The Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter: February 20, 2026
The Mando and Grogu hype train starts now.
Hello there
Welcome back to the Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. This week is what I’m pretty sure is the longest Death Star HR I’ve written. There’s a lot going on this week. The official trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu was released. Spoiler alert, it’s gonna be a good time. I ponder what could happen if Disney decided they wanted to sell Star Wars. And at least someone thinks The Hunt for Ben Solo is actually going to happen. All that plus all the usual Death Star HR nonsense.
As always, thanks for reading Death Star HR. If you’re reading this and you’re not a subscriber, I’d love it if you entered your email below and smashed that subscribe button. There’s also an official Death Star HR Instagram and an official Death Star HR YouTube page as well and I’d love it if you subscribed there as well.
This Is Where The Fun Begins
I’ll never say no to a Darth Plagueis meme.
Also, well done on the part of the meme-maker for calling it the EU. In this house we believe: it’s the Expanded Universe, not Legends.
This Is Where The Fun Begins, Pt 2
This is what’s called “topical humor.”
Honestly I feel bad comparing Denise Gough, who seems like a lovely person, to Pam Bondi, who does not.
And speaking of more topical humor.
Can we use the World Between Worlds to get out of this incredibly stupid timeline?
The Real Mandalorian and Grogu Trailer Has Landed
If everyone will remember back to September of last year, Disney found themselves in the crosshairs of everyone. ABC (owned by Disney) suspended Jimmy Kimmel more or less at the behest of the FCC chairman following Kimmel’s remarks in the aftermath of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk’s murder. Disney then walked back the suspension after a couple days because people were cancelling Disney+ en masse and causing the unsubscribe page to crash. Realizing the public relations fiasco on their hands, Disney did the only logical thing and released the first trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu. I even wrote a little fan fiction about it back in the fall.
Underling: Mr. CEO, sir. People are being mean to us on the internet.
Bob Iger: Hahaha [the laugh is an evil one]. It’s OK. The country is so polarized that as long as one side likes us, we’ll be fine.
Underling: But sir [pauses like he’s Captain Needa about to give Darth Vader bad news], both sides are mad at us.
Bob Iger: Both sides?? Oh no, we’ll never survive. There’s only one thing to do. [dramatic pause] RELEASE THE GROGU TRAILER!
[buttons are pressed. dials are turned. people hurry around Disney HQ. It’s a scene strangely like igniting the Death Star Superlaser. And then the trailer below is released on YouTube]
As Uncle George says, Star Wars rhymes. Once again, Disney has found itself dealing with a “controversy.” I’m putting that in quotes, because the matter at hand is some people were angry that their promised Super Bowl trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu was actually a throwback 90’s Budweiser ad. And I can’t even say for sure they’re actually mad or it’s all just for clicks.
I am a little more inclined to believe Disney’s plan was the Super Bowl spot and followed by the trailer shortly thereafter. I am a little surprised we’re getting the trailer this early. We’re still roughly 90 days out from The Mandalorian and Grogu. I went and check, the finale trailer for The Rise of Skywalker was released roughly 60 days before the premiere.
Disney’s new strategy seems to be release a teaser trailer a day before they release the full trailer. To whip us fans into a frenzy like a pack of salivating dogs. I know exactly what they’re doing, but I can’t help myself. So on Monday the 16th, we got this.
Love the opening shot with the orange sky and the X-Wings, just like from The Force Awakens. But even better is the real thing!
There are plenty of write-ups for videos on the ins and outs of what’s in the trailer. Marty Scorsese! Zeb! Embo! Baby Greedo! Sigourney Weaver! Grogu being cute! Mando being sentimental! It has pretty much everything you could hope for from a trailer for a movie about Mando and Grogu. It clearly seems to be getting a good reaction since as of the time I’m writing this, it has about 9.4 million views. By comparison the “controversial” Super Bowl spot has about 1/3 of that.
