. Marvel is a different story.

cap_mar (resized).jpeg

shazam-captain (resized).jpg

No one is opposed to strong female characters, and we've had them for years...including our own beloved Leia. But an SJW takes a worthy cause, and drags it completely over the top.

Poe was misguided, and Holdo had to set him straight.
Luke was misguided, and Rey had to set him straight.
Finn was misguided, and Rose had to set him straight.

It isn't enough to have strong female characters...we also have to illustrate how incompetent the male characters are. See also: Chris Hemsworth's moronic character in Ghostbusters 2016.

That's SJW as it relates to Star Wars. Sacrificing the story to advance the cause.

Every single male in TLJ is evil, a coward, a loser or incompetent.

The only one who looked like he might have an arc was Finn who might have died heroically saving his friends (and the rebellion) and Rose took it away from him.

So, the news or rumors are beginning to dribble out. I didn't know she was the main reason for the SJW, strong female leads, black stormtrooper, (lol) slant at Lucas Film, also she's the one who hired the story group who developed this shit. I now think they fired the person who was responsible for majority of the disappointment and backlash. Btw, her new job is a major demotion....she was the VP of Lucas Film and supposedly heir apparent to KK now she is a creative advisor to an incubator no one's ever heard of??? This move screams "Fired" to me. Maybe, maybe the last straw was the rumored clashes with JJ Abrams on ep 9 over creative differences. Who knows maybe she was the reason KK fired Trevorrow and the other dudes. This is definitely going to change things at Lucas Film, personally I think they have a long way to go to clean house but this is a great start.

Cut the head off the snake & the body will die. Her firing is going help change the current culture at Lucasfilm for sure. It can't be forgotten that KK enabled & supported Kiri Hart's to push all that BS agenda, so she takes the blame as well & needs to go too.

No it won't. You can eliminate people, but not ideas nor ideology. Plenty to take her place. Anybody that gives this franchise another dime is a fool.

More "exciting" news about Rian Johnson's new Star Wars trilogy!

https://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/rian-johnsons-star-wars-trilogy-rumored-geared-younger-viewers/

In describing Rian Johnson's approach to SW the author deliberately used the term "subvert our expectations." That means one of two things:

1) The author is a hack/SJW/superfan/apologist which makes me hate this article
2) The author is openly mocking Johnson while simultaneously trolling SJW/superfan apologists which makes me love this article.

As for gearing toward younger viewers that's probably the best path for Johnson. Corny dialogue, underdeveloped characters, elementary storylines would all play well to his approach to SW. He can easily dismiss detractors with the line "This is a childrens film for children. I'm not interested in what adults have to say about it."

One could argue Lucas did the same thing for the prequels and not a bad path to take. You capture younger viewers who have little connection to the older movies and the older viewers are at least inclined to see it being "Star Wars"

Fair point, I somehow sat through all three prequels so perhaps there’s no end to the garbage I’ll tolerate.

One doesnt have to argue. It's from the Lucas playbook

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.polygon.com/platform/amp/2017/4/13/15288998/george-lucas-star-wars-celebration

My only good memory of the prequels was the pod race and the Maul/Kenobi battle at the end.

Ewan McGregor was excellent as a young Kenobi.

The ridiculous saber fight with Yoda and the horrible homage to Frankenstein with Vader are on the other end of the spectrum.

The rest is a forgettable blur. I only watched the first one in the theater and left vastly disappointed, so much so I did not bother seeing the next two till they were out on DVD.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/captain-marvel-targeted-by-negative-online-reviews-prerelease/ar-BBTPes5?li=BBnb7Kz

Damage control already kicking into high gear.. this sounds so familiar.

Will Russian trolls be fingered one wonders..

Interesting economic analysis of Star Wars tickets sales vs. GDP and SJW effect....

http://captaincapitalism.blogspot.com/2019/02/how-kathleen-kennedy-and-politics-cost.html

Later,
EV

The stuff I reading the last few days isn't good; the term "The Green Lantern" of Marvel movies has been uttered.

Which would not be a surprise, Marvel's long string of profitable movies has been an aberration not the norm. A "less profitable than expected" had to drop sooner or later, this might be the one. Some of the reviews have been.. interesting on details. The cat in the movie is getting more press than Brie.

This may explain the whole "misogyny is why the movie is being attacked" which seems to have been rolled out the last week. They know it is a weak entry after hyping it up and can't pull back due to the hype and being linked to Infinity War.

Interesting trivia in my travels, it is reported Marvel may have actually hired a body double for certain shots because.. well just look at the picture.

brie-larsen-marvel-1 (resized).jpg

FYI I don't see why the poll (Are you planning on seeing Captain Marvel) on Rotten Tomatoes should be considered trolling or even negative.

https://cosmicbook.news/captain-marvel-rotten-tomatoes-right-poll

Cosmic Book News did their own poll asking the same question of FB and got the same percent of replies.

44% stated they have no plans on seeing the movie. This does point towards some Disney astroturf "outrage party" to generate ticket sales IMHO. I didn't see Iron Man 3, Ant-Man, Black Panther in the theater either. They simply didn't look interesting to me and worth the pain of going to a movie theater vs reward.

Ant-Man was very good and I enjoyed it from the luxury of my living room.