Latest news with #KathleenKennedy
Geek Tyrant
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
Lucasfilm "Likely" Replacing Kathleen Kennedy at Lucasfilm with Dave Filoni and Carrie Beck — GeekTyrant
It looks like big changes are brewing at Lucasfilm. According to a new reprot from The Hollywood Reporter about the shifting power dynamics at Disney, Kathleen Kennedy's time as president of Lucasfilm is winding down, and the studio may be headed in a new, but familiar, direction. The names being floated to 'likely' replace her are Dave Filoni and Carrie Beck. Filoni currently serves as Chief Creative Officer at Lucasfilm and is also producing several Star Wars TV and film projects. The report notes: 'The current thinking is a scenario where chief creative officer Dave Filoni and production head Carrie Beck — both Lucasfilm vets — take co-head roles. Even as an arm of Disney, Lucasfilm remains, in many ways, a family business, and as a George Lucas protégé Filoni long has been considered a golden boy.' Filoni's rise is no surprise to anyone who's followed Star Wars since The Clone Wars . His creative connection to George Lucas and the way he's carried forward that legacy with Rebels , The Mandalorian , and Ahsoka has earned him a loyal following, and he's their guy. However, not everyone in the room is sold. The same THR piece offers this commentary: 'But the knock against him is that he might be too steeped in Star Wars lore and risks steering a show into dense mythology that loses a broader audience. 'He's not the Andor guy, he's the Ahsoka guy,' says one Disney insider. 'Beck, who joined the company in 2012, knows the ins and outs, but neither she nor Filoni has much film experience, which could be mitigated by Kennedy's continued presence as a producer on certain Star Wars projects, ensuring quality control in the short term.' That's a fair point. While Filoni thrives in the animated and live-action series space, Star Wars hasn't exactly had a smooth run on the big screen lately, and neither he nor Beck has much experience steering theatrical releases. That's where Kennedy may linger for a while longer, potentially sticking around to produce key projects and maintain consistency as they transition. Still, fans online are already drawing battle lines. For many, the idea of a 'Lucas guy' who lives and breathes Star Wars mythology is exactly what Lucasfilm needs. After all, the most frustrating part of the franchise's modern era has often been its uneven grasp of what makes Star Wars feel like Star Wars . And yet… Andor exists. It's a perfect example of what Star Wars can be when it steps outside of the mythological comfort zone, when it slows down, digs into real human struggles, and reimagines the galaxy far, far away with grounded stakes. So here we are, at a crossroads. Lucasfilm seems like they are preparing to pass the lightsaber to two trusted veterans who've built their reputations inside the galaxy. The next era of Star Wars is about to begin, and even if Filoni isn't taking the lead, as continuing CCO, the franchise is going to have Filoni's fingerprints all over it.
Forbes
7 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Ahsoka's Dave Filoni May Soon Be Running ‘Star Wars'
Ahsoka With Lucasfilm's Kathleen Kennedy on her way out, the open question is who will succeed her in that role. A new report points to a familiar choice, someone with both fans and detractors in the Star Wars space. In a lengthy THR piece about Disney executive power, when it comes to Lucasfilm, Dave Filoni is the name that comes up. Here's the section: Perfect, right? Well, here are the downsides: I've seen a lot of Star Wars fans read this and say 'of course you want a Lucas guy who knows a ton of dense Star Wars mythology!' I can see that position, but the counterpoint isn't wrong. Andor just wrapped up a two-season run as inarguably one of the best pieces of Star Wars content ever made. You might expect that to lead to an immediate appointment of whoever did that to a top spot, but that's Tony Gilroy, and he's simply moving on to other things. The most promising word from him is 'never say never,' but he's not even close to the conversation here. Dave Filoni at the "Ahsoka" FYC Event held at the DGA Theater on June 2, 2024 in Los Angeles, ... More California. (Photo by Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images) A 'co-head' role with Filoni and Carrie Beck sounds like what DC is doing with James Gunn and Peter Safran, but it's very much Gunn as the face and captain. The same would be true of Filoni. Filoni has been heavily involved in The Mandalorian from its inception, as he is the upcoming Mandalorian and Grogu movie. His pet project series, Ahsoka, is currently the only Disney Plus project getting a second season, but one that appears like it will arrive three years after season 1. Filoni's issue is that he has a fixed set of die-hard fans who have been following his work since his animated series The Clone Wars and its follow-up, Rebels. But a lot of his work within the universe so far has been getting many of those characters into live-action and present-day Disney projects. Great for fans of those shows, but they still have to work on their own. Clone Wars Still, Filoni seems like the logical choice given the options at hand. I do wonder how much the success or failure of the upcoming Mandalorian and Grogu will factor into all this, as that's a film that will be emblematic of his brand, given that he co-wrote it with director Jon Favreau. There was a time when Favreau seemed to have been considered to run Lucasfilm with Filoni, but that idea isn't mentioned in this latest piece. It's a fraught time for Star Wars. Andor is a stunning achievement. Andor also cost $650 million for a show not that many people watched, and its talent is leaving to go elsewhere, including Kathleen Kennedy, who was the show's biggest champion. So, what happens now? Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
News.com.au
04-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Star Wars: Andor creator reveals Disney spent over $1 billion dollars making the show
The creator of Disney+ series Andor has revealed the staggering amount that Disney spent on the critically acclaimed show. The series, which has run for two seasons and comprises 24 episodes in total, has been a major success for the streaming giant and has helped revive interest in a franchise that has suffered major flops in recent years. Despite the huge financial losses from projects like Solo: A Star Wars Story, Andor creator Tony Gilroy was speaking on a panel during the ATX Television Festival when he revealed just how much money Disney had thrown at the project. 'I mean, [for] Disney this is $650 million [USD$1 billion],' Gilroy said. 'For 24 episodes, I never took a note. We said 'F**k the Empire' in the first season, and they said, 'Can you please not do that?' … In Season 2, they said, 'Streaming is dead, we don't have the money we had before,' so we fought hard about money, but they never cleaned anything up. That [freedom] comes with responsibilities.' Gilroy revealed that Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy was the show's biggest champion and the reason a lot of this got done. He said that his previous work on a Star Wars project, the critically lauded Rogue One, help him gauge what Disney might allow him to include in the show, and then he put those limits to the test by including phrases such as 'genocide' in the script and opening the series in a Brothel. 'I worked on 'Rogue [One]' so I knew what the [permissible] levels of violence were, and actually the rules loosened up considerably,' Gilroy said. 'Yeah, we can't have skin, but I very consciously started the first scene in a brothel just to see what would happen and how far we could go. There's sex. … It's something that probably seemed at some point like it was going to be a big anxiety, and it really turned out to be a nothing-burger all the way through.' Gilroy previously told Variety that he 'wrote a legal brief' to Disney when he was trying to get the studio to allow him to say 'f**k the empire' in the show. However, despite his best efforts, Disney execs refused to let him get it into the show. 'I wrote a memo on it and said, 'Here's why I think it's economically prudent, and here's why I think it's good'. Disney wouldn't let us use it,' director Benjamin Caron added. 'So we changed it to 'fight the empire.' I remember having a call with Tony Gilroy saying, 'Are we gonna get away with this?''
