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Vanity Fair Reporter: Benioff and Weiss Were Out from Star Wars Before Netflix Deal/Feige Reporting Directly to Iger on SW project

RyanW

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
4,659
New news new thread?


On a Patreon-only episode of The Storm podcast (formerly Storm of Spoilers) Joanna Robinson (primary GoT reporter for Vanity Fair, also covers Star Wars and Marvel) reported that the decision to remove B and W was made in May, before the Netflix deal. She says (according to Disney sources) that it was a “soft” removal and was not announced in order to allow B and W to shop their services elsewhere. She suggested that B and W’s comments about GoT last weekend at an event in Austin may have sped up the announcement.

ALSO, her sources have told her that Feige will be reporting directly to Iger on his Star Wars project, not to Kathleen Kennedy. Apparently, Disney has its eye on Feige to steady the franchise. However, she said that does not necessarily mean that KK is being fired, and Feige’s role may be in a consulting capacity.
She did not seem to have a clear idea of what was next for the films...

Very interesting stuff.

Edit: No idea what the hell happened with those ampersands.
Edit 2: Since people keep asking, she said the decision was made after the final episode of GoT, after Iger had made his announcement about the next film.
A link to the patreon podcast for those that are curious:

Interesting to note that it was said back in April that LF and D&D, Rian, etc. met around April to discuss the future of Star Wars. So maybe Game of Thrones came out and Iger/KK decided to change their mind?
 

Kitsunelaine

My favorite cake is pie
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
6,051
Their new Lost rewatch podcast is baller and you should all check it out.

As far as the news in the OP: spaceballs_would_i_lie.gif
 

BDS

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,743
Boom. So everybody involved lied to save face.

Feige reporting to Iger makes sense too.
 

shaneo632

Member
Oct 29, 2017
12,274
Essex, UK
As great as Kevin Feige is, do we really want the same guy creating the same broadly entertaining tone across two major franchises? (I know for many the answer will be yes).
 
Oct 25, 2017
12,929
I can imagine having trepidation in bringing these guys on to to do a trilogy of movies when they lose interest in their projects halfway through.
 

thediamondage

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,403
This just feels like unsubstantiated gossip

i hated GOT S8 but at this point every article just seems to be ways to say "fuck those guys!!!!" with little to no substance behind it.
 
Oct 25, 2017
12,929
As great as Kevin Feige is, do we really want the same guy creating the same broadly entertaining tone across two major franchises? (I know for many the answer will be yes).
My worst fear of Feige being brought on is a severe drop in quality of the filmmaking and art direction through directors who totally bow down to the demands of the producers. The MCU films are not good looking movies at all.
 

LewieP

Member
Oct 26, 2017
8,395
Isn't that kind of fucked up?
It makes total sense. Why would he have to report to KK? Presumably if he's getting involved with Star Wars, it's to try and replicate the success he's had with Marvel Studios.

I don't think he's going to replace KK, but I could see Disney wanting her to adopt something closer to his approach.
 

UnderSiege

Member
Mar 5, 2019
328
As great as Kevin Feige is, do we really want the same guy creating the same broadly entertaining tone across two major franchises? (I know for many the answer will be yes).
I love the MCU, but no, I don't. Then again, I don't know what Feige will do with his Star Wars project, so I'll wait and see how close it is in tone to the MCU.
 

shaneo632

Member
Oct 29, 2017
12,274
Essex, UK
How do you know what tone he's going for with Star Wars? Also he is neither a screenwriter or director, so...
A hands-on producer like him will likely exert an incredible amount of control over anything he produces; the MCU is what it is more because of him than any of the filmmakers. The balance between light/drama (can't get too serious), and the "house style" that has just a few exceptions.
 

Replicant

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,358
MN
My worst fear of Feige being brought on is a severe drop in quality of the filmmaking and art direction through directors who totally bow down to the demands of the producers. The MCU films are not good looking movies at all.
The old trope that MCU movies are good looking at all.

Try something new. It’s getting old. The guardian movies and the last two Avengers movies were visually fantastic.
 
OP
OP
RyanW

RyanW

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
4,659
Well why were they removed in May?
It's just a theory but:

On May 14th Bob Iger announced that D&D's trilogy would start in 2022:

Then 5 days later, the series finale of Game of Thrones hit. You can probably connect the dots.

Reading up on this a bit more, they weren't necessarily let go in May but sometime later in the summer.
 

MagicHobo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
851
It's worth noting that Lucasfilm is looking to expand beyond just Star Wars and Indiana Jones. For instance, an adaptation of Children of Blood and Bone. Kathleen Kennedy is the head of Lucasfilm, not just Star Wars. Before Star Wars she was a mega-producer on all sorts of things, you could argue her interests lie in a broder scope. In a less cynical take, if Feige is interested and able, why wouldn't he lend a hand in growing Star Wars?
 

Finale Fireworker

Love each other or die trying.
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,340
United States
She kinda has to.

The SW franchise is not flourishing under her leadership... Not that this is her fault, but that's the risk when you take a job like this.
Didn't The Last Jedi make over a billion dollars? 🤔


I don't think it's correct to say Star Wars isn't flourishing. I think it's more accurate to say that Star Wars is not performing the way Disney hoped when they poured so much money in to the brand. Multiple theme parks, annual movies, multiple concurrent video games, numerous television shows for their new streaming service, etc.

I think this is a consequence of Star Wars changing from a generational event to a constant feed of content. I think a lot of the appeal and gravity of Star Wars is cheapened by having so much Star Wars available at all times. Disney flooded the market with Star Wars content assuming that audiences could never get enough Star Wars. It turns out, though, they can.

I don't think this is a Kathleen Kennedy issue so much as the expectations of Disney's business plan after such a high profile acquisition. If you follow the theme park circuit it's very clear that Disney has really high expectations for Star Wars. It was supposed to be the unsinkable brand that printed infinite money automatically.