There’s even some hints at the plot. Mando is working for the New Republic tracking down former Imperials. How do the Hutt twins fit in? My guess is they have some kind of deal with the Imperials. The Hutts get rid of Mando and any other New Republic do-gooders and the Imps will turn a blind eye to the Hutts’ criminal activities once they gain power again.
I was less interested in the details or the plot from the trailer, I mean I’m obviously going to see it opening night, and more of just how did I feel about the over all vibe of the movie. Spoiler alert, I feel good about it. As friend of Death Star HR Matthew Freeman writes, The Mandalorian and Grogu is going to be fun.
Fun has maybe been a little hard to come by in the Star Wars galaxy lately. Andor season 2, which was a triumph in every sense is not a fun show. That’t not Tony Gilroy’s fault, it’s not intended to be a fun show. It’s warning about how a democratic society can fall into fascism and maybe there’s a lesson we should have learned there. Sure there are some funny moments in Andor, but I don’t think anyone would call it a fun show. And if you do call Andor fun, I want to talk to you and know what goes on in your head.
Along with the trailer, we also got a new poster.
The movie is called The Mandalorian and Grogu and that’s exactly what the poster delivers.
Come May 22, I plan on being at the first available showing for The Mandalorian and Grogu. And all I want is to come out of the movie theater after 2 hours or so and then come home and write up a post about what a great time I had seeing the movie. That’s it. And if the trailer is any indication, it’s going to deliver.
Is Star Wars Too Big To Fail?
Considering this as a thought experiment. It is January 1st, 2028. In the past 3 years, the following has happened.
Andor season 2 was released in April of 2025. It is considered a huge hit with both fans and critics. It’s currently at 97% with critics and 89% with audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. Fans loved and it as validation, it won a whole bunch of awards. Maybe it didn’t get the respect it should have but A) Peak TV is over and B) no matter how serious the show was, there is a segment of the population that won’t take the show seriously or will write it off just because it’s Star Wars. As an added bonus, and arguably what Disney executives care more about, the streaming numbers are not just good, but great. In a year where there is very little new Star Wars, Andor is the only live action and the two animated series are more anthologies for the real Sickos than shows like Rebels or The Bad Batch which will at least get some Normies as viewers. This is very good for Disney. Bob Iger and the rest of the c-suite treat themselves to ivory back-scratchers.
It’s not Death Star HR without random Simpsons references January 2026, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy announces that she is stepping down. The loud and shouty section of the fanbase hasn’t felt this empowered since The Acolyte was cancelled. Fortunately for Star Wars there’s a plan in place and Lucasfilm can avoid any power struggle. Cowboy Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennen are named co-Presidents of Lucasfilm. It seems that Filoni will handle the creative side while Brennen handles the business side of things. This is followed by CEO Bob Iger’s retirement. Thankfully Disney has a plan in pace, which avoids a struggle for succession that looks straight out of Succession.
Animated series Darth Maul: Shadow Lord comes out in April 2026. The fans love it, it’s well reviewed and critics note that Disney animation has come a long with since the O.G. Clone Wars. There is some consternation from fans about how Darth Maul has returned yet again while The Hunt for Ben Solo was killed off because the potential main character was already killed off. But it’s another Star Wars animated series. The fans watch it, but it doesn’t really move the needle in terms of Disney+ subscriptions.
The Mandalorian and Grogu is released in May 2026. The movie has a lot of buzz around it when it’s released - GROGU ON THE BIG SCREEN! - and there’s huge marketing push. Even a Super Bowl spot! It’s not to the levels that for The Phantom Menace but Disney is throwing around marketing money in a way we haven’t seen since in a long time. For the first two weeks it has good numbers at the box office but they drop off sharply after that. The fans and critics enjoy it, but most reviews compare it to season 3 of The Mandalorian rather than seasons 1 or 2. The movie does not lose money, even using Hollywood Math it’s profitable. But not to the levels that the Disney accountants were hoping for.
