Next Star Wars Movie Announcement in January, Director Signed (1 Viewer)

[SamT]

Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy has a director lined up for the 2022 Star Wars movie, which is expected to be announced in January, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The outlet notes that this project is not the one being directed by Rian Johnson (The Last Jedi).

'Star Wars' Uncertainty Extends to Kathleen Kennedy's Disney Future

 

[Sam Favate]

Interesting. I hope they have better luck with this one. I will look forward to hearing what they say in a couple of months.

 

[TravisR]

Here's a tip, Disney, release it in December and not May.

 

[SamT]

I just learned for the first time in that article that it was Iger who pushed to hurry out Solo in 2018 despite Kennedy's misgivings.

 

[Wayne_j]

I just learned for the first time in that article that it was Iger who pushed to hurry out Solo in 2018 despite Kennedy's misgivings.

I heard about that at least a year ago. Iger was also the person who greenlit the movie because he liked what is in my opinion the worst scene of the movie.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Here's a tip, Disney: don't announce anything in January. Even though the fan base naturally wants wants to know things, I would not announce anything at all until you've got something real that's at the starting line and is actually going to happen. They need to make sure all of their ducks are in a row before making any announcements at all. They need to be very cautious in order to make sure that they avoid the embarrassment, bad press and assorted drama associated with hiring and firing these various big filmmakers. At this point, the circus is exhausting and Lucasfilm needs something to go well. So just don't say anything until they have something real to say.

Also, it's weird to me that this is tucked into a larger article about Kennedy. "There is a director attached for the next movie" is a headline unto itself, not a minor detail, and that's what The Hollywood Reporter turned it into. I understand why Disney would want to keep the focus on The Rise of Skywalker right now, but it's very weird for The Hollywood Reporter to just drop this massive news as a small part of a piece on Kennedy. Now this information is out there, and it's going to be on our minds until they make an announcement. So how is that succeeding in keeping the focus on The Rise of Skywalker? I'm not saying that Disney can control what The Hollywood Reporter writes, but they got the information from somewhere, which means either Kennedy or Disney gave it to them, or someone inside leaked it. This whole thing just smells weird to me.

 

[SamT]

I bet it's Jon Favreau!

 

[Jake Lipson]

Jon Favreau would make sense, although there are two things that raise red flags for me on that.

1) Disney+ has of course already renewed The Mandelorian for a second season. Season 3 and beyond seem like safe bets, too, as long as the response continues to be as strong as it has been. Would he be able to do that, and keep that up to the quality level of the first season, while also juggling a commitment to a theatrical Star Wars movie which already has a release date penciled in for 2022?

2) After the success of The Jungle Book a few years ago, Disney reportedly started developing a sequel to it with Favreau back to direct. Then, they put that on the backburner because they wanted him to do The Lion King first. I didn't like The Lion King remake at all but I loved what he did The Jungle Book and would like very much to see more of that. I think there is a real opportunity there for another movie because they ended it differently than the 1967 film, and I would like to see them get to a point where Mowgli makes his big choice from that film, which is a scene and ending that I love.

However, if they are going to do a sequel, they've got to do it soon. Neal Sethi was phenomenal as Mowgli and his performance was a big part of why that movie resonated so much on an emotional level, so they need to keep him. That means they need to do it before he ages too far out of the role, so they can't put it off much longer. They can wait six years between Alice and Maleficent movies without a problem because the stars of those franchises were already adults, but The Jungle Book is different because Mowgli is a kid. Personally, I don't really want a sequel if Sethi is not in it. So the clock almost demands that either they do it with him now, or they don't do it.

If Favreau makes Star Wars his next film, then Sethi would definitely be too old to reprise Mowgli by 2023 when Favreau would be finished with it.

On the other hand, if Favreau were to direct a later Star Wars movie, he could do The Jungle Book sequel first and schedule Mandelorian more around the movie, rather than having to hit a firm 2022 date that's already been set. It would make sense to me for Favreau to direct the one that Kevin Feige is producing, because they obviously already have a longstanding professional relationship dating back to Iron Man.

Also, it was widely reported at the time that Kennedy/Lucasfilm wanted to have Solo in December to give them more time to finish it, but Iger was sick of delaying Star Wars projects to December and insisted on the May release date. (He also had Mary Poppins Returns to think about, from Rob Marshall, who is very important to Disney since he has directed several big movies for them, and I'm pretty sure Mary Poppins was dated there even before they started releasing Star Wars movies.) Episode IX was originally dated for Memorial Day 2019, too, before Treverrow was fired. It was only pushed back because Abrams came on and felt the need to start over, so he agreed to do it if he could have until December.

