Hey Star Wars Hardcore Fans, Stop Trying To Get People Fired For Being Ignorant on Social Media

For a moment, or at least for the duration of this post, can we agree that whatever an actor says or does off screen, out of character, has very little to do with what happens in our favorite movies and TV shows?

(in the comments, feel free to agree or disagree) See: The Mike Tyson Dilemma – does promoting those who’ve done bad in the past imply support for their misdeeds?

Let’s face it, people say and do stupid things online, offline and everywhere in between. These days, word travels much faster on social media. Sometimes they mean the idiotic things said, sometimes they don’t, but stupid is what stupid does.

Stupid.

The bigger question at hand: should an actor lose his/her job because they say or do something stupid online? Those pedaling and pushing the #FireGinaCarino tag action say YES. If that’s the case, then Gal Gadot when she created that awful Imagine cover (see: Wonder Woman Gal Gadot’s Imagine Instagram Karaoke is disliked, imagine that?), should have been fired from WW1984. Or maybe because she — gasp — smoked cigarettes (almost everybody did once upon a time), her acting card should be revoked?

(relax, I’m joking)

Sigh. Gina Carano.

Gina Carano plays Cara Dune in The Mandalorian and apparently she’s said some things on her social media that have raised the ire of diehard Star Wars fans. I keep seeing these stories popping up in feeds and people are really passionate to see her gone from the series.

So offended, apparently, that some are calling for her to be fired from The Mandalorian.

Many fans have been calling for the firing of The Mandalorian’s Gina Carano over recent months, considering her controversial takes, likes, and retweets on Twitter. Recently, the actress who plays Cara Dune has made several anti-mask comments, as well as questioned the results of the recent presidential election. This is in addition to her past actions on the social media site that have come off as anti-Black Lives Matter, and mocking LGBTQ+ communities. With Carano showing no sign of stopping, Disney might be looking to get rid of the actress.

Gina Carano May Actually Be Fired From The Mandalorian, Here’s the Plan

Can we just make a pact, fellow netizens, not to join gangs trying to expel actors in movies for saying or doing something stupid on social media? I mean, really, does it matter what idiotic statement Gina Carano posts on her Twitter feed about any group, cause or people? Since when is what she says the gospel? How does any of that equate to her job as Cara Dune in The Mandalorian?

Or maybe it does. Maybe I missed where she’s trying to use her role in The Mandalorian to espouse these wrongheaded views? If that is what’s happening, I’d side with firing her, but that’s not it, is it? When the agendas overflow into the creative work, then it does matter, but something tells me the character Cara Dune has zero creative input by Gina Carano’s Twitter stream. Jon Favreau isn’t consulting her feed before working on the next Mandalorian screenplay. Is Carano flavoring her portrayal based on controversial world views? Perhaps.

Just to be clear, totally not defending whatever stupid things she’s said, because I’m fairly certain they deserves pushback. Glass houses and all, but how many have said stupid things and regretted them at some point in their lives?

I’m not going to grab Carano’s tweets and dissect here, because that just draws more light on stupid, and nobody needs that.

Am growing tired of seeing the response for stupid words resulting in gang “fire this person!” mentality. We’re in troubled times with a lot of people losing work and is it really wise to band together and try to get anybody fired for their personal views? (think that’s like the third time in this post I’ve asked, but am legitimately curious)

More and more companies have HR social media policies and the wise probably should tone down the hot topic commentary or risk being unemployed. There are so many things people can focus negative energy on, but the most negative of energy is disinterest. If you hate what Gina Carano says or does, then don’t watch any of her work. Disinterest is the ultimate diss for every creative work.

There’s the problem. You can take the Star Wars out of the actors, but not from the fans.

TV SERIES Review: The Mandalorian S2E4 Chapter 12 – The Siege ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Season 2 – Episode 4 of 8
Disney+
Air date: November 20, 2020
Run time: 38 minutes
Directed by Carl Weathers

Chapter 12 – “The Siege”

The Razor Crest is badly in need of repair, especially after botched repair attempts in Frogland, so Mando tells The Child they will make a stop at Navaro. There, they meet up with old, friendly contacts: Marshal Cara Dune and Magistrate Greef Carga and Mando’s bounty in the first episode is unfrozen from carbonite and trying to help the cause.