Season 2 of Ahsoka is released late fall/winter of 2026. The reviews are more middle of the road than the other two projects mentioned above. Critics note that the show is too reliant on flashbacks/cameos and the ending offers no resolution, just a set up for the Mandoverse movie. The fans like the show more than the critics and are excited to see Natalie Portman return as Padme in a flashback scene but otherwise generally agree that it’s just a setup for the movie. While the show’s streaming numbers are very good at the start, after a few weeks they slow down.
There is no new December 2026 Star Wars movie. Disney had a date saved for the galaxy far, far away but instead it is going to Ice Age 6: Let’s Get Icy1.
In lieu of a new movie for December 2026, Disney attempts to “capitalize” on the good feelings from Andor 18 months ago and re-releases Rogue One back into the theaters for a limited run. It’s only a seven day release and people flock back to the theaters, it’s a nice little boost to the end of the year bottom line.
It’s the 50th anniversary of Star Wars. A restored and remastered copy of A New Hope is released in the theaters in February 2027. It is an unqualified hit. Older fans get the nostalgia hit of seeing Han shoot first. Younger fans, and by that I mean anyone in their late 30’s or younger, get to see what all the fuss about the 1977 cut is all about. Critics rave over the remastering job done by Lucasfilm. 50th anniversary editions of Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi are promised for 2030 and 2033 respectively, along with a 4K Blu-Ray version you can buy. The movie theaters love it because it gets butts in the seats during a slow period. Disney loves it for the good press and easy money.
In a surprise move, Attack of the Clones returns to the theaters May the 4th weekend to celebrate its 25th anniversary. It has a good couple days but wasn’t as successful as Revenge of the Sith returning to the theaters back in 2025.
Star Wars: Starfighter is released May 2027. Directed by Shawn Levy and staring Ryan Gosling, it’s a brand new story and the first one we’ve seen taking place after Rise of Skywalker. And while the movie itself is good, everyone agrees it’s a unique and fun story, nobody can look past Ryan Gosling. To be fair, Gosling is a good actor but even though the nerds have won, there is a vocal segment of Star Wars fans that can’t look past one of the cool kids staring in “their” movie. Once again the movie is profitable, but it’s not the runaway blockbuster that Disney was hoping for. Any momentum Disney had going from everyone enjoying the re-release of Rogue One and A New Hope is dead, making the next movie even more important to the bottom line.
December of 2027, Disney can go one of two ways. Either of the two movies getting a December 2027 release date is very much a hypothetical at this point. The timeline of a Star Wars movie seems to be 18 - 24 months from filming to premiere and there’s no public intel to indicate that either of the above movies have started filming or even have a completed script. But I’ll give both:
The long awaited Rey New Jedi Order movie is released. At this point it has been 8 years since The Rise of Skywalker and despite Disney wanting Rey to be the face of the new generation of Star Wars, the character hasn’t been featured in many things and never really became a pop culture icon like say Darth Vader. The movie suffers the same fate as The Rise of Skywalker. The critics don’t like it, saying it clearly suffered from too many different writers and too many cooks in the kitchen. The fans are more favorable but Ridley’s performance but even Luke, Obi-Wan, and Yoda appearing as Force ghosts can’t save it. To make matters worse (from a certain - obnoxious - point of view), John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran2 are back, placing Star Wars squarely back into the middle of the dreaded culture war. The “TOO MANY GIRLZ IN STAR WARS” crowd was already feisty because of Ryan Gosling in the a Star Wars movie (even though he is a man) and this just sends them over the edge. Even more problematic for Disney, it’s considered a disappointment at the box office, along the lines of Solo.
