Hello there
Welcome back to the Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. We’ve got a fun newsletter this week. I finally got to watch LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy. It’s a fun way to spend an afternoon, and of course had my favorite character. In less great news, the status both of the Rey New Jedi Order movie and Taika Waititi's movie has been downgraded from “yup, it’s happening” to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
There’s been an influx of new subscribers lately, so welcome aboard. Glad to have you in the HR Department. If you have a friend or family member or even an enemy that likes Star Wars and you wanted to tell them about Death Star HR, that would be pretty great.
This Is Where The Fun Begins
From longtime Death Star HR reader and real-life friend Darth Vo
The Darth Jar Jar Truthers Have Their Moment
As the self-appointed Bombad General of the Darth Jar Jar Truther Movement, I’ve been anxiously waiting LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy. I’ve seen bits and pieces, no pun intended, of the LEGO Star Wars cartoons but I’ve never sat down and watched them.
That’s because up until now, they’ve never had Darth Jar Jar.
It’s the 25th anniversary of LEGO teaming up with Star Wars. The idea behind Rebuild the Galaxy is fun and is in a way a love letter to all the Sickos who wanted to see Darth Jar Jar, Ewok bounty hunters, and Salacious Crumb as the Emperor. In the galaxy far far away, Sig Greebling and his brother Dev are nerf herders. Sig is the literal farmboy, with some minor Force powers. The TL,DR of the show is they find a lost Jedi Temple and then pull out the Cornerstone, which resets the Galaxy. In this new galaxy, everything is opposite. Bad guys are good guys. Tatooine is a water planet. Geonosians are Jedi. It’s basically the Bizarro Seinfeld. Dev is now Darth Dev, short for Darth Devastator. Better name than Darth Icky, I’ll give them that.
However, when this call goes down, Jedi Bob has been watching over the temple like the really old knight in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, so it’s up to Sig and Jedi Bob to put the galaxy back in order while Darth Dev wants the cornerstone for himself.
That’s really about it. It’s your typical Star Wars adventure, mostly as an excuse to turn everything on it’s head. Find another Jedi Temple. Have some fun adventures. And learn that the real ultimate power in the galaxy is the friends that you make along the way. It’s a quick watch, just under two hours. Darth Taco and I watched it on a lazy afternoon. Is it the most compelling Star Wars ever made? Of course not. Is it a fun way to kill a couple hours and do the Leo pointing meme at the fun stuff they came up with.
The Good:
Darth Jar Jar. This one gets it’s own bullet point. Added bonus of Ahmed Best doing the voice. Added second bonus of using the “Duel of the Fates” when Darth Jar Jar shows up in the third episode.
A non-exhaustive list of everything I saw or wrote down. Shirtless Kylo Ren, Salacious Crumb as the Emperor, or maybe the Chancellor, Ewok bounty hunters, Luke as a pod-racer, Leia flying Kylo Ren’s ship, evil C-3PO, actual nerf herders, Darth Nubs, Darth Tico, and Darth Kit Fisto, Hoth is now lava, Crait has gone from salt to pepper, Palpatine, Vader, Jabba the Hutt, and Cad Bane are all Jedi. Maul is a good guy while Han is a bad guy. And Leia is in a relationship with Greedo instead of Han.
Had a nice “I don’t want yer life” moment when Dev (prior to the galaxy resetting) tells Sig he wants to see the galaxy and get off their planet.
Quite a few actors/actresses from the Star Wars universe were in the show. Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Dee Bradley Baker, Kelly Marie Tran, and Ahmed Best were all part of the main story. And we got an extra special appearance by Billy Dee Williams as The Landolorian.
Leia is seemingly the only person who didn’t change. Good on the writer/director for not doing Carrie Fisher dirty.
The Bad:
Darth Rey. Not because I don’t like the idea of Darth Rey, I’m a big fan. But they didn’t use the white Dark Rey outfit that I wrote about last year.
Wildcard:
Disney trying to be cute with a Greedo shot first joke. Sorry, Disney. That nerf ain’t herdin’.
Rey Palpatine Skywalker Might Be Stuck
One of the confirmed, or at least what the thought was confirmed, new movie projects was the next Rey movie. Star Wars: New Jedi Order (or so it was thought to be called) was going to happen. While it wasn’t going to be considered part of the Skywalker Saga, it would focus on Rey trying to rebuild the Jedi Order and train a new generation of Jedi. Well…turns out the movie may be lost in the Maw.
