News Marcia Lucas calls out Kennedy and Abrams, pans the Sequels

[Tuskin38]

I assume that doesn't include physical media sales? Though I imagine that's harder to track.

 

[Maurice]

Um...no. Gene Roddenberry PITCHED Star Trek to all the studios and was initially panned.

According to the Bird’s authorized bio he pitched to to MGM and his next and only other stop was Desilu.

 

[Sci]

I assume that doesn't include physical media sales? Though I imagine that's harder to track.

Yeah, that's just going by box office grosses. So between physical and digital media sales and whatever percentage of Disney+ subscriptions come from these new films, they're even more profitable than just what the box office grosses establish. And it's all under Kennedy's watch. There's no way Bob Iger's thinking of replacing her.

 

[Noname Given]

According to the Bird’s authorized bio he pitched to to MGM and his next and only other stop was Desilu.

And according to Herb Solo (who assisted GR in getting the final deal inked) Herb and Desilu pithed it to All 3 Networks. CBS already had LiS in post pilot phase and ABC passed.

 

[Maurice]

And according to Herb Solo (who assisted GR in getting the final deal inked) Herb and Desilu pithed it to All 3 Networks. CBS already had LiS in post pilot phase and ABC passed.

<cracks knuckles>

As to what Solow claimed: Inside Star Trek, p.17–19. He writes that Katz took Roddenberry to CBS and bombed, then he (Solow) got a meeting at NBC and sold it. They never went to ABC.

The Lost In Space pilot was filmed at the end of 1964, roughly at the same time the first Star Trek pilot was shot. Copyright searches on Swiss Family Robinson for LIS were going on even as Roddenberry was writing his story outlines for "The Menagerie/Cage."

Also, the Solow & Justman book is also not a fully reliable source. It gets a lot wrong, which @Harvey and I have confirmed by looking at the production paperwork and trades. Fer instance, Solow says be met Roddenberry in April 1964, but the trades show he wasn't at Desilu until May. He says he met Roddenberry 1 on 1, but Roddenberry wrote a letter to his agent the day of the meeting, summing it up (I have it right here), and indicates the meeting was attended by himself, said agent, Solow and Katz, and that Katz had previously read the show pitch.

 

[Tuskin38]

Yeah, that's just going by box office grosses. So between physical and digital media sales and whatever percentage of Disney+ subscriptions come from these new films, they're even more profitable than just what the box office grosses establish. And it's all under Kennedy's watch. There's no way Bob Iger's thinking of replacing her.

Yeah, I keep hearing Solo did really well on home media.

I think Solo underperforming can also being contributed to the oversaturation saturation of big movies in those few months. You had TLJ, Infinity War and Solo really close together. There was probably cinema fatigue.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Yeah, I keep hearing Solo did really well on home media.

I think Solo underperforming can also being contributed to the oversaturation saturation of big movies in those few months. You had TLJ, Infinity War and Solo really close together. There was probably cinema fatigue.

Another possibility, I'm just throwing it out there, is that Solo was not the kind of film that as many people wanted to see who wanted to see Saga films, even Sequel Trilogy Saga films.

 

[fireproof78]

Yeah, I keep hearing Solo did really well on home media.

I think Solo underperforming can also being contributed to the oversaturation saturation of big movies in those few months. You had TLJ, Infinity War and Solo really close together. There was probably cinema fatigue.

And that is when Disney scaled back.

 

[Sci]

Another possibility, I'm just throwing it out there, is that Solo was not the kind of film that as many people wanted to see who wanted to see Saga films, even Sequel Trilogy Saga films.

Yeah, I think it's important to bear in mind that the idea of a prequel about a Han Solo not played by Harrison Ford is kind of a hard sell for the majority of audiences who aren't die-hard sci-fi geeks.

 

[ScottJ85]

QFT.

The ST--especially its misuse of the Finn character--make the ST films unwatchable, as the producers'/writers' ill-minded agenda could not be more apparent. I doubt many were sad to see the ST end.

The only way the ST would have worked? Following this prescription--

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Oh boy another YouTube video, surely this will be the one to change my mind

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Oh boy another YouTube video, surely this will be the one to change my mind

Venue does not separate a critique from truth, nor blunt ideas far superior to that shit-storm that was the ST.

