Favreau Enters Negotiations for Lucasfilm President

[TommyJK]

Where is this original vision? I’ve heard the stories told about how there was this massive draft with a plan for the entire original trilogy, but no one has ever seen anything like that. Just a 2 page starter concept, a 12 page outline, an incomprehensible rough draft and a slightly less so first draft. And none of those concepts have anything to do with what showed up in Empire or Jedi.

(Interestingly, they DO show up in the prequels, if in massively different contexts.)

From everything I've pieced together/read, the very original concept came in his first 1974 draft which was an entire story, but this is indeed the "gobbledygook" version that Kurtz often alludes to, much of which is unrecognizable. But Lucas then made his major overall revisions/plan when scripting ANH for which he did the full script for ANH, then from what I can tell/have read he did the outlines for ESB and RoTJ.

He gave his outline for ESB to Brackett in 1977 to start working on the script from those notes and she finished it in 78 but died shortly after she did her first draft. And although some key plot points being different (Leia being Luke's sister, Vader being his father) the story is still relatively close. Vader searching for Luke to join him, the Battle of Hoth, Luke going to train with a Jedi Master, Han/Leia/Lando story/plot, Vader trying to capture Luke to make him an ally.... it's all there in Brackett's script. Then at roughly this same time period his outline for the final act was still similar. Rebels regroup to take the fight to the Empire and infiltrate their home world, where they're building more Death Stars (there is even concept art from this time period with the multiple Death Stars orbiting the Empire home world.) for Luke to have his final battle to take down Vader and the Emperor.

Anyway, I've gotten too carried away in this thread. Gonna step away.

 

[BrianL]

I'm not into the minutiae of what may or may not be going on behind the scenes. I don't know if there is an internal feud between Kennedy and Filoni/Favreau and to me it doesn't really matter.

Ultimately I want someone at the helm that has a vision and sticks with it rather than doing 180's from film to film. I use Colin's script and departure as an example of an obvious lack overall vision/plan based on how different it is from the story we got. The story even at a high level is so vastly differently than what was made it shows me that someone is constantly second guessing what they're doing. Kennedy is at the helm of Lucasfilm so she get the blame ultimately. Now it's entirely possible that those above her may have got their fingers in the pie making things even more difficult. Dunno.

Either way, I myself have been overall disappointed with the sequel trilogy. I thought the acting was great (near the top of any Star Wars movies), actions sequences were awesome, but the overall story was just so disjointed from movie to movie that it made it highly incoherent. And based on heavily diminishing box office totals I don't feel that I'm alone.

It's fair to be disappointed in the films, but it's the assumption that the people behind the scenes must not have known what they were doing that is where I can't agree. What about for those who enjoyed it? For us, everyone did a fine job. I really don't see it as incoherent at all. Sure, TLJ took a bit of a zag, but to me that was surprising and effective. It was still well within the boundaries of Star Wars, and by the end of the movie it was extremely status quo. TROS didn't really contradict it eitehr, only reinforcing many of it's deciisons. That's what I see. Neither way is "wrong" - it's just that one side seems to assume they are "right." It's all just a point of view.

 

[rteetz]

So all this debate on Kennedy, at this point who cares. Isn't anyone excited that a true creative talent like Favreau is taking over??? As stated above, there are so many directions they can take this. It is a whole Universe far far away, with a true creative talent in charge, how can any true Star Wars fan not be exited.

If it’s true. This is still a rumor.

 

[YesterDark]

I'm very aware of the production of Solo. I'm very confused about who you feel were the incompetent writers and directors. I'm not trying to be pedantic, but you said that competent ones ensured that a Star Wars film would make money.

(Though hilariously, if we wanna get down to that standard, the least successful Star Wars film director of all time was Dave Filoni, whose Clone Wars film topped out at 68 million and was the worst reviewed Star Wars film in history.)

I never said any writer was incompetent. I said any competent writer can come in and write a Star Wars movie and have it make money. Star Wars is a powerful brand.