It was Iger's initial plan for Star Wars to be in May; even The Force Awakens he wanted in May, but agreed to have it in December because Abrams needed more time. Now that they saw the performance of Solo, it appears they have given up on the idea of relocating Star Wars back to the summer and are finally happy for it to remain a December staple, alternating with Avatar.

 

[Tino]

By the way this is ALL just a rumor. Nothing definitive or stated by Disney or Kennedy.

from the article

Sources say Kennedy has a film on deck for 2022, but not the one being developed by The Last Jedi filmmaker Rian Johnson. (No announcement is planned until January.)

And Also nothing mentioned about a director being signed.

the article is nothing but clickbait.

Sources= Rumor.

 

[Chris Will]

I heard about that at least a year ago. Iger was also the person who greenlit the movie because he liked what is in my opinion the worst scene of the movie.

What scene is that?

 

[Tino]

What scene is that?

All of them!!

just kidding

 

[Jake Lipson]

What scene is that?

The scene where Han got the "Solo" name from the Imperial officer who asked who his people are. Iger is on record saying that the pitch for that scene made him greenlight the movie. I also agree with @Wayne_j that it is the worst scene in there. I think Solo is a reasonably fun movie, but there are two scenes in it that I can't stand and which make me think worse of the movie as a whole than if they weren't in it. That's the worst offender.

 

[Tino]

Definitely the worst groan inducing scene in the film.

 

[Wayne_j]

What scene is that?

The scene where the imperial officer gives Han the last name of "SOLO".

 

[SamT]

This is Hollywood Reporter and not an obscure youtuber who no one has ever heard of. Nothing gets as close to official.

Also, as always, all the supposedly outrageous Star Wars rumors turned out true and I'm not even joking. All the past rumors posted on reasonable sites turned out true. From Luke's Hand in space in The Force Awakens to Stephen Daldry working on the Obi-Wan theatrical movie, ... and not to mention the difficulties and reshoots of Rogue One.

 

[Tino]

Fact

A director has not been confirmed signed.
No Star Wars film announcement is confirmed to be coming in January.

Like I said, it’s all speculation and rumor. As usual.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Do you think they announce directors being signed as soon as the ink is dry? It's entirely possible that they signed a contract with a director. I will agree that no director has been announced to the public, and that Disney has not confirmed when we will hear about a director being signed. But just because we don't know about it doesn't mean it hasn't happened yet. They could announce it in January, or they could announce it in June, or they could announce it whenever, but that doesn't mean it's impossible that this person is signed now. They might not be. But it's absolutely possible that they are.

 

[Tino]

I didn’t say it wasn’t possible.

I said it wasn’t confirmed as the thread title suggests.

 

[TravisR]

The reason why I completely believe that there's a director and movie lined up for 2022 is because there's no way that Disney won't go to the well every two years. I'll be surprised if they're not back to annual starting in 2024.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I'll be surprised if they're not back to annual starting in 2024.

As you know, the current announced plan is for Avatar (odd years) and Star Wars (even years) to alternate in the December time period between 2021 and 2027.

That wouldn't preclude them from adding more release dates later, but I believe Bob Iger's recent comments about flooding the market with too much Star Wars over a short period of time are right on the money. If Disney is okay with occasionally having mid-range Star Wars movies like how Marvel has the Ant-Man films, then releasing them every year is doable. If Disney wants every single release to be a billion-dollar-grossing cultural touchstone, then making them less frequent is the way to go. They appear to want the latter.

Besides, they have enough going on with (currently) three live-action series in various stages at Disney+ that they don't need to have a theatrical movie every year to continue the Star Wars brand.

If you're right and they did go back to annual releases, then they would have to figure out how to accommodate both Star Wars and Avatar in the same calendar year when both have established clear preference for the December slot. With Marvel going to four movies a year, plus Pixar doing at least one (or sometimes two) per year, and Disney Animation doing one a year, that's an awful lot of powerhouse brands to accommodate in one schedule. Disney live-action and non-Avatar Fox titles are not as regulated in terms of how often they release things, but they can be expected to require multiple dates per year as well. Disney has a lot of musical chairs to move around, so they might not require Star Wars every single year.