Cara Dune busts in and takes down a bar full of seedy thieves. She makes a friend of a tiny furry creature, grateful that his life has been spared. The Razor Crest lands at the port and Greef Carga orders his people to fix the ship like new. The Child is put in a school with other kids and a 3-P0 like teacher.

While waiting for repairs, Greef and Cara ask Mando to help to take out an imperial base located in Navaro near a lava pit. The team sets out, soon running into conflict.

What happens with the side mission? What is the empire doing in this base? These questions and more await in this week’s exciting episode.

Another solid episode, this one light on The Child and heavy on Greef Carga, Cara Dune and that guy bounty in the season one first episode for comic relief. We’re treated to pure Star Wars action including Stormtroopers and Tie Fighters in a trench. Some good progress on the main storyline, this is an excellent, entertaining episode.

S2:E4 Chapter 12 “The Siege” rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

To read all our coverage related to The Mandalorian see search results. We watch and review every episode, usually on the day it is released.

Time to get into SPOILER territory. To offer additional perspective and insight, I went looking, reading and grabbed pull quotes from some other reviewers that I came across, there is no specific order otherwise below.

Reviews by Others

What do others think of The Mandalorian S2:E4 Chapter 12: “The Siege”?

… you’ve been warned, SPOILERS ahead …

1. The Future Of The Force / Max (Grade: B+): “In the end, we have a pretty good picture of what the Imperial Remnant is planning and as always, we are excited to see the outcome. B+ all the way.”
2. The Sandcrawler Blog / Jacob Mahady: “Overall, this episode was fantastic. It had great action, it gave great backstory to characters, there were dogfights, chases, and shootouts. But, once again, the episode was way too short. This one felt like it blew by. It seems that is the only consistent complaint with the show, is the fans demanding more. I’d say they are doing an excellent job on this show. “
3. TL;DR Movie Reviews and Analysis: “…while this felt a little like rehashing old territory, the production qualities are so high that it just works. There were some hints to the broader Star Wars story in this episode, and we will need to see how that develops in the future.”
4. We’ve Got (Back) Issues: “Din Djarin is quickly becoming a galactic version of the ‘Littlest Hobo’ (showing my age with that reference). He wanders into town, solves someone’s problem, then moves on. This a standard template for classic American television and has been used for years in shows like ‘The Fugitive’, ‘The Incredible Hulk’, ‘The A-Team’”

What did you think of Chapter 12: “The Siege”? We welcome your comments — good, bad or indifferent — below.

TV SERIES Review: The Mandalorian S2E3 Chapter 11 – The Heiress ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Season 2 – Episode 3 of 8
Disney+
Air date: November 13, 2020
Run time: 34 minutes

Chapter 11 – “The Heiress”

The adventure to find where the other mandalorians are at continues. Mando, the frog lady with her jar of eggs and The Child crash landing into a port with aquatic pirate-like creatures. Frog lady reunites with her frog man. Frog man tells Mando to ride on a boat to a nearby place. Mando and The Child are on the boat with some unsavory alien types that throw The Child into the mouth of a creature being transported on the ship. Mando dives in, they trap him in a cage and the battle is on. Several more Mandalorians storm the ship to save Mando and The Child.

Will Mando and The Child get out of the boat? What’s up with these other Mandalorians? Are they the real deal or imposters like the last city?

There is a recurring theme developing with Mandalorians and the whole helmet on or off thing so far in season 2. Can kind of see why Pedro Pascal was reportedly annoyed that the storylines kept having Mandalorians taking their helmets off (see: Do “BIG” problems exists with The Mandalorian Season 2?) and yet he’s the real Mando and must keep his on (or does he?). There is some explanation provided here surrounding this mythology.

