Rumors that Disney is in negotiations to sell Star Wars back to George Lucas!

[RivShore]

And just some more proof Disney is far from hurting for cash - these Free Cash Flow numbers are from an article just published today:

Analysts expect Disney to post an FCF of $3.83B in FY23 and possibly improve to $10.35B by FY25. As such, Disney should see a full pre-pandemic recovery of its FCF, which reached $9.83B in FY18.

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4610475-disney-buying-with-both-hands-as-stock-plunges

 

[wkrainey]

Could be but you can't deny that Disney is in a world of hurt financially. Those facts are known and when a company is between a rock and a hard spot they scramble to stay alive. Iger has run this company into the ground and we are about to see the results of a train wreck that has been his tenure.

You're looking at completely different numbers than I am then. I see a company with decent returns and plenty of assets to leverage if needed before selling a major IP.

 

[squirk]

I’m not going to dignify that video with a click, much less watch it.

But if I did, I suspect I’d come to the same conclusion as many other folks already have: it’s some idiot YouTuber making “shocking” **** up out of whole cloth for the sake of drawing clicks and views.

Really surprised that the DIS found this topic worthy of plastering as a headline on the main WDWInfo page.

Was it that slow of a news day? No other posts more worthy of our attention?

 

[dd316]

Oh brother. This is like the rumor Kathleen Kennedy is going to be fired that's what, at least 5 years on now?

 

[fatmanatee]

Oh brother. This is like the rumor Kathleen Kennedy is going to be fired that's what, at least 5 years on now?

Also a very popular rumor on youtube. Wonder if this guy was on that one.

 

[Kestryl]

Universal is about to sell their parks division to JK Rowling.

Marvel will merge with DC.

Kingdom Hearts 4 will come out this year.

See, I can make rumors too!

 

[RivShore]

Universal is about to sell their parks division to JK Rowling.

Marvel will merge with DC.

Kingdom Hearts 4 will come out this year.

See, I can make rumors too!

Quick put them on youtube, you'll make millions and then you can buy the failing Disney with your proceeds!

 

[squirk]

Also a very popular rumor on youtube. Wonder if this guy was on that one.

It’s been a popular piece of wishful thinking in Star Wars circles all over the internet, as @DD13 said, for many years. Not just YT.

I weep for all of the “childhoods ruined” by Kathleen Kennedy.

 

[Disney Bobby]

Probably wouldn't be a bad idea. They have pretty much milked it for all they can when it comes to content that appeals to be broad market for big bucks. Extremely overexposed at this point, as is most of the Marvel stuff.

 

[nancipants]

It’s been a popular piece of wishful thinking in Star Wars circles all over the internet, as @DD13 said, for many years. Not just YT.

I weep for all of the “childhoods ruined” by Kathleen Kennedy.

Kathleen Kennedy ruined Indiana Jones.

 

[OKW Lover]

Kathleen Kennedy ruined Indiana Jones.

Kathleen did it? and George just let her do that?

 

[nancipants]

Kathleen did it? and George just let her do that?

I was being sarcastic. People are preemptively mad about Dial of Destiny as if Kennedy hasn’t been a producer since Raiders - and that relationship is one of the reasons Lucas picked her to be his successor.

 

[OKW Lover]

I was being sarcastic. People are preemptively mad about Dial of Destiny as if Kennedy hasn’t been a producer since Raiders - and that relationship is one of the reasons Lucas picked her to be his successor.

Thanks for the explanation. It's hard to discern tone in witten posts.

 

[squirk]

I was being sarcastic. People are preemptively mad about Dial of Destiny as if Kennedy hasn’t been a producer since Raiders - and that relationship is one of the reasons Lucas picked her to be his successor.

To be fair, she’s made some odd decisions and said some head-scratching things since she took over, but people seem to forget that she isn’t really in control.

She took, and now again takes, orders from Iger, who is not a storyteller and is instead focused on “delivering shareholder value” in whatever manner he sees fit.

Which is exactly what he’s supposed to do. But it demonstrates one of the huge downsides of GL selling LFL to Disney, and placing the Star Wars property in the hands of a studio.

KK has to toe the company line, set by a CEO for whom, let’s face it, Star Wars and Indy are just “assets” to be leveraged.

Iger may give her directives that she doesn’t agree with, but she’s gotta make lemonade out of those lemons, and do it with a smile on her face.

 

[RivShore]

To be fair, she’s made some odd decisions and said some head-scratching things since she took over, but people seem to forget that she isn’t really in control.

She took, and now again takes, orders from Iger, who is not a storyteller and is instead focused on “delivering shareholder value” in whatever manner he sees fit.

Which is exactly what he’s supposed to do. But it demonstrates one of the huge downsides of GL selling LFL to Disney, and placing the Star Wars property in the hands of a studio.

KK has to toe the company line, set by a CEO for whom, let’s face it, Star Wars and Indy are just “assets” to be leveraged.

Iger may give her directives that she doesn’t agree with, but she’s gotta make lemonade out of those lemons, and do it with a smile on her face.