The other option is the Mandoverse movie is the December 2027 release date. The film, written and directed by Dave Filoni brings together The Mandalorian and Ahsoka along with tying in spots from Book of Boba Fett and Skeleton Crew. While it is generally enjoyed by the fans, it’s not without its problems. Rumors were all over the internet that Dave Filoni wasn’t able to focus all this attention on the movie since he’s also now the Lucasfilm president. While he’s still getting director credit, it’s known there were a lot of other people doing the heavy lifting behind the scenes. The general audience feeling is while it was fine, the Mandoverse has been going on eight years and Grogu fatigue is a real thing. It’s controversial when Han, Leia, and Luke are recast for cameos. But fans generally say they prefer the recasting over CGI. Cara Dune even has a brief appearance has part of Gina Carano’s settlement with Disney. Unfortunately Carano did not have veto power of what was actually in the scene, so Cara Dune ended up like Poochie the Dog.
At this point, Disney has owned Star Wars for 15 years and while there have been some high points, there have been a lot of middle of the road and some poor reviews. And more importantly, the latest round of movies haven’t been the money makers Disney was hoping for. So on January 1st, 2028, the Mouse looks around and says “we’re done with Star Wars.”
Real talk, could this happen? And what would happen if Disney decided the Star Wars experiment had failed?
Could this happen? It’s certainly possible although I don’t think it’s probable3. It doesn’t seem unreasonable to think Disney could decide that they have over expanded, especially if they run into the same issues with Marvel. I’ve been kicking this idea around for a while, and writing the first draft of this piece the weekend that Captain America: Brave New World was released. It seems to be the movie will have a $100 million opening 4-day weekend but has been met with reviews that are so-so at best to really bad at worst. Taking a quick look at Rotten Tomatoes, even the positive reviews are saying things like “better than expected,” “It’s all pretty silly, of course, but it’s not punishingly overlong,” and “However, the story is chopped and end up just being a middling story.” And those are the people saying good things! On the flip side, Thunderbolts* has good reviews but is on track to be Marvel’s third lowest grossing movie.
It’s something that I’ve mentioned a few times and wanted to write about in more depth, but less can be more. That goes for Marvel and Star Wars. A new Star Wars movie was a huge event. But when you get one a year for five straight years, they can feel less special. But that’s not how capitalism works. You’re either bringing out new movies or you’re dying. Take your pick.
Anyway, let’s say Disney decides that the Star Wars brand is weighing the Mouse down like a Hutt. They decide they’re going to sell the entirely Star Wars brand at once. Movies, TV shows, books, comics, toys. The rights to all of them are on the auction block. Who’s buying and who can afford to buy?
Assuming that my Kickstarter to buy Star Wars fails, who is else there? Maybe Disney tries to sell everything back to George Lucas. Unfortunately for Bob Iger, Uncle George is too busy swimming in his Scrooge McDuck-style money pit to return any calls.
Just looking at the major broadcast networks, two of the four are likely out. ABC is owned by Disney so that’s not going to happen. Fox sold 20th/21st Century Fox to Disney a few years ago. Those two are are a no go. There are two more legacy media companies, for lack of a better term. NBCUniversal, owned by Comcast/Xfinity. A super-popular company that everybody loves and a name that definitely doesn’t cause people to fly into a rage when they merely hear it spoken and for sure didn’t change their name because “Comcast” was as popular as getting herpes4. NBC does offer distribution for streaming through Peacock and has Universal Pictures to distribute movies. It’s even got the theme parks in-case Disney was willing to sell off Galaxy’s Edge. It’s called vertical integration. I learned it from my business spirit animal, Jack Donaghy.
Paramount Global, the merger of CBS and Paramount Pictures is more or less the same thing as NBCUniversal5. You’ve got the TV arm and the movie arm along with a streaming service.
I’m sure that either company wouldn’t mind at a minimum getting the library of Star Wars movies/TV shows to add to either Peacock or Paramount+. But do they want to be in the business of making new Star Wars movies and TV shows? And that doesn’t even get into what to do with the rest of all the Star Wars things like books, comics, toys, etc.. I’m certainly not trying to say that NBC or Paramount don’t have enough people working that couldn’t figure what to do there, it’s do they want to? On the one hand, there’s a pretty easy solution. You just license it. That’s what Lucasfilm did. George wasn’t designing the toys or editing the novels or drawing sketches for the comic books. It wasn’t even Lucasfilm employees doing those jobs. It’s certainly easy enough for NBCUniversal to license Star Wars books or toys or whatever else they needed. But you still responsibility for the brand and making sure people are buying.