The first part of this adventure is good, and the second half provides a very quick side mission that ties together some hanging plotlines from season 1. But hey, can we get Mando to the other Mandalorians, or rather to the Child’s true origins, please? Or is this going to be a little like Gilligan’s Island every episode where Mando can’t ever seem to get to the major end goal. I suppose all the things getting in the way is one easy way to drag out a series, but it works for a couple episodes and becomes tiresome after that. Let’s hope episode 4, the halfway point, has more actual main story progression. Or are we just going to keep The Child’s origin story always out of reach? (I trust Favreau will pull back the curtain before the series is canceled, but it might be drawn out a lonnnnnnnng time).

For the reason mentioned above, this is still recommended, but I took away two stars. Yes, The Child does cute things, the sea beast on the ship encounter was cool, but we want to learn more about The Child’s origins. It’s ok to divert the storyline here and there for side adventures, but hopefully that doesn’t become too regular an occurrence. Having not watched Rebels and the Clone Wars TV shows, I’m probably missing out on some history here, especially from reading other reviewers reference that say this tied up some things. I’m getting that sense, but there are some of us who have really only followed the movies, this and some books and stories, not everything that has ever come out.

This episode seemed on the brief side too at 34 minutes. I mean, can’t they run out longer episodes consistently? Like minimum of 45 minutes? I don’t mean make 45 minutes just to say it was 45 minutes, but there is so much story available in the Star Wars galaxy that I find it difficult to believe that they can’t roll out more meatier run time episodes. This is a good episode, it’s not amazing. Even when The Mandalorian isn’t amazing, it’s still way better than pretty much any other streaming TV show. So, keep that in mind with my three-star rating. A very respectful 3-stars it is.

S2:E3 Chapter 11 “The Heiress” rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

To read all our coverage related to The Mandalorian see search results. We watch and review every episode, usually on the day it is released.

Time to get into SPOILER territory. To offer additional perspective and insight, I went looking, reading and grabbed pull quotes from some other reviewers that I came across, there is no specific order otherwise below.

Reviews by Others

What do others think of The Mandalorian S2:E3 Chapter 11: “The Heiress”?

… you’ve been warned, SPOILERS ahead …

1. Josh / Star Wars Thoughts (10/10): “So yes, overall, this was a fantastic episode, and it was probably my favorite one yet. The action sequences were tremendous, the intrigue and drama was high, the pacing and story was perfect, and the way it tied into a larger storyline was the best of any episode we’ve seen.”
2. Murphy’s Multiverse: “By hitting it out of the park in more ways than one, Chapter 11 has shown the way for what Season 2 could end up becoming, with the certainty that what got achieved in this episode can and will be a focal point of what Star Wars can aspire to accomplish in the coming years. Long live (this) Star Wars.”
3. Sean Hussey / Comic Book Debate: “Truthfully, this episode fired on all cylinders for me. As a longtime fan of The Clone Wars and Rebels, this episode was a lot of great fan service for me, but I also think it provided a lot to new fans of the saga as well. Something that I immediately appreciated was the explanation as to why some Mandalorians remove their helmets and some do not.”
4. Talking Films: “I continue to be amazed at the practical and special effects of the show – this week it was the semi-aquatic life forms of Trask that took centre stage for me. The Mon Calamari and the other mouth-tentacled species were incredibly crafted and so, SO realistic. The full-on, non-stop reliance on practical prosthetics and makeup to create alien life is maybe the best part about the new Star Wars productions since 2015”
5. The Canon Padawan: “After what I consider one of the weaker episodes last week, the show has jetpacked back with a truly great episode!”
6. The Geek Freak Podcast (Grade: A): “My grade for this episode might be inflated because of the return of Clone Wars legends. I think for an unfamiliar viewer, it should be close.”

What did you think of Chapter 11: “The Heiress”? We welcome your comments — good, bad or indifferent — below.

TV SERIES Review: The Mandalorian S2E2 Chapter 10 – The Passenger ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Season 2 – Episode 2 of 8
Disney+
Air date: November 6, 2020
Run time: 42 minutes

Chapter 10 – “The Passenger”

Mando and the Child are heading out on the speeder and trapped by scavengers who want to steal and kill them. A fight ensues and The Child is held at knifepoint. Mando fights his way out and then bargains for The Child’s life.