Gizmodo
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
Tony Gilroy Knowingly Went Against Canon for K-2SO's Origin in ‘Andor'
For years, we were led to believe that when it came to Star Wars, there was one canon and that was it. Every book, comic, TV show, and movie was all supposed to co-exist to tell a single, overarching story. And for the most part, that has been true. But in a few cases, filmmakers have overridden work done by fellow creators, and the best example yet comes in Andor. In 2017, a few months after the release of Rogue One, Marvel released a one shot comic book called 'Rogue One – Cassian & K-2SO Special 1.' Written by Duane Swierczynski and illustrated by Fernando Blanco, the comic explored how Cassian and K2 met. And, for several years, that version of their origin story was considered the truth because it was part of Star Wars canon. Then, of course, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy gave the okay for Tony Gilroy to dig back into those characters with Andor. Fast forward to season two and the origin of K2 and Cassian's friendship on Andor is completely different from the one in the canon. Recently, on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the creator explained why that was. 'Canon, I usually try to deal with it, and I'm really sympathetic and into it,' Gilroy said. '[But] I was annoyed to find out somebody, in the interim between Rogue and that, had written an origin story for K-2SO. And it's like, 'No I'm not paying attention to that. We're not doing that.'' And so, that was that. You can watch the clip, cued up, here. For Star Wars fans, I think this is a very interesting issue to talk about. First of all, clearly everyone wants creatives like Tony Gilroy to make a show however they want to make a show. That he was not just beholden to, but embraced, other canon moments such as the Ghorman Massacre, Yavin-4, Mon Mothma's speech, etc., shows that he wanted his story to fit in the overall world. Also, tens of thousands of people read that comic and, potentially, millions of people watch the show. There's no real, good reason to be beholden to a fact such a small number of people know about, especially if you don't agree with it or it doesn't fit. And yet, that has always been the beauty of this modern Star Wars canon. While there was clearly a lot to love about the era of the Expanded Universe and how every story could be unique and contradictory, there was also something exciting about knowing every single Star Wars thing you picked up fit together.. And yet, that has slowly been changing. Theming around Star Wars Galaxy's Edge is one big thing. The animated series Tales of the Jedi, which adapts Ahsoka's origin in contrast to a novel, is another. And who knows what else could be coming in the future? It's a fun debate to have, and ultimately, I'm fine with Gilroy changing K2's origin to his liking. It's not like I can't still enjoy the comic version. One is just the more accepted version now. What are your feelings on all this? Let us know below.
Geek Feed
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Feed
‘There's No Show Without Her': Andor Creator Praises Kathleen Kennedy
If you suddenly read about Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy online, usually it's about some toxic Star Wars fan saying that she ruined Star Wars ; but with the success of Andor on Disney+, showrunner Tony Gilroy has decided to take the spotlight to praise how much Kennedy actually helped bring the series to life. In a recent talk with Vanity Fair, Gilroy explained: 'For all the shit that she takes online, it's just insane. This show exists because she forced it to happen. What a tough job she has, man… She has protected the show and protected me … When we started challenging Kathy, Kathy just kept saying yes. 'Oh, I'm going to put the first scene in a brothel.' 'Okay.' 'I'm going to have them kill two cops.' 'Okay.' 'We want the production designer from Chernobyl.' 'Okay, good idea.'' Originally the series was pitched as an adventure show with Cassian and K-2SO having new missions every week, but Gilroy decided to do the approach he did with Andor , and it was Kennedy who was said to have supported his decision. ' She backed our play and got everything that we were doing. We've been through everything, she and I, on this— all the good and all the bad. There's no show without her, ' said Gilroy. For now, fans are still kind of amazed at how mature Andor ended up, what with all the 'glup shitto' material that's released like Ahsoka and Obi-Wan Kenobi . Don't get me wrong, I also liked Skeleton Crew for what it was, but it didn't really have the heavy revolution themes that Andor really leaned into. We don't know what's next for Gilroy now, but it does seem like he's done with Star Wars after five years. Maybe he comes back to do a Sequel Era TV series, but how is that going to be any different than Andor ? I guess we'll just have to wait and see because I honestly wouldn't mind seeing more of Kleya. Catch the complete Andor now streaming on Disney+.