Let’s say for the sake of argument, the legacy media passes on buying Star Wars. What does that leave us with? I’d say three other options. Netflix, Amazon, and Apple.
It’s strange to remember, but there was a time where Netflix was just cranking out hit show after hit show. Maybe they still are and I just haven’t noticed. I guess there’s still Bridgerton to get people excited and it took nine years to get the finale of Stranger Things6. But for a while, shows like House of Cards and Orange is the New Black were the future of television. Netflix certainly has the reach to get Star Wars in front of people. The service ended 2024 with over 300 million subscribers worldwide, roughly double the number of Disney+. Netflix does have high profile directors and showrunners ready to go. Maybe revive Star Wars Underworld and give David Fincher a go at it? Of course as I’ve mentioned, Star Wars is more than just the movies. You’ve got books, comics, toys, LEGO, etc.. Netflix at least has somewhat of a handle on this. I’ve seen some Stranger Things spinoff books at the bookstore, and I just learned that Netflix does have a merch shop in case you need a Emily in Paris tumbler or Matzah Baller basketball jersey from Nobody Wants This. They certainly don’t have a licensing department the size of Disney, but for a company of Netflix’s size, that’s is a pretty easy problem to fix.
Option two, Apple. Quietly AppleTV+ has some pretty great exclusive shows. Slow Horses, Silo, Severance, and Shrinking7 are all great. The first two shows I listed are adaptions from books so Apple doesn’t have a problem making a show from an already available IP. The question is, would they want to take a swing on something as big as Star Wars? That’s a significant upgrade in cost from acquiring the rights to Slow Horses. Their streaming service has somewhere around 45 million subscribers, significantly less than Netflix or Disney+. It seems likely that if AppleTV was the only place to watch Star Wars, it would see a bump in subscriptions. And then there’s always the problem that as it stands now, AppleTV is a money loser.
Amazon is the wild card here. When I started this, Amazon had already purchased MGM several years ago. In February 2025, Jeff Bezos apparently decided that since so many people had been saying he had transformed into a Bond villain that he might as well go ahead and take creative control of the James Bond franchise. Right now we don’t know what the Bond movies and other media are going to look like. It’s been announced that Dune director Denis Villeneuve is slated to direct the next Bond movie. There’s going to be a new Bond, decent chance whoever it is will be thrust into the culture wars whether they want it or not. I have my preferred choice, but nobody asks me.
The thing I’m watching for with Bond is will Amazon expand, or exploit, the property. For such a storied franchise, there’s a decent argument to be made from a strictly money making perspective that it’s under-utilized. You’ve got the movies, books have been pretty consistently published even after Ian Fleming’s death in 1964. If you’re a mid-40’s dude like me, there’s a good chance more than anything your James Bond is Goldeneye for the Nintendo 64. My freshman year of college I pretty much met all my friends, guys that I still talk to on a daily basis, because of this video game8.
But even with movies, books, and video games, it never felt like Bond had the reach that Star Wars does. Is Amazon going to chance that? Maybe a Bond streaming series of Amazon. Lots of new Bond merch that one can easily be purchased and shipped to your house for free, just as long as you have a Prime subscription. Maybe new Bond books available exclusively through Kindle Unlimited. More than than Netflix or Apple, Amazon is positioned to take advantage of all the different revenue streams you can have with a property like James Bond. Whatever they end up doing with Bond is likely what Amazon would do if they acquired Star Wars.
The one advantage all three comapanies I just discussed have over traditional media is they’re much more valuable. Based on market cap, Apple, Amazon, and Netflix are the 3rd, 4th, and 18th most valuable companies respectively.