But is Iger really in the nitty gritty of story decisions? To deliver shareholder value, they have to make movies that people want to see, that should lead, at a minimum, to decent movies, in theory.
And again, the prequels were undeniably bad in so many ways, how could we have expected much different for the sequels, if GL were still in charge? Be careful what you wish for!

 

[squirk]

But is Iger really in the nitty gritty of story decisions? To deliver shareholder value, they have to make movies that people want to see, that should lead, at a minimum, to decent movies, in theory.
And again, the prequels were undeniably bad in so many ways, how could we have expected much different for the sequels, if GL were still in charge? Be careful what you wish for!

Not the nitty-gritty, but he flat-out admitted that he pushed out too much content too quickly, not giving things adequate time for development, resulting in rushed projects and brand fatigue.

The core storylines of the Prequels (IMO) were rock-solid, and had “vision” with zero studio interference . GL just lost his way in terms of screenwriting and dialogue.

The Sequels, on the other hand, had better dialogue and pacing, but were so disjointed in terms of story. You can very much tell these films were “product” vs. anyone’s vision.

So, pick your poison. I, personally, would rather have a singular vision, even if flawed vs. “moviemaking by committee”. I cringed when GL sold to Disney, because I knew that meant we were going to start getting the latter.

But I digress - my main point is that KK isn’t calling all the shots. If Iger told her tomorrow that we need a Star Wars Broadway musical on par with “The Lion King,” as stupid as that idea is, then guess what she has to do.

 

[RivShore]

Not the nitty-gritty, but he flat-out admitted that he pushed out too much content too quickly, not giving things adequate time for development, resulting in rushed projects and brand fatigue.

The core storylines of the Prequels (IMO) were rock-solid, and had “vision” with zero studio interference . GL just lost his way in terms of screenwriting and dialogue.

The Sequels, on the other hand, had better dialogue and pacing, but were so disjointed in terms of story. You can very much tell these films were “product” vs. anyone’s vision.

So, pick your poison. I, personally, would rather have a singular vision, even if flawed vs. “moviemaking by committee”. I cringed when GL sold to Disney, because I knew that meant we were going to start getting the latter.

But I digress - my main point is that KK isn’t calling all the shots. If Iger told her tomorrow that we need a Star Wars Broadway musical on par with “The Lion King,” as stupid as that idea is, then guess what she has to do.

Agreed on the too much too quick, that will always lead to trouble downstream, it seems they are looking to fix that mistake in the future, at least.

Agreed on the prequel storylines but it is just sooo overshadowed by the badness. Whenever we watched them with our now young adult kids, the unintended laughs and groans were nearly constant.

And lets not forgot the other badness that happened under GL - this could be the basis of that broadway show:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Holiday_Special

My only point is that thinking everything would have been better had Lucas never been sold is certainly not a sure thing...it could actually have been worse.

 

[nancipants]

People forget that TFA made TONS of money and had generally good audience reaction. I remember sitting in the theater preparing myself for another cringeworthy movie, and as soon as Poe said “so who talks first? You talk first? I talk first?” I breathed a sigh of relief and thought “okay, this is going to be fine.”

But then we got two more movies that didn’t have an overarching story and each contradicted the last.

 

[squirk]

Agreed on the too much too quick, that will always lead to trouble downstream, it seems they are looking to fix that mistake in the future, at least.

Agreed on the prequel storylines but it is just sooo overshadowed by the badness. Whenever we watched them with our now young adult kids, the unintended laughs and groans were nearly constant.

And lets not forgot the other badness that happened under GL - this could be the basis of that broadway show:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Holiday_Special

My only point is that thinking everything would have been better had Lucas never been sold is certainly not a sure thing...it could actually have been worse.

I agree that things would not have been perfect if kept under GL as it had been.

As I said, he can’t write dialogue for crap anymore (or the audience’s ear changed but he didn’t change with it). But as a “show-runner,” I think he was still top-notch when he sold..

Give the non-creative reins to KK, so George can work on what he does best - constructing stories. Let her be the Roy to GL’s Walt. Hire quality talent to write the screenplay for and direct the story that GL cracked.

I think I would have much preferred that setup vs. selling to Disney.

People forget that TFA made TONS of money and had generally good audience reaction. I remember sitting in the theater preparing myself for another cringeworthy movie, and as soon as Poe said “so who talks first? You talk first? I talk first?” I breathed a sigh of relief and thought “okay, this is going to be fine.”

But then we got two more movies that didn’t have an overarching story and each contradicted the last.

All three of the Sequels made a lot of money. TFA had that “fresh reboot + nostalgia” one-two punch. And I agree there is great stuff in the movie. But let’s face it - it was pretty much a retread of “A New Hope.”

I 100% agree that the biggest errors in the Sequels was 1.) having a plan where a different creative team handled each movie; and 2.) firing Trevorrow and bringing back Abrams to ash-can the work that Johnson did.

One singular vision for a singular story arc. What they did instead was a holy mess.

 

[ttintagel]

I wonder how long before Inside The Magic picks up this "news."