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Kathleen Kennedy on releasing Solo 5 months after TLJ: "We made a mistake with that"

TheLetdown

TheLetdown

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,806
Knight in Shining Armani said:
The mistake was making a mediocre movie no one asked for in the first place.
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This. There was definitely some fatigue going on but has they released TFA and then 5 months later put out TLJ, I doubt I'd complain.

Solo had a really weak trailer, lost all of a beloved character's well-earned charisma by recasting it, and then told a story that was already better told through one-liners from 1977. Three strikes.
 
WillyFive

WillyFive

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
6,976
OtherWorldly said:
I would say TLJ hurt the Star Wars brand the most. I would say as much as the prequels
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Solo brought home the Star Wars fatigue, causing people to say "another Star Wars movie?" instead of being excited for another one. TLJ and the prequels did not do that, heck, they were incrediby succesful (and in the case of TLJ, critically acclaimed on top of that).

It didnt help that Solo was also a bad movie.
 
Sulik2

Sulik2

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
8,168
I really enjoyed both rogue one, best star wars movie period, and Solo. I like star wars when it gets more scifi and less fantasy and both movies did a good job with that aspect. Something TFA and TLJ both failed miserably at.
 
Masterz1337

Masterz1337

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,773
For me it was disappointing in TLJ shaking my belief that I'd enjoy more star wars films, with an unexciting concept of a film with a troubled production making me feel like there was no way it would satisfy me.

I'd also credit Infinity War as a bar set so high by summer movies a month earlier, that that it was hard to see anything in Solo as exciting as that was talked about online. Infinity War just sucked all the air out of the room leaving Solo to just be this thing you barely heard about.
 
pants

pants

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
3,169
IMO they have no idea what they are doing with the IP, and it shows.

I liked TFW and TLJ fine, but Rogue One and Solo were mediocre and unnecessary films which did nothing for me. I will see Episode IX regardless of their future plans, but am not excited for anything other than Rian Johnson's project, specifically because its new and different.

I want to see new filmmakers given complete creative control to tell weird stories in the Star Wars film (Edgar Wright?!) and I want them all to stand on their own merits – not forced into some sequence of movies that you need to keep track of in order to understand the next big blockbuster.
 
Rivenblade

Rivenblade

Member
Nov 1, 2017
37,116
Scarlet Spider said:
I cannot for the life of me remember anything about Solo outside of the Darth Maul bit.
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Hmm, I'm the opposite. I remember quite a few scenes and characters.

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Again, I think it's a solid lazy Sunday afternoon flick to put on.
 
bluexy

bluexy

Comics Enabler & Freelance Games Journalist
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
14,509
I haven't rated any of the new Star Wars films above average and I'd still love to see 2 (or more) Star Wars films a year. This statement from Kennedy doesn't really have anything to do with film quality though, does it? It probably has more to do with Disney not knowing how to market multiple Star Wars films at the same time without the audience confusing the two.
 
Wraith

Wraith

Member
Jun 28, 2018
8,892
I liked Solo; it was better than I expected. The film itself starts out a bit rough, but turns it around by the end. It's undeniably part of the Star Wars universe, but tells a different kind of story. It's not my favorite installment, but it certainly earned its place in the franchise.

The release date (and the bad news surrounding its production) didn't do it any favors.
 
Spacejaws

Spacejaws

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,782
Scotland
Agree with a lot of people here that she's taking away the wrong message. That kinda tells me that all the top people in Lucasfilm think Solo's only problem was 'franchise fatigue' whereas there are plenty of other things I'd rather they reflect on and try harder in the future. I think they just read the atmosphere wrong the movie completely feels like some old dude in a boardroom went 'hey Han Solo is cool young Han Solo would be a cool movie'.

Honestly I could be interested in The Adventures of Han Solo tm like the start of the movie. Seedy underworld story gangs and such more noir and low key but once Han got off Corelia it just felt like a by the numbers adventure with some Han Solo fan lore moments thrown in from time to time.

Unfortunately Solo almost kinda writes itself into a corner. It almost feels like most of his adventures have been told in that one weekend he did all the stuff he's famous for and finishes off with him heading to become a smuggler for the Jabba it really sort of demystified his adventures and the result is a bit boring.
 
Drek

Drek

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,231
Not just the release date just a few months after TLJ, it was also too close to Infinity War on one side, Deadpool 2 on the other. It had no room to breathe. It still did well relative to most other movies, just not as well as a Star Wars film and its budget would require.

The only way it would have been successful is if it had been a great, standout film of the year, kind of movie. It was a good movie overall with a really strong cast and overall fits better within the canon events of Star Wars than most of Lucas' own retcons. That isn't enough to make up for that horrible release date and poor pre-release management.
 