 

[HairyChest]

Oh thank God! Kennedy HAS been a disaster. The money left on the table from the poor decisions of throwing Luke to the side and using Star Wars to drive an agenda instead of a cohesive uplifting Star Wars story, to the horrible decision to make Galaxy's Edge instead of the places we know and love has been so...stupid! This would've been the one place Chapeks ip philosophy wouldve been perfect. I hope Favreau can get his hands on Galaxys edge to do something about bringing us the Star Wars adventure from the places to the characters we know and love and not just live our own generic "star wars adventure"

 

[YesterDark]

Oh thank God! Kennedy HAS been a disaster. The money left on the table from the poor decisions of throwing Luke to the side and using Star Wars to drive an agenda instead of a cohesive uplifting Star Wars story, to the horrible decision to make Galaxy's Edge instead of the places we know and love has been so...stupid! This would've been the one place Chapeks ip philosophy wouldve been perfect. I hope Favreau can get his hands on Galaxys edge to do something about bringing us the Star Wars adventure from the places to the characters we know and love and not just live our own generic "star wars adventure"

Not staying SWGE is perfect but what would be a better land? Kind of a tough call imo.

 

[BrianL]

Oh thank God! Kennedy HAS been a disaster. The money left on the table from the poor decisions of throwing Luke to the side and using Star Wars to drive an agenda instead of a cohesive uplifting Star Wars story, to the horrible decision to make Galaxy's Edge instead of the places we know and love has been so...stupid! This would've been the one place Chapeks ip philosophy wouldve been perfect. I hope Favreau can get his hands on Galaxys edge to do something about bringing us the Star Wars adventure from the places to the characters we know and love and not just live our own generic "star wars adventure"

But Galaxy's Edge IS a place with characters I love and a place I have come to love as well. It works in the Star Wars universe just fine? What would you have reather had? Let me guess, only places from the OT.

 

[rteetz]

BUt Galaxy's Edge IS a place with characters I love and a plave I have come to love as well. It works in the Star Wars universe just fine? What would you have reather had? Let me guess, only places from the OT.

I myself struggle thinking of a cohesive land/story. Sure you can have Tatooine or Hoth or whatever but you really can’t have both. Also then once inside what would the attractions be like? I suppose a Falcon ride would work but what else?

 

[HairyChest]

BUt Galaxy's Edge IS a place with characters I love and a plave I have come to love as well. It works in the Star Wars universe just fine? What would you have reather had? Let me guess, only places from the OT.

Which characters? The blue haired lady or Chewy? Hondo or stormtroopers? Do you think that the people who travel from all over the world want to see Luke leia han chewy more or the blue haired lady and hondo?
The following locations will not only bring star wars fans in droves, they'll bring non fans because its just beautiful (like pandora). Instead you have a pretty barron looking land with the prettiest aspect being the millenium falcon. I recently took my mother and brother for the first time to galaxys edge (they havnt seen any of the movies except my brother who saw the last jedi and really enjoyed it). They both were pretty disappointed and said they dont need to visit it again. And I as a huge star wars fan dont feel the need to visit. Their favorite part was the cantina actually lol.


Now I know there are many who enjoy it, and Im actually glad it was made. But my point is they left a ton of money on the table based on these decisions.

 

[superme80]

I was and still am a Star Wars fan. I loved the original movies, novels, and all the toys. I loved the story for the prequels, but the acting was terrible. I was willing to give the latest trilogy a shot. I did see all of them in theaters. The got progressively worse. Rise of Skywalker was just awful. Mandalorion was much better, but I have lost some of my Star Wars love. I have to agree that Kathleen Kennedy should not have let the new trilogy happen. My biggest problem is the lack of cohesion I don't know if it needed 1 director, 1 script writer, or both. Last Jedi could have worked, if it was the first movie and not the second. Rise of Skywalker had no story and was fixing Last Jedi. It should have made me want to see and buy more Star Wars. It made me role my eyes. I went to Galaxy's Edge before Rise of the Resistance opened. I was not impressed. Hopefully Rise of the Resistance will change that, but I won't be going again until around 2022. I guess I am just a sad Star Wars fan who was disappointed with the new movies.