They head into town and get a lead on the location of the other mandalorians thanks to a poker game with The Mandible (lol, this giant ant in a cantina). The price to travel is to bring along a passenger with precious egg cargo that can only travel at sub lightspeed.

Mando is worried about the dangers of traveling sub-light but agrees to the mission. What follows is an adventure full of shocks and surprises. Will Mando and his cargo arrive safely or encounter danger?

This episode has everything that makes Star Wars beloved. Baby Yoda/The Child up to cute mischief by attempting to eat the cargo. Several great flight scenes involving the Razorcrest navigating various obstacles and multiple terrestrial enemies to battle.

What is missing is it doesn’t advance the central story much, but it’s a very fun and cool sidetrack mission. Season 1 had a few of these side missions and they felt like they were taking us away from the good stuff, that they were filler to keep us from the real action, but that’s not really the case here. There is almost a cross-over Alien vibe to this episode which I found extremely cool. Imagine an Alien and The Mandalorian comic? Yeah, this feels like it.

I can’t believe this was all packed in 42 minutes of run time! Love it. If Jon Favreau keeps cranking out amazing episodes like this, he should be given all the keys to the Star Wars kingdom (if he doesn’t already have most of them — at least the Disney+ keys anyway). Don’t forget Dave Filoni too as his fingerprints are certainly on, in and around this episode. Can’t wait to see what Chapter 11 brings us next week. It’s like Christmas morning every Friday.

S2:E2 Chapter 10 “The Passenger” rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

To read all our coverage related to The Mandalorian see search results. We watch and review every episode, usually on the day it is released.

Time to get into SPOILER territory. To offer additional perspective and insight, I went looking, reading and grabbed pull quotes from some other reviewers that I came across, there is no specific order otherwise below.

Reviews by Others

What do others think of The Mandalorian S2:E2 Chapter 10: “The Passenger”?

… you’ve been warned, SPOILERS ahead …

1. Annlyel Online: “It honestly never lets up. No, the story does not veer into the ultimate plot of this season–find Mandalorians to discover The Child’s origins–but instead chooses to take a different path, featuring a nail-biting adventure that had me loosing my mind with happiness.”
2. Den Of Geek: “This episode was, well, weird, in a great way. Action and absurdity piled on each other in what felt like an adventure movie. It’s not deep, and it might be polarizing, but as escapist fun, this season is off to a good start.”
3. DiscussingFilm: “Chapter 10 may not turn out popular with everyone, as it does retain the episodic nature that the series is known for and could come across as kind of pointless at some points since we don’t know the full scale of what’s been presented to the audience. Despite this, the show definitely seems to be pushing for more than just single episodic tales. It finds a balance of humor and distress that fits just right with the genre play”
4. filmdecrypter: “With The Passenger being little more than a transitionary episode, the best description for it at the moment is filler. Believe me, it pains me to give that term to any episode of this show.”
5. Nerds On Earth: “After the explosive action of this season’s premier episode, “The Passenger” definitely feels like a pumping of the brakes. But that’s not to say it is without its merits.”
6. The Cutprice Guignol: “I don’t think any show should be pumping out filler content, really, but for one like The Mandalorian, with such a tight eight-episode run, a story like The Passenger feels downright frustrating. By the time the episode comes to an end, we’re still at the same point we were when we started, and that’s frustrating given that we’re already a quarter of the way through the entire season.”
7. The Sandcrawler Blog: “…is doing a great job of giving us some monsters fear. I mean fear, to the point of going back to your roots and hop like your ancestors did thousands of years ago. “

What did you think of Chapter 10: “The Passenger”? We welcome your comments — good, bad or indifferent — below.

TV SERIES Review: The Mandalorian S2E1 Chapter 9 – The Marshal ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½

Season 2 – Episode 1 of 8
Disney+
Air date: October 30, 2020
Run time: 54 minutes

Chapter 9 – “The Marshal”

This episode can best be summarized as: Star Wars meets Tremors on Tatooine. Clearly, Favreau and Filoni believe in the sentiment, “go big or go home.” Love it!