Would any of these be good for Star Wars? I suppose the answer is it depends on what you want out of Star Wars.
There’s also a wildcard and what I would consider a nightmare scenario. The wildcard would be Alphabet. Better known as Google. All Star Wars is now viewed exclusively on YouTube. This seems pretty unlikely but Google certainly has the money and YouTube is now the number 1 streaming platform on TVs. It is not out of the realm of possibility that Google says we’re going to take a shot at turning YouTube into something into more like Netflix. My bigger concern with Google, and to a lesser extent the other tech companies, is any new Star Wars shows could just be A.I. slop. I don’t think that would fly for movies, but it’s not unreasonable to think an A.I. generated series would be on the table. Feed all seven seasons of The Clone Wars plus three seasons of The Bad Batch into A.I., tell it to spit out 5-10 minute episodes, and call it season 8 of The Clone Wars. Maybe I’ll call that the first nightmare scenario. Or even worse, it’s bought by Meta. Zuckerberg is still determined to make the Metaverse happens. Now the only way to watch Empire Strikes Back is through a Metaverse VR headset or on the Meta Ray-Bans.
The true nightmare scenario would be the Star Wars brand get snatched up by private equity vultures. This isn’t completely out of the realm of possibility. Boomer rock stars have selling off the rights to the catalogs for a while now. No one would ever say Uncle George or Disney had the artistic integrity in turning down the money like say, Bill Watterson, but if you thought Star Wars was overexposed now, just wait until Star Wars is in the hands of a company who’s only interest is profit and doesn’t even pretend to be interested in art. Imagine the fresh hell of commercial possibilities:
Yoda shilling generic viagra (judge me by my size, do you?)
The Han Solo repossessed cars auction app. (This 2017 Dodge Charger is the fastest hunk of junk in the tri-state area. Available for bid on the Bi-Towed app.)
Terrabytes and terrabytes of A.I. slop in lieu of new movies or TV shows.
Yikes.
So could this happen? I honestly think it’s pretty unlikely, but it’s worth remembering nothing is forever. It’s pretty fair to say that a lot of thought in 2005 as we walked out of Revenge of the Sith that was it. That was going to be the last Star Wars movies in the theaters. Sure maybe there would be Episodes VII, VIII, and IX but those were just pipe dreams. There would be some new books and stuff, but it’s not unreasonable to think that Star Wars on the big screen, the way Star Wars was meant to be seen was over at this point.
And then Disney came along. Five movies in five years. Original streaming shows, more than we could have possibly imagined. Galaxy’s Edge, not just a Disney ride but a whole theme park. Or section of theme park. Sure the Galactic Starcruiser hotel only lasted a year because they overestimated the number of people who wanted to pay $5,000 to sleep in a windowless cube while LARP’ing, but it was a hell of an idea. The whole High Republic project. It’s more Star Wars than we could have imagined 20 years ago after Revenge of the Sith.
Regardless of how you feel about Disney’s stewardship of Star Wars - I personally feel they’ve definitely made more hits than misses - there’s no denying that the vibes feel a little off right now, and have felt that way for a while. There’s probably a good amount of blame that can be assigned the one-two punch of COVID and the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes. We’ve got from five movies in five years to no movies in six years9. I wrote about this before but I think this uncertainty is why The Hunt for Ben Solo captured the imagination of so many fans. did underestimate just how many Reylos are out there, but it’s more than just that. I think you have A) a lot of people who like both Kylo Ren and Rey as characters (even if they’re not Reylo people), B) there are plenty of people who feel The Rise of Skywalker didn’t stick the landing, and this is a chance to right some wrongs. And C) if there’s going to be a Rey movie, at some point, The Hunt for Ben Solo would make a great companion movie. But for the first two, if Star Wars feels uncertain, why not go back to the familiar?