Gifmaker

Gifmaker

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
964
Gatti-man said:
Please explain how removing everything about Star Wars besides a third tier character from the originals is pure Star Wars.
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Guess you are one of those insufferable "StAr WaRs Is AbOuT lIgHtSaBeRs AnD tHe FoRce" people. Star Wars is about stars, and war. Hence the name Star Wars, and not Jedi Lightsaber Force Wars. Solo had war scenes, action, fun, adventure, space travel and battles. Also, lmao about "third tier character". What, were you born in 2005 or something? Han Solo was/is one of the most iconic and beloved characters of the franchise, as are Chewbacca and Lando. Get out of here with that narrative of third tier characters. You're being completely delusional. Just because a bunch of intolerable people are only able to reduce Star Wars to swinging glowsticks, that doesn't mean that the franchise does not offer far more than that.
 
carlosrox

carlosrox

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
10,270
Vancouver BC
hank_tree said:
The mistake was making a movie no one wanted.
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I didn't want it but after seeing it I fucking loved it and completely regretted not seeing it in theaters.

This movie deserved way better.

Glad I got the 4K, can't wait to rewatch it, it was already a great experience on Netflix. The 4K will be something else.

Gatti-man said:
Please explain how removing everything about Star Wars
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Uhm, what did this movie remove?
 
Maneil99

Maneil99

Banned
Nov 2, 2017
5,252
Rogue One showed you could sell a non Jedi movie.

I properly developed Obi Wan movie / Boba Fett movie should do Logan numbers. You don't need to go full on 300m budget for these things
 
Kaseoki

Kaseoki

Unshakable Resolve
Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,291
pants said:
IMO they have no idea what they are doing with the IP, and it shows.

I liked TFW and TLJ fine, but Rogue One and Solo were mediocre and unnecessary films which did nothing for me. I will see Episode IX regardless of their future plans, but am not excited for anything other than Rian Johnson's project, specifically because its new and different.

I want to see new filmmakers given complete creative control to tell weird stories in the Star Wars film (Edgar Wright?!) and I want them all to stand on their own merits – not forced into some sequence of movies that you need to keep track of in order to understand the next big blockbuster.
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Rogue One was awesome.

Solo not so much.

I actually enjoyed Rogue One a lot more than TFA... fight me.
 
Gundam

Gundam

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
12,801
Hindsight and all that, but I feel like next to "who wants this movie", "why not at Christmas?" Was the most common thread of discussion I saw and took part in leading up to the movie. This seemed like a pretty telegraphed disaster.
 

Gatti-man

Banned
Jan 31, 2018
2,359
Gifmaker said:
Guess you are one of those insufferable "StAr WaRs Is AbOuT lIgHtSaBeRs AnD tHe FoRce" people. Star Wars is about stars, and war. Hence the name Star Wars, and not Jedi Lightsaber Force Wars. Solo had war scenes, action, fun, adventure, space travel and battles. Also, lmao about "third tier character". What, were you born in 2005 or something? Han Solo was/is one of the most iconic and beloved characters of the franchise, as are Chewbacca and Lando. Get out of here with that narrative of third tier characters. You're being completely delusional. Just because a bunch of intolerable people are only able to reduce Star Wars to swinging glowsticks, that doesn't mean that the franchise does not offer far more than that.
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If solo was one of the most beloved characters why did his movie bomb?

Star Wars is about the force. If you can't understand that idk if you were alive when the originals came out bc that's what Star Wars is and what separates it from the rest. Plain and simple.
 
PanzerKraken

PanzerKraken

Member
Nov 1, 2017
14,972
It's a combination of many things. A major negative was how even the hardcore fan base was "ehhh" on the whole idea of the film. So many die hard star wars fans I know who didn't even rush out day one to watch the movie. It's a bad sign when you can't even get the fanboys excited for a new Star Wars, how do you expect the casual public to react? And it's clear releasing the movie so close to TLJ was a huge mistake for many reasons, especially one the merchandise front. Stores were already unhappy with the performance of TLJ merch, they had shelves full of unsold stock and then suddenly disney is asking them to carry whole new lines.
 
Osahi

Osahi

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Oct 27, 2017
5,927
[QUOTE="Gatti-man, post: 19891247, member: 39320"Star Wars is about the force. If you can't understand that idk if you were alive when the originals came out bc that's what Star Wars is and what separates it from the rest. Plain and simple.[/QUOTE]

When I saw Firefly the one thing I could think of was: this is really Star Wars-like. It's one of the reasons I loved that show so much. It felt in a way like more Star Wars. Same thing went trough my mind seeing the first Guardians of the Galaxy. This is really and has a certain Star Wars-vibe in places. The leaked Mandelorian footage felt undeniabely like Star Wars, and not because it had Stormtroopers en Mandelorians in it. Rogue One was a big succes, and though the Force had a tiny role in it and you had Vader in the end, it wasn't those elements that made it Star Wars. Unlike the mainline movies, Rogue One didn't focus on a force-sensible character at all.

Both don't have lightsabers or something Force-like. There is more to Star Wars than that. It's the whole space western thing, the scruffy worlds and weird creatures, the sense of adventure, the ensemble casts.

I don't believe Solo bombed because it didn't have the Force or Lightsabers, but because it was released in a terrible slot, had a marketing cycle that didn't generate any hype at all, and because people weren't that interested in a Solo-story without Ford. Hell, many people in this topic who skipped it in theaters said they had more fun with it than they expected, isn't that weird for a movie without sabers and the force?
 