Glad to see Mando and The Child back, kicking it first in a fight club. Mando is on a mission to find another Mandolorian that can help lead him to others like The Child, only to be double-crossed at gunpoint. After Mando cleverly and cunningly dispatches the hostiles, The Child and him are off to Tatooine where Luke Skywalker once roamed as well as Tusken Raiders, Jawas and more. Good seeing this setting again. Felt somehow like going back to a childhood home.

There is an underground creature known as the Krayt Dragon, which is essentially a giant Tremors-like monster that is killing and terrorizing the surrounding area. At a nearby town, Mando encounter a town marshal wearing sacred Mandalorian armor. Mando is none too happy with the disrespect and a battle is about to ensue, when the Tremors-monster strikes. A deal will be struck if Mando helps slay the dragon and save the town he will be given back the armor.

You’ll have to tune into this excellent episode to see how it turns out. Other than The Child looking cute as always, not much involvement with him. Kept expecting he might use his powers to intervene. Again, you’ll have to watch to see if that happens.

This episode was written and directed by show creator Jon Favreau. He has written most of the episodes of Season 2, as was the case in Season 1, which means we’re in store for a lot of great Star Wars action and adventure! I think almost any series where continuity in an overall story is important the fewer writers involved, the better. There are several guest directors planned including Carl Weathers. The guest directors can collaborate and stylize as long as they stay true to Favreau and Dave Filoni’s basic series vision.

This episode jumps us right back in where we left off with an epic monster battle. Mando and The Child ride again!

S2:E1 Chapter 9 “The Marshal” rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½ 

Past Episode The Mandalorian Reviews

• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2 “The Child”
• Chapter 3 “The Sin”
• Chapter 4 “The Sanctuary”
• Chapter 5 “The Gunslinger”
• Chapter 6 “The Prisoner”
• Chapter 7 “The Reckoning”
• Chapter 8 “Redemption”

To read all our coverage related to The Mandalorian see search results. We watch and review every episode.

Now, what follows gets into SPOILER territory. To offer additional perspective and insight, I went looking, reading and grabbed pull quotes from some other reviewers that I came across, there is no specific order otherwise below.

Reviews by Others

What do others think of The Mandalorian S2:E1 Chapter 9: “The Marshal”?

… you’ve been warned, SPOILERS ahead …

1. Aleef Ashaari (80/100): “The production value remains extremely high, which is totally expected, and it’s always appreciated that the crew behind The Mandalorian is still incorporating practical effects whenever they can. The spirit of Star Wars has always been in pioneering special effects, so kudos to Favreau, Dave Filoni, and everyone involved.”
2. Credits & Canon: “Overall a solid episode, if not a tad slow paced”
3. Discussing Film / Michael Slavin (4.5/5):”When examining this as a standalone episode, it is perfectly serviceable at points and brilliant at others. While there are issues with it, some of that is likely a result of the aforementioned hype – simply creating standards that would have always been incredibly difficult to reach. The characters are still well-written, the plot is engaging, and once again, Baby Yoda still manages to bring me joy with every little appearance.”
4. Pete Messum / critical popcorn (4/5): “…made for a solid, if not especially exciting start to The Mandalorian‘s second season. With fun action, cool aliens and some great bits of Baby Yoda reacting to everything around him (always a highlight in this show), it hits all the right beats, but it feels like the best is yet to come this season.”
5. Talos More / Kyran Gibbons: “…brilliant Star Wars, packed with familiar themes, faces and locations while feeling just as fresh as the first season. Jon Favreau, showrunner turned episode director, but most importantly, Jon Favreau the Star Wars fan, knocked it out of the park.”
6. The Sandcrawler Blog / Jacob Mahady: “Overall, this was a fantastic premiere. The entire episode was perfectly done. There was the perfect Western appeal that the show is styled after, there were elements of classic Star Wars while introducing some new aliens and concepts, and finally just look at that back story we got to Vanth and the insight we got into the Tuskan Raiders. What an interesting culture.”
7. X-geeks: “This was a very strong opening episode and has set the bar for the rest of the season, without question. Last time around, as great as the episodes were, there was a fair amount of treading water with the main story arc, but already from only one episode, you just feel like the pacing and story progression will be a lot more focused this time around.”

