HOLY SHIT! Fresh off the presses apparently. I feel a disturbance in The Force.
I don't know what this means for those that really hate TLJ.
Report:
I don't know what this means for those that really hate TLJ.
Report:
E! Weekly Brick said:According to recent reports, Rian Johnson has been spotted making numerous trips to the Lucasfilm headquarters in San Francisco supposedly to take over Kathleen Kennedy's job as President of Lucasfilm, overseeing all Star Wars productions on both the big and little screen. As fans know, Rian Johnson recently wrote and directed the critically received Star Wars Episode IX: The Last Jedi, while the film received rave reviews from critics, fans of the franchise have been more mixed on the film, leading to divisive discussions to this day. However, if the recent reports have any truth, such fan response had little to no impact on Lucasfilm head honcho Kathleen Kennedy or executives at Disney. Both of whom have been pleased with Rian's directorial efforts and quirky humor.
"Rian has been an invaluable member of the Star Wars family. He's always looking for ways to subvert our expectations," was the the response Lucasfilm President, Kathleen Kennedy, gave when asked for comment on this story. Asked whether Johnson's possible promotion would have any effect on his reported new trilogy, Kennedy gave this response, "all productions are proceeding as normal." However, she would not comment on whether Rian Johnson was in any actual discussions to fill her shoes; though she would neither deny the reports either. Rian Johnson himself gave no response when asked for comment beyond, "bazinga!"
While the move may be surprising to some, it's seems a long-time coming and logical move to certain business analysts. Michelle Pychter, long time entertainment media analyst, found the possible promotion of Rian as a "no non-sense" decision. "What you have to understand is that Lucasfilm's parent company, Disney, overarching business interests are all about their theme parks. And, Rian has done more to allow Disney to capitalize on Star Wars theme park potential than any new director since George Lucas." Public shareholder reports and apparently leaked internal memos reveal that Porgs related merchandise fly off the shelves at Disney theme parks in Orlando, FL and Anaheim, CA. "We can't keep up with the demand," says one unnamed worker at one of Disney's theme parks. "The more Porgs we put out, the more the kids buy them. It's insane." And, Disney reportedly has plans to expand their theme park venture with Star Wars beyond Galaxy's Edge to include a full adult-theme park in the vein of Episode IX's Canto Bight, a full gambling resort replete with alien animatronics and performance actors. The potential created through Rian's worlds has allowed for a whole new level of capitalization unlike Abrams efforts which have mostly been remixes on familiar themes which executives find harder to sell anew to fresh audiences and attendance goers.
Time will soon tell if these reports are true, the latest Star Wars Celebration is only a month away where surely any announcement will be made. Despite selling his company to Disney years ago, we attempted to gauge George Lucas' reaction to the possible news. Lucas responded as only he ever could, "I'm sure fans will be upset whether its true or not."
This article was updated as late as 04/01/19 at 12:01 AM EST.
