Disney Makes A Right Move, For A Change

 https://youtube.com/shorts/LDorWh58h7c?si=odsWD3xqpcuashmk

In that short, George Lucas explains why he didn't want the studio (in this case 20th Century Fox, which is currently owned by Disney, who now owns Lucasfilm) having a say on how he made his movies. Say what you will about GL: he had a vision, and told a great story. Dialog, well, his weakness there is obvious. But, Lucas made sure as long as he was the one making Star Wars movies, it would be his way, free of studio influences. And when he sold his studio and film properties to Disney, what did they do? Influence the story. Sigh. What Disney is doing is what Lucas feared the most.

I won't go into the mess that was the Sequel Trilogy, that's well known. But, all the problems came from the people running the studio. Star Wars wasn't meant to be run this way, and it showed. At its heart, Star Wars represented the best in independent filmmaking: the creator drives everything! Story, budget, even merchandising if possible. In a perfect world, Disney would have turned to a story person who would make sequels worthy of George Lucas, and with as little interference from the studio as possible. Today, Disney appears to have taken a step in a positive direction.

Today (November 21st) it was announced that Dave Filoni had been named Chief Creative Officer of Lucasfilm. Basically, he's the one in charge of stories for new movies and TV shows. So when a new project comes up, Dave Filoni can be a part of the story telling process. He won't be in charge of bringing in talent, that will fall to Carrie Beck, who worked with Filoni in the Lucasfilm Animation Studio, and on both Clone Wars & Rebels. It took over 11 years, but FINALLY, Lucasfilm has someone in charge of the story process!

While currently announced projects like The Acolyte and Skeleton Crew (Filoni produced, BTW) already are preparing to air sometime in 2024 or 2025. He runs The Bad Batch already as that show prepares for its 3rd and final season. The Rey Skywalker movie is also in early production stages, and it is unclear if Filoni will have any impact on that movie's story process. But, he really should. Disney is dealing with massive box office failures, and is now fodder for South Park. Marvels is a train wreck for Marvel Studios, and outside of Spider-Man, Marvel has massive problems. Star Wars has the same problem.

Now Filoni isn't exactly coming in at a great time. The 3rd season of The Mandalorian was a turd. Ahsoka wasn't a well received series, viewers tuned out as the series progressed. While Season 2 hasn't been greenlit, it also hasn't been canceled either. While he isn't George Lucas as far as storytelling goes, he has been part of what has been "good" Disney Star Wars projects. Rebels is still a fan favorite show that has a majority of positive opinions, nearly a decade after debuting. The 1st 2 seasons of The Mandalorian can still wow audiences,  especially the final episode of the 2nd season! Of course he is better than the current story telling group which has been this meme you've seen around the internet:

Now before the inevitable attacks come for that, look at the failures of Episode 9 & Marvels. Yeah. And then look at movies like Alien and the 1st Wonder Woman movie. Yep. You can make a great action movie with a female lead that doesn't pander or insult the intended audience. For that reason, the Rey movie looks like at this moment to be DOA at the box office, if the current rumors about the story are true.

But what Filoni ABSOLUTELY must have power to do is just wipe the chalk board clean. Star Wars needs a post ROTJ reboot. It turns out, movie goers and Star Wars fans wanted more adventures with Han Solo, Luke Skywalker & Leia Organa. Marvel is finding life without Tony Stark & Steve Rogers isn't so good after all. Will Bob Iger relent and let Dave do this, since Dave isn't tied to the sequels like he and Kathleen Kennedy are? That remains to be seen. But if Dave Filoni's new position is to have any influence, he needs to be able to start with a clean slate. Regardless of your opinion about Filoni: like him or not, he deserves to be able to fully exercise the power to have complete story control. It's what George Lucas would do after all.