There had be rumors over the summer that New Jedi Order would was going to start shooting this month, but that seems to have an ice cube’s chance on Tatooine of happening. I’m not some Hollywood guy, but I’m guessing you need at least something of a script before you start. Something they don’t have, per World of Reel.
What I can say is that Steven Knight has been trying to crack the script now for well over a year. A final draft still hasn’t been submitted to Lucasfilm. Knight, who is about to shoot his “Peaky Blinders” movie, has written a total of four drafts, with Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy continuously giving him notes on how to improve the story.
These issues with Knight come only two years after development on the film started, and various drafts had circulated, with different writers, including Damon Lindelof (“Watchmen”) and Justin Brit-Gibson taking a crack at it, before both eventually exited the project due to creative differences.
I don’t know enough to know if the number of writers that Disney Star Wars movies have gone through is higher or lower than say, the MCU movies. But it concerning that it seems like every one seems to go through writers like Anakin going through a room of Younglings. It seems like the two best films of the Disney era, Rogue One and The Last Jedi had the least amount of turnover among the writers and directors.
I get that Disney has invested a lot of money in the Sequel Trilogy and desperately wants to make fetch happen, but maybe it’s time to just leave the Sequel Trilogy alone for a while. Galaxy’s Edge takes place during the Sequel Trilogy as did the failed Galactic Starcruiser Hotel. It would be completely unfair to blame all the issues with the Starcruiser on when in the Star Wars universe it took place, but it certainly didn’t help. It’s a fair question to ask: is the fanbase really clamoring for another Rey movie? Look, I like all Star Wars. I even like the Star Wars things I don’t like. I’d rather watch The Rise of Skywalker than a lot of other things. But I would be A-OK if Disney wanted to explore other parts of the galaxy. It’s a big, big galaxy. Hell, we’re even going to other galaxies in Ahsoka. No need to just stay stuck.
That is of course the movie ever even happens.
There’s also an another issue: Disney might be second-guessing the entire nature of the project. Will they or won’t they allow this film to move forward? Do we really need another Rey movie? Plot details have been kept fairly hush-hush, but based on what I’ve heard, the film would focus on Rey’s tutelage at an Academy of up-and-coming Jedis — part of Rey’s attempt to build a new Jedi order.
Disney/LucasFilm hired a documentary filmmaker (Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy) to direct the Rey movie, and she hasn’t been shy in her insistence that when she hopped onboard the project her goal, and Disney’s, was to have a female character “shape” the future of the Star Wars franchise. I keep hearing Obaid-Chinoy’s future at Lucasfilm is in doubt as well.
As noted above, turnover is certainly a thing within Star Wars ever since Disney took over. Someone online saying they’re “hearing” that Obaid-Chinoy could be on the outs isn’t exactly a great source. Like a lot of things, Obaid-Chinoy is the director right up until she isn’t. Justin Simien was going to be the showrunner for the Lando series. Right up until the show was changed to a movie and Donald Glover was directing it. Even Admiral Ozzel was high-ranking member of the Imperial Navy. Right up until he brought the fleet out of hyperspace too close to Hoth.
So in conclusion, the Rey movie is happening. Unless it’s not. And Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is directing it. Unless she isn’t. Which is the best we can assume from Disney these days.
Not Just Rey: IG-11 is Stuck in the Lava River
It’s not just the Rey/New Jedi Order movie that might be delayed or on hold or never see the light of day. Taika Waititi's still unnamed Star Wars movie might not ever be a thing as well.
Taika Waititi's trip to that galaxy so far. far away might be a bit longer than anticipated. The director is set to step behind the camera to bring a Star Wars movie to life, but according to veteran industry insider Daniel Richtman, the project is now on "indefinite hold".
“Indefinite hold” sounds like being frozen in carbonite. It’s not a good sign though. Waititi’s involvement with writing and directing a Star Wars movie was announced back in 2020. There hasn’t been really anything in the way of information since that announcement.
In April of last year, Kathleen Kennedy told ET that Waititi’s project was still a go.
"Oh yeah, all that's underway," she told ET of Waititi's project, as well as Disney+'s Lando series. "There's no pivot. No pivot. It's all underway. Taika's a little slow. Everybody's busy, but yeah. Those are great projects and we're definitely still doing them."