Ultimately, and this is something I’ve been writing off and on for about year, I think the chances of Disney actually selling the Star Wars IP in 2028 is pretty low. I mean, never say never. Who would have thought that Lucas would sell in the first place? Just remember, if in three years, somehow Jeff Bezos owns Star Wars, you heard it here first.
This Week In The Hunt For Ben Solo News
It really is pretty amazing the staying power that The Hunt For Ben Solo among some Star Wars fans, especially considering the movie didn’t get made and the official line from Disney is that it won’t get made due to a character dying. But much like Palpatine, Darth Maul, Boba Fett, etc., the movie just refuses to die. First off, there was the prediction in The Boardwalk Times, which is a Disney Parks and other assorted Disney stuff page. The link is behind a paywall for Medium, but I saw this today.
On the one hand, this kinda seems like that I did above. Throw out a crazy prediction and if just happens to come true, you look pretty smart. On the other hand, it’s less crazy than you think. For starters, there’s a script. Which is more than the Rey New Jedi Order or Mandoverse movies have. Second of all, it has approval of Lucasfilm. It was reported that Kathleen Kennedy, Dave Filoni, and Carrie Beck were all fans of the script. While Kennedy has stepped down, Filoni has stepped up and Beck is still in her spot. And it’s not like Kennedy is going just retire to Tahiti. She’s stated she plans on remaining active in the business. Plus you have the shakeup at Disney. Bob Iger was basically the CEO of Disney from 2005 - 2026 with about two year break. Kennedy was the President of Lucasfilm from 2012 to a few weeks ago. What better way for new CEO Josh D'Amaro and new Lucasfilm President Dave Filoni to immediately make their mark on Star Wars than green-lighting The Hunt For Ben Solo.
Then on Wednesday, would be Hunt for Ben Solo director Steven Soderbergh weighed in on the movie in an interview with BK Mag. In response to a question on how he felt about Disney killing the movie, Soderbergh responded:
No, it was no surprise that she was frustrated. We were all frustrated. You know, that was two and a half years of free work for me and Adam and Rebecca Blunt. When Adam and I discussed him talking about it publicly, I said, “Look, do not editorialize or speculate about the why. Just say what happened, because all we know is what happened.” The stated reason was “We don’t think Ben Solo could be alive.” And that was all we were told. And so there’s nothing to do about it, you know, except move on.
And as I posted, I’d kind of made the movie in my head, and just felt bad that nobody else was going to get to see it. I thought the conversation was strictly going to be a practical one—where they go, what is this going to cost? And I had a really good answer for that. But it never even got to that point. It’s insane. We’re all very disappointed.
Emphasis added by me. I think (although am not positive) this was first comments from Soderbergh about the movie. It’s certainly no surprise that he’d be disappointed and frustrated by Disney’s response. I really do find it fascinating the hold this not-movie has. I can’t imagine that Disney wants to go into their first new movie in seven years to be coming out while the Star Wars superfans gazing longingly at Adam Driver. An April announcement that the hunt is back on would go a long way, at least among some fans, to get them to accept their Ben Solo movie is coming out and they can go back to focusing on Mando, and making sure the box office returns are good.
Great Moments in Star Wars Merchandising
So I finally got all the Star Wars stuff I bought at Galaxy’s Edge. Had to ship it home. But that’s for another week. Instead, I’ve had this one on the agenda for a bit and finally getting around to it. A Christmas present I received my from in-laws combing my two loves, Star Wars and vinyl records.
The eagle-eyed among you might notice that the record is sides 2 and 3. The other disc on the Star Wars soundtrack is sides 1 and 4. Back in the day you had record players where you would stack the records, once one finished the next one would drop. Then you would flip the stack over. It was like an early CD changer, I guess. If there are any younger readers here, probably have to explain what a CD is as well.
This Day in Star Wars History
February 20th was a pretty slow day in the galaxy far, far away.