 

[New Mouse]

BUt Galaxy's Edge IS a place with characters I love and a plave I have come to love as well. It works in the Star Wars universe just fine? What would you have reather had? Let me guess, only places from the OT.

For someone who likes but doesnt love star wars...its freaking boring, drab and overhyped. A waste of a lot of space that could have been better served for something else...even more star wars. It feels like its missing 2 or 3 rides.

Its about in line with my feelings about the new trilogy, which was just meh.

Galaxys edge, considering the wait for it... was a big miss from a creative standpoint. Its popularity stems from a ride that is admittedly good, but its is crowded because it has a low capacity and breaks often.

I will say, smugglers run is better then the river journey in pandora though, but thats not saying too much.

 

[New Mouse]

I myself struggle thinking of a cohesive land/story. Sure you can have Tatooine or Hoth or whatever but you really can’t have both. Also then once inside what would the attractions be like? I suppose a Falcon ride would work but what else?

Something akin to a modern day buzz lightyear, or something involving light sabers.

 

[rteetz]

Which characters? The blue haired lady or Chewy? Hondo or stormtroopers? Do you think that the people who travel from all over the world want to see Luke leia han chewy more or the blue haired lady and hondo?
The following locations will not only bring star wars fans in droves, they'll bring non fans because its just beautiful (like pandora). Instead you have a pretty barron looking land with the prettiest aspect being the millenium falcon. I recently took my mother and brother for the first time to galaxys edge (they havnt seen any of the movies except my brother who saw the last jedi and really enjoyed it). They both were pretty disappointed and said they dont need to visit it again. And I as a huge star wars fan dont feel the need to visit. Their favorite part was the cantina actually lol.
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Now I know there are many who enjoy it, and Im actually glad it was made. But my point is they left a ton of money on the table based on these decisions.

Those places would be nice to see but you still need attractions. What would the attractions be? I’m not sure you get a Rise of the Resistance out of that.

 

[BrianL]

Which characters? The blue haired lady or Chewy? Hondo or stormtroopers? Do you think that the people who travel from all over the world want to see Luke leia han chewy more or the blue haired lady and hondo?
The following locations will not only bring star wars fans in droves, they'll bring non fans because its just beautiful (like pandora). Instead you have a pretty barron looking land with the prettiest aspect being the millenium falcon. I recently took my mother and brother for the first time to galaxys edge (they havnt seen any of the movies except my brother who saw the last jedi and really enjoyed it). They both were pretty disappointed and said they dont need to visit it again. And I as a huge star wars fan dont feel the need to visit. Their favorite part was the cantina actually lol.

Now I know there are many who enjoy it, and Im actually glad it was made. But my point is they left a ton of money on the table based on these decisions.

The characters I liove are Hondo, Rey, Kylo Ren, Chewbacca - they are all around. The way you talk, you act like the only Star Wars is Han, Luke & Leia. I honestly don't think people from around the world give up on a WDW vacation because SWGE isn't based on the OT.

For someone who likes but doesnt love star wars...its freaking boring, drab and overhyped. A waste of a lot of space that could have been better served for something else...even more star wars. It feels like its missing 2 or 3 rides.

Its about in line with my feelings about the new trilogy, which was just meh.

Galaxys edge, considering the wait for it... was a big miss from a creative standpoint. Its popularity stems from a ride that is admittedly good, but its is crowded because it has a low capacity and breaks often.

I will say, smugglers run is better then the river journey in pandora though, but thats not saying too much.

I can agree that there are issues with SWGE for me too - but they don't really have anything to do with the setting or characters. It's more about how strong the "put-on" is with the lack of signage, lack or music, "credits" etc. I would prefer it not need to seem quite so real, because at the end of the day, it doesn't. It needs to be a little more "theme park-y" for me. MFSR also has issues with the "game" portion of it and how only one third of passengers get to be the pilot, i.e. have any fun on it. That was definitely a creative miss. I haven't gotten to ride ROTR yet.

 

[hertamaniac]

For someone who likes but doesnt love star wars...its freaking boring, drab and overhyped. A waste of a lot of space that could have been better served for something else...even more star wars. It feels like its missing 2 or 3 rides.