What did you think of Chapter 9: “The Marshal”? Tell us about it in the comments below.

Proof that George Lucas Originally Intended for Greedo to Shoot First in the Cantina

Star Wars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Star Wars fans will debate just about anything to do with the series. In the first movie, there is a scene in the Cantina where Han Solo appears to shoot Greedo first. That’s what we all believed to be the case. In a future edit, George Lucas tinkered with the original film and had it appear more clearly that Greedo shot first. Fans were outraged of what seemed like a minor change, resulting in a major character change for Han Solo.

Lucas’s position was that Greedo was supposed to shoot first. A researcher into the detail of the scene backs up the edit as being the originally intended vision for the scene.

Paul Duncan, author of The Star Wars Archives: Eps I-III: 1999-2005 recently filmed an unboxing, during which Duncan revealed how specific Lucas had been in his planning of the now-infamous cantina scene. He explained, “I found a document… that actually says that on frame 52, is the approximate start mark for Greedo– for his misfire. And frame 57 — five frames later, which is less than a quarter of a second — approximate start for Han returning fire.”

Star Wars: This Is How Hyperspecific George Lucas Was About the First Han/Greedo Edit

This raises a fascinating question. What if the original movie leaves something vague and open to interpretation, as our interpretation viewing was Han Solo shot Greedo first only to be edited years later to make it more clear that wasn’t the intended situation to be presented in the story?

Should the director change it in an edit or leave it the way it was? Sometimes mistakes in art become genius. Fixing the mistake can distort and damage the art.

I don’t like that Lucas kept tinkering with the original film Star Wars. I’m OK with him making director’s cuts and alternate versions, but don’t like when the original film is edited to modify the intent of scenes. I’m not the creator, but as a fan and viewer, I want Han Solo to have shot first in the Cantina. Maybe that wasn’t what Lucas wanted but it came out that way and it makes Han Solo’s renegade character more ruthless by him shooting first.

So, guess I’m siding with others that want to maintain the purity of this original scene. Heck, if they want to tell another story about Greedo and Han Solo, Disney has an opportunity here to expand on this infamous misunderstood scene.

Upcoming Star Wars Pinball from Arcade1up and Zen Studios Looks Amazing

No idea if this is how the table will really look, but if it’s close to the real thing and costs less than $1,000, we’ll be buying one when it’s released

It’s been awhile since we’ve talked any serious videogaming here, but the Star Wars virtual pinball game sounds extremely cool. It’s got the tech, the Arcade1Up reasonable pricing (or so we hope), yet faithful arcade experience and it has Zen’s pinball wizardry programming, how can it now be good?

But this cool tech is also being used to bring Zen’s virtual pinball to life like never before. “We’re really optimizing the games with the hardware. We’re doing custom mapping, working on the controls, making sure the buttons feel right, and that the response on the accelerometers feels right. It’s going to feel like a brand-new game.,” shares an enthusiastic Kirk.

Star Wars Pinball Readies to Change the Game at Home | StarWars.com

We already have bought a lot of the Zen Pinball tables, including the Nintendo Switch Star Wars tables (see: Star Wars Pinball for Nintendo Switch) a year ag.

Those tables are the real deal. And a ton of fun.

This new pinball table sounds like a cross between a real pinball table and videogame pinball. Now, whether or not it’s as cool as it sounds, I hope the price is right so we can buy one and put it in our entertainment room alongside the Arcade1Up NBA Jam that I’ve been wanting to buy.

This table is similar in design to the Marvel pinball table and that one is said to be priced between $500-600 (see: Arcade1Up Reveals Price Point for Marvel Pinball), which is inline with their arcade cabinets.