On this day in 1981, Uncle George and Lawrence Kasdan finished the first draft of Episode VI, then titled Revenge of the Jedi. The original idea was to focus on Luke and Leia trying to save Han from Boba Fett. According to the documentary Empire of Dreams, Lucas did originally plan to call the movie Return of the Jedi until Kasdan convinced him “return” was too weak of a word, so he changed it to “revenge.” Then went back to “return” after deciding getting revenge isn’t very Jedi-like.
British actor Bronson Webb was born in 1983. Webb played a Rebel MP in Rogue One. He’s also appeared in Harry Potter, Pirates of Caribbean, Game of Thrones, and The Dark Knight. Get Webb in a Marvel movie so he can get the nerd bingo card checked off.
The abridged audiobook version of Heir to the Empire was digitally released in 2007. Wedge Antilles himself, Denis Lawson, did the narration.
From the Depths of Wookieepedia
As we live through the age of A.I., which will likely end in one of two ways:
A.I. companies run out of money;
Or A.I. gains sentience and War Against The Machines starts.
The former seems mostly likely, but I can’t rule out the latter. I’ve always thought the relationship between droids and sentience species in Star Wars was a little interesting. Droids are almost always clearly subservient to people (of any species). But they are also treated as if they are equals with independent thoughts. You even have droids that have no programming to stop them from harming or even killing people, HK-47, IG-88, and Choppper, just to name a few. But other than Solo, a movie that certain featured a very questionable human/droid relationship, the droids haven’t really shown any interest overthrowing their sentient master and running the galaxy for themselves. At least I hadn’t thought so until I found the Second Great Droid Revolution.
The Second Great Droid Revolution, also known as the Second Droid Revolution, was a short-lived and unsuccessful droid revolt on Coruscant in 10 BBY. The cyborg Archa Sabis uploaded a virus into the droid population which caused several police cruisers and EVS Construction droids to rebel against their sentient masters. Following the suppression of the rising, the Galactic Empire was able to exploit anti-droid sentiment.
Back in our galaxy, I’m just saying that we shouldn’t trust the clankers.
News From the HoloNet
Star Wars couples, ranked from worst to best
Swap Dedra and Syril with Val and Cinta. Also, the list is invalid without Jar Jar Binks and Queen Julia.
Martin Scorsese Role in ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ Revealed in Trailer
OK Marty, Star Wars needs a gangster movie and you’re just the man for the job. I’m thinking Casino but set it on Canto Bight.
Robert Duvall, Star of ‘The Godfather’ and ‘The Great Santini,’ Dies at 95
Duvall starred in Uncle George’s first movie, THX 1138.
Jon Favreau Hints At Potential “Star Wars” Exit
It’s not surprising he’d think this is a good time to step away with the changes at Disney/Lucasfilm
Disney World Confirms Its ‘Star Wars’ Hotel Is NEVER Coming Back
Cue up “We are never getting back together.”
And last, I’m screenshotting this because I refuse to give such a click baity headline a click. But there’s a better chance the Star Wars hotel comes back than Jedi Sydney Sweeney.
Probably not the actual title but it at least seems plausible.
On the first draft I called her “Rose Marie Tico.” I know it sometimes looks like I don’t edit this thing, but I’m glad I caught that one.
Never tell me the odds.
Please sponsor me, Comcast.
It’s probably simplistic calling them more or less the same, but this isn’t a movie business newsletter.
Stranger Things has been going on for 9 years. Pretty sure the characters should be in their early to mid 20’s by now.
Do all their good shows start with “S”?
The cure to the male loneliness epidemic is a N64, a 27” CRT TV, and some 4 player games.
Star Wars fans of old would be baffled by this complaint.
A friend link, if you want to read that Medium article: https://boardwalktimes.net/26-disney-predictions-for-2026-166c14d28562?sk=v2%2F640955a6-d552-43d4-a9bb-2b22a751b91e
When it comes to the Mando premiere, say where and when. I don’t know about anybody else, but turning that screening into a Death Star HR fan meet-and-greet is what the internet was made to do.