Its about in line with my feelings about the new trilogy, which was just meh.

Galaxys edge, considering the wait for it... was a big miss from a creative standpoint. Its popularity stems from a ride that is admittedly good, but its is crowded because it has a low capacity and breaks often.

I will say, smugglers run is better then the river journey in pandora though, but thats not saying too much.

I'm in the original trilogy camp. Given that, I felt underwhelmed at GE. I feel there are too many money grabs with the experiences that are add-ons. That takes away from what I would have wanted to see.

I don't know when RotR will be known as a ride that doesn't break down often. But, I agree at least another attraction should have been online when the land was opened.

 

[yulilin3]

I see the discussion has moved away from John Favreau, which to me is a great choice, we need Dave Filoni to also have a bigger role in the company, both of them are creative and respect the franchise as a whole
As far as SWGE, since the beginning the argument has been either they should've stuck with known planets or you were fine and learn to appreciate Batuu, you all know what camp I'm in but I can tell you the land is not hurting, it is the busiest area in the park right now and RotR continues to be the most popular ride at WDW, even if they fixed it properly it would still be hard to experience.
I love the PP talking about the blue haired lady, Vi Moradi appeals to the fans that take a bit more time to go deeper into the franchise, while Chewie appeals to the original trilogy and more casual fan and Rey appeals to newer fans and younger kids. It's a well balanced land if you take the time to actually look at it and not just go for attractions. Again my argument is that the land offers something for every level of fandom and that is the beauty that I see in it

 

[BrianL]

I see the discussion has moved away from John Favreau, which to me is a great choice, we need Dave Filoni to also have a bigger role in the company, both of them are creative and respect the franchise as a whole

One think I love about Filoni and Favreau is that they are not prequel haters. JJ kind of seemed to be (and Simon Pegg definitely is though I think he only assisted on the TFA script). Riann Johnson loved the Prequels too. I want the people who really embrace ALL of Star Wars in the biggest creative positions.

 

[rteetz]

One think I love about Filoni and Favreau is that they are not prequel haters. JJ kind of seemed to be (and Simon Pegg definitely is though I think he only assisted on the TFA script). Riann Johnson loved the Prequels too. I want the people who really embrace ALL of Star Wars in the biggest creative positions.

Watching the Mando making of series and hearing Filoni explain parts of the prequels I was like wow I have a new appreciation for that.

 

[BrianL]

Watching the Mando making of series and hearing Filoni explain parts of the prequels I was like wow I have a new appreciation for that.

I haven't watched that yet. I was definitely very jazzed in the show to see some B2 Battle Droids. I expect to see some in the Cassian Andor series too - one part of his backstory is that he's "been in this fight since I was 6 years old" and he was actually on the side of the CIS. It's possible some Clone Troopers did some bad things to his family.

 

[HairyChest]

Those places would be nice to see but you still need attractions. What would the attractions be? I’m not sure you get a Rise of the Resistance out of that.

I think a dark ride akin to rise of the resistance would be very successful. The spires I could easily see being a hoth type of ice pillars and snow which I think would have given the look a whimsical flare a la hogsmeade. When I walk in there, seeing the snowy rooftops definitely made me go wow very nice, otherwise if it was bare buildings it would be less of an impact (until I saw all the movie locations I always wanted to visit). The rumored speeder attraction through endor would've been great to experience, I'd imagine a mixture of practical sets like the forest they built for the ET queue at universal on a grander scale and screens akin to the forbidden journey ride. The smugglers run attraction could've existed as well except you'de be flying with chewie and han giving you pointers, maybe put r2 in there and missions to the deathstar, or the kessel run. These would've pleased newbies that enjoy Galaxys edge AND the lifelong starwars fans that grew up with it (and spend tons on its OT merchandise).

As far as Favreau goes though, he may not have a direct impact on the parks but Chapek does and his love for IP could drive him to incorporate things like this. And if he needed Lucasfilm presidents blessings, Favreau would be 100% with him, Kennedy would not.