El Bombastico

El Bombastico

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
36,020
Gifmaker said:
Guess you are one of those insufferable "StAr WaRs Is AbOuT lIgHtSaBeRs AnD tHe FoRce" people. Star Wars is about stars, and war. Hence the name Star Wars, and not Jedi Lightsaber Force Wars. Solo had war scenes, action, fun, adventure, space travel and battles. Also, lmao about "third tier character". What, were you born in 2005 or something? Han Solo was/is one of the most iconic and beloved characters of the franchise, as are Chewbacca and Lando. Get out of here with that narrative of third tier characters. You're being completely delusional. Just because a bunch of intolerable people are only able to reduce Star Wars to swinging glowsticks, that doesn't mean that the franchise does not offer far more than that.
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Thus far the only SW film that didn't have the Force/lightsabers in some way bombed and bombed hard. Ever R1 had Vader.
 
smisk

smisk

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Oct 27, 2017
2,997
It is odd to me that there's an appetite for 3+ marvel films a year, yet even one middling Star Wars film underperformed (I like Solo fwiw). That being said I'd rather them err on the side of caution rather than oversaturate things, I'm fine with TV shows for a couple years, really excited for The Mandalorian and the Cassian show.
 

darkazcura

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,884
smisk said:
It is odd to me that there's an appetite for 3+ marvel films a year, yet even one middling Star Wars film underperformed (I like Solo fwiw). That being said I'd rather them err on the side of caution rather than oversaturate things, I'm fine with TV shows for a couple years, really excited for The Mandalorian and the Cassian show.
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Most Marvel movies have different enough characters (huge cast) that it can be viewed as pretty varied. Like Ant-Man, Black Panther, and Thor 3 are all incredibly different in terms of characters, plot, style, location, etc. I mean if it weren't for one or two loose threads in other films, we would never really even know these 3 films are even remotely connected. It feels less stale.

Star Wars movies have all been basically about the same conflict, same locations, and/or same characters. That's why I am really excited for Rian's trilogy. There would be more of an appetite for SW movies if they expanded the scope.
 

Deleted member 21601

User requested account deletion
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Oct 28, 2017
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It probably has to more to do with that Episode VIII was the worst Star Wars movie they ever made. And a LOT of people hated it.
 
WestEgg

WestEgg

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Oct 25, 2017
14,047
Kathleen Kennedy is right. I was really disappointed in The Last Jedi and had no desire to see another Star Wars movie so soon. I only ended up seeing it in theaters because my Dad wanted to go see it when he was visiting for the weekend, and I ended up really enjoying it. It felt way more like Star Wars to me than TLJ had. It's actually the only movie post-Disney Star Wars I've considered buying on Blu-Ray. (Though I did enjoy both TFA and RO)

I think it helped me realize I don't have Star Wars fatigue per se, I have Jedi fatigue. Give me more of the smuggler and criminal underworld stories.
 
Aftermath

Aftermath

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,756
Solo was good in the end, its a shame it was overlooked, but I understand why.
TLJ was not for me nor others it seems.

Obi Wan would be awesome, maybe now as a TV show, the more time spent with Ewan's Obi Wan (8hrs+) the better.
 
mute

mute

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Oct 25, 2017
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May have made more money if you waited longer but it still wouldn't have been a great movie.
 
EvilRedEye

EvilRedEye

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Oct 29, 2017
747
Miscend said:
Most of that demographic has only ever known Harrison Ford as an old man. And for most of them the prequels would have been the first exposure to Star Wars. It's just not the same if you never lived through 80's and early 90's.
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The Special Editions of the OT films were a big thing at the time and released in 1997 like only two years before The Phantom Menace. I seem to remember getting the VHS tapes for Christmas after being bombarded with TV advertising? The OT films aren't like '80s or nothing in terms of generational appeal.
 
Master Of Illusion

Master Of Illusion

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Mar 18, 2019
856
Miscend said:
Most of that demographic has only ever known Harrison Ford as an old man. And for most of them the prequels would have been the first exposure to Star Wars. It's just not the same if you never lived through 80's and early 90's.
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This is an invalid stance. I remember my dad showing me the OT as a child around the time The Phantom Menace came out.
 
Miscend

Miscend

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
265
Master Of Illusion said:
This is an invalid stance. I remember my dad showing me the OT as a child around the time The Phantom Menace came out.
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You've proven my point by showing you don't get it. Star Wars was a significant cultural event and you had to be present during this period to fully experience it. Socially there was a lot going on and a lot of excitement. As an analogy you can watch recordings or read books of the '66 World Cup but it's not the same as being present in the moment when England won the World Cup. It doesn't quite hit as hard.
 
Vonnegut

Vonnegut

Banned
May 27, 2018
1,082
Another mistake with that movie:

Woody Harrelson's character shouldn't have betrayed Han at the end. They had experienced so much together. They almost died on multiple occasions and saved each other's lives. I was fond of them as a team. I didn't think it was a good writing decision to have Woody betray them. It left a bad taste in my mouth.
 
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