Of course she also said the Disney+ Lando series was happening. As both myself and Yoda always say, hard to see the future is.
Even as recently as last November, Waititi was still saying the movie was going to happen, although maybe it was on a longer timeline than we had expected, and it seemed to match Kennedy’s quote.
“At the moment, I’m still developing something with them [Lucasfilm],” the director told Entertainment Tonight Online. “My thing is I want to take my time with that and get it right. I don’t want to rush this movie.
I noted that quote back in the November 17, 2023 Death Star HR and made the comment that “trust me, Taika. Nobody is saying you’re rushing it.” Looks like I’ll be able to stand by it.
This Day in Star Wars History
September 27th is a pretty busy day in the Star Wars universe. A few births, a death, and a Legends books was published.
Wilford Brimley was born in 1934. While he’s probably best known for being in Cocoon, Quaker Oats commercials, and infomercials about diabetes medication, he was Noa Briqualon in the made-for-TV-movie Ewoks: The Battle for Endor.
Garrick Hogan was born in 1939. Best known as Biggs Darklighter, who was the main Tatooine guy in the Rebellion until Luke came along.
In 1947, Denis (one n) Lawson was born. Two members of Red Squadron sharing a birthday. Lawson portrayed Wedge Antillies in the Original Trilogy along with showing up in The Rise of Skywalker. He’s also Ewan McGregor’s uncle.
Getting into the Expanded Universe, Dark Nest II: The Unseen Queen was published in 2005. It’s the middle book of the Dark Nest Trilogy. I have the books on my shelf but haven’t read them yet. I know there’s some kind of battle or issue with insectoids, which makes me wonder if it’s just a Star Wars version of Starship Troopers.
Star Wars Art: Ralph McQuarrie was published in 2016. A two-volume, 800 page hardcover book set with over 2,000 illustrations. I want this.
Finally, Marty Balin passed away in 2018. Born Martyn Jerel Buchwald, Balin was a founding member of Jefferson Airplane. After Jefferson Airplane breaks up, he joins Jefferson Starship. In 1969, Balin was knocked unconscious by the Hells Angels while at Altamont. This was actually less painful than being part of the Star Wars Holiday Special.
From the Depths of Wookieepedia
We’re going from rocker Marty Balin to a rockin’ tune. This week we’ve got General Grievous's theme from the Revenge of the Sith soundtrack. My favorite part of it.
We don’t know the name of the track, but we’re still going to have a separate entry for the song. Also, if anyone has a copy of the Revenge of the Sith soundtrack on vinyl, email me. I want it.
News From the HoloNet
LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild The Galaxy's 100 Easter Eggs, References, & Changes Explained
A far more exhaustive list than what I had written down.
Ubisoft Admits Star Wars Outlaws Underperformed
Still waiting on my testers copy. And my testers PS5.
Bob Iger, just letting you know that Death Star HR is for sale. Have your people call my people. And by my people, I mean me.
Original ‘Star Wars’ dubbed into Navajo language will screen for free in Durango
If you’re in Durango, Colorado, go check it out. Also, the article has the understatement of the century: ‘"Star Wars" was a profitable endeavor.’ Yes, yes it was.
Star Wars Jedi's Cal Kestis to make live-action debut, insider teases
I’m cool with this, but I want my live-action Mara Jade first.
That’s it for this week. If you like what I’m doing, please subscribe. I’ll catch you next week, and may the Force be with you.
Another winner Jeff👍🏻 I wish someone would wake up and start searching the old Star Wars dark horse comics, pretty much a gold mine of Star Wars ideas! Have a great week sir 👍🏻
I'm not one to reflexively bemoan Disney's stewardship of Star Wars because a) I remember the Prequels for what they actually were; and b) Disney's batting average is still rather good. Rogue One, Andor, 2/3 of The Mandalorian, and 2/3 of the Sequel Trilogy are all amazing.
However, the vibes are just not good. I've never gotten the sense Disney/Lucasfilm/Kathleen really has any plan or even a clue what they're doing. So many projects announced and quietly quit, the unplanned and piecemeal sequels, the fickle faith in The Acolyte... just does not inspire confidence.
That said: after the disaster of Thor: Love and Thunder, I take the news that Taika Waititi's project is hanging in Jabba's throne room as a huge positive. :D