George Lucas is not coming back, Star Wars Fans, he is 75+ years old – and leave Kathleen Kennedy alone already

The Kathleen Kennedy scoreboard: movies she’s been involved with

As a general rule at this site, I try to stay away from responding to internet rumors. Often in my daily online reading travels, I come across “news” that is 99% speculation, rumor and hyperbole and 1% or less true news. Most of this I don’t bother covering or responding here. Why waste your time with a bunch of click-baiting garbage without any verifiable source?

Then again, sometimes I’m feeling playful and want to poke trolls … just because.

We have enough challenges staying on top of when and where movies are going to appear to get hung up on whether or not a 75 year old retired George Lucas is coming back to “save” Disney Star Wars.

Yeah, that’s one of the biggest “news” stories I keep seeing. It’s gone on for over a week now, started by a guy who uses a voice analyzer and wears a suit that makes him look like an alien from The Outer Limits.

Sadly, I’m being serious.

In 2020, we are supposed to take our news from a guy who shakes his fist in an alien costume disguising his voice. He has over 185,000 subscribers on YouTube and several claiming his Lucasfilm sources are credible in past stories.

I just laugh looking at his ridiculous on screen persona. Dude, the first rule of being taken seriously is to be, well, serious. This guy is a caricature. I like his shtick for entertainment value, but not for news. If you watch Dicktor Von Doomcock’s videos (seriously, he has “dick” in his name like twice lmao), he openly admits that we should take his rumors “with a grain of salt.” Of course very few are actually doing that.

I digress.

Awhile back I asked here if we would even want Lucas back? I would love to see George Lucas as writer and director of another movie. Not another Star Wars movie, no thank you. I know he created it, but he had three Star Wars prequels that pretty much ruined my interest in more George Lucas Star Wars. Could he do a spin-off in the Star Wars universe that was cool? Sure, maybe. Would he want to at 75+ years old? Based on his own commentary on the subject, it’s extremely unlikely.

Lucas has like $2 billion dollars worth of reasons to spend time with his family and not get into making more Star Wars. Life is way too short, especially when you’re in your mid 70s.

This brings us back to the Kathleen Kennedy haters.

I can’t subscribe to the group that blames Kennedy for all that is wrong with Disney Star Wars (see: Kathleen Kennedy and The Mandalorian Rumors). If you make it her fault that the final three sequels were jacked up, then you also have to credit her for The Mandalorian and Rogue One and dare I even suggest that Solo was better than two of the three final trilogy (it wasn’t as good as Force Awakens)?

While I don’t have independent verification, Robert Meyer Burnett is saying that Solo toys are currently outselling any other Disney Star Wars toys except The Mandalorian Baby Yoda rules all SW toy sales. Anyway, got to credit Kathleen Kennedy for this, too, right? Only fair.

I just read a good story that, like Dicktor Von Doomcock, claims to have an inside source at Disney. If you want to get caught up in reading all things bad about Kathleen Kennedy, it’s worth having something to balance with a contrarian viewpoint.

More specifically, they say there is no talk about Kennedy leaving any time soon. At present, she has her attention focused on the film side of things over at Lucasfilm, while Favreau and Filoni are more focused on the Disney+ content. Furthermore, our source added that the rumored “civil war” is not true, and that they trio’s working relationship is fine.

LRM – No, Kathleen Kennedy Is Not Getting Pushed Out Of Lucasfilm, And There Is No Internal Civil War | LRM’s Top Shelf Rumor

100% don’t believe George Lucas is ever coming back to Star Wars — other than in a capacity to consult (he’s been doing that by many reports all along).

If he ever directs a Star Wars movie will I want to see it? Sure, but after seeing his prequels, I’m not clamoring for any more Lucas Star Wars. Give me some fresh eyes and ideas making new Star Wars films. Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni can give us more Mando and spinoffs. There are plenty of other filmmakers that can probably do some crazy cool things within the Star Wars galaxy.

(Not Rian Johnson)

Kathleen Kennedy staying isn’t going to be a roadblock to getting more good Star Wars created. Logic and history will tell you otherwise. She’s been a part of way too many good movies to be as terrible as some Star Wars fans believe. I don’t subscribe to the notion that on every film she just got coffee for the directors. That’s not only sexist, it’s just ignorant and stupid. Kennedy had good ideas according to Spielberg himself.