 

[Sci]

Oh boy another YouTube video, surely this will be the one to change my mind

In fairness, Channel Awesome are not usually toxic trolls, and their parody of The Rise of Skywalker shared many of the critiques of many who loved The Last Jedi but did not enjoy Rise. I think the idea that most people didn't enjoy the sequel trilogy is bunk, but if Channel Awesome is offering up an alternate direction the Sequel Trilogy could have gone I'm not opposed to hearing it.

 

[fireproof78]

Oh boy another YouTube video, surely this will be the one to change my mind

While I share your skepticism I do think this video is ok. But, yeah I hate the random video drop with little context or summary. Certainly not going to change my mind.

 

[saddestmoon]

Well, FWIW, I absolutely loved Solo - and am somewhat disappointed that there’s no sequel lined up (yet), as it was a fun, movie, with amazing visuals!

 

[ichab]

For the record, per Box Office Mojo, the post-Disney acquisition Star Wars films fared as follows:

• The Force Awakens (2015)
  • Budget: $245 million
  • Domestic Gross: $936.66 million
  • International Gross: $1.13 billion
    
  • Total Worldwide Gross: $2.068 billion
  • Profit: $1.823 billion ($1,823,223,624)
• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
  • Budget: $200 million
  • Domestic Gross: $532.177 million
  • International Gross: $523.88 million
  • Total Worldwide Gross: $1.056 billion
  • Profit: $856.06 million 856,057,273
• The Last Jedi (2017)
  • Budget: $317 million
  • Domestic Gross: $620.18 million
  • International Gross: $712.36 million
  • Total Worldwide Gross: $1.332 billion
  • Profit: $1.02 billion 1,015,539,889
• Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
  • Budget: $275 million
  • Domestic Gross: $213.77 million
  • International Gross: $179.16 million
  • Total Worldwide Gross: $392.92 million
  • Profit: $117.92 million 117,924,807
• The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
  • Budget: $275 million
  • Domestic Gross: $515.2 million
  • International Gross: $558.94 million
  • Total Worldwide Gross: $1.074 billion
  • Profit: $799.15 million 799,144248
• Series Aggregate
  • Worldwide Gross: ~$5.92 billion ($5,923,889,841 to be exact)
  • Total Profit: ~$4.61 billion ($4,611,889,841 to be exact)

Oh, and she greenlit The Mandalorian, which almost single-handedly kept Disney+ going when it was first released.

I gotta say, if Disney's response to someone who earns them $4.61 billion in profit and kept their streaming service from dying upon release is to fire her because some assholes on the Internet can't get over Luke Skywalker not being Rambo with lightsabers, then they would be a pretty abusive and self-destructive employer.

Almost spit my drink reading that.

" I hate it, therefore everyone else hates it." Star Wars and Trek fans tend to do that a lot.

She was also wise enough to turn the planned Boba Fett and Obi Wan movies into streaming series after the failed returns on Solo. That means more content for Disney plus and the movies turn back into being special events again. Win/Win.

 

[Maurice]

• The Force Awakens (2015)
  • Budget: $245 million
  • Domestic Gross: $936.66 million
  • International Gross: $1.13 billion
    
  • Total Worldwide Gross: $2.068 billion
  • Profit: $1.823 billion ($1,823,223,624)

Missed that before but “profit” isn’t the gross minus the budget. The gross isn’t what the studio gets. The theaters keep their chunk. The official budget of a film doesn’t include marketing costs, or interest. It’s an established reality that most big movies must gross 2.5–3x their budget just to break even.

 

[ScottJ85]

shit-storm that was the ST

Hard disagree.

" I hate it, therefore everyone else hates it." Star Wars and Trek fans tend to do that a lot.

Most fandoms have some amount of that going on, as well as "new thing bad old thing good"

 

[Tuskin38]

Well, FWIW, I absolutely loved Solo - and am somewhat disappointed that there’s no sequel lined up (yet), as it was a fun, movie, with amazing visuals!

The comics seem to be delving into that territory now, which makes me think there's no currently planned follow up.

Doesn't mean there can't be one that ignore those comics in the future, just I don't think there's one planned right now.

 

[Sci]

Missed that before but “profit” isn’t the gross minus the budget. The gross isn’t what the studio gets. The theaters keep their chunk. The official budget of a film doesn’t include marketing costs, or interest. It’s an established reality that most big movies must gross 2.5–3x their budget just to break even.

Fair point!