Let’s not rewrite history here. Lucas hand-picked Kennedy. Maybe he thought she’d use his Star Wars sequel stories and feels somehow betrayed, but he took the money and every writer — even the great George Lucas — should understand rejection. Disney doesn’t have to use his ideas. He sold Star Wars and thus gave the new owners the power to do whatever they wanted with the IP, including telling whatever stories — good, bad or indifferent — they wanted to tell.

In closing, George Lucas isn’t coming back. If he does come back, I’ll happily admit being wrong, and if he does would welcome and look forward to seeing any non-Star Wars movies that he writes and directs.

Star Wars fans need to move on from Lucas. Not from Star Wars. Keep The Force alive, I get it. We can get more great media out of this IP.

Plenty of great creative people out there besides George Lucas. As for Kathleen Kennedy, she’s earned a seat at the table doing what she is doing as long as she wants to do it. I don’t get the hate, really. It just supports the notion that women executives aren’t treated as well as men. Hollywood does have far too many men in positions of power and Kennedy has a resume that is very deserving a seat at any film production table.

Delayathon 2020 Continues – Avatar pushed back to 2022, Mulan, AMC theaters, Bill and Ted Face The Music, Top Gun: Maverick and more!

Avatar 2 will now be hitting theaters December 16, 2022, instead of 2021

Please excuse the FIRST LOOK Friday interruption, as there are many, many film delays to comment on. It’s becoming hard to keep up with them all, but by the end of this post we’ll both be more in the know.

First up, James Cameron’s billion dollar budget Avatar sequels may have started refilming not too long ago but Disney is delaying the December 2021 release by a full year. It doesn’t stop there, that pushes back the other sequels, of course.

Of course, with Avatar 2 being pushed to December 16, 2022, that means the other three Avatar sequels have been delayed as well. As it stands now, Avatar 3 is now scheduled for December 20, 2024, followed by Avatar 4 on December 18, 2026 and Avatar 5 on December 22, 2028. Assuming those dates stick (and given this franchise’s track record and these crazy times we live in, that’s far from guaranteed), that means by the time the Avatar film series concludes, it’ll have been nearly 20 years since the first movie came out and took the world by storm.

James Cameron Responds To Avatar 2’s Latest Delay – CINEMABLEND

Who didn’t expect this delay? These Avatar sequels have been cursed for delays since starting. I’m about 30% certain we’ll even see this in 2022, but we’ll save that snark for another day. What’s even worse, perhaps, is contemplating how even the wizard James Cameron, master of technology in filmmaking can make back this mammoth budget. I suppose if anybody can do it, he has the track record. Just seems on the heels of a complete abortive Terminator sequel failure and the pandemic fallout, prospects are unfavorable.

Mulan delayed, but not “indefinitely”

Moving to the next obvious delay from Disney is Mulan. They’ve pulled a Tenet and aren’t giving us any sort of future date yet. “Indefinitely” is what other publications are labeling it, but that’s misleading. They aren’t indefinitely delaying Mulan, they just haven’t chosen a future date — yet. Am curious if that date will be close to Tenet. The two films have enjoyed a lot of promotional press for being indicators of the healthy state of cinemas during the pandemic.

Don’t want to speculate too much here, but it seems reasonable to believe that whatever films open first are likely not to perform as well as they would have before the pandemic — but there are so many details involved: when the theaters are reopened, how many theaters are opened both domestically and internationally, safety protocols and more. I do believe there is a strong desire for people to see movies in theaters again someday, but safety first is on everybody’s minds as long as there isn’t a vaccine for the The Thing That Should Not Be Named.

AMC delays reopening until mid to late August

Regal was already out (see: Regal Cinemas Delays Reopening Once Again – Now Closed 126+ days – Tenet exploring outside US premiere first), choosing the “we don’t know when we are reopening” date which is code for “we will open as soon as AMC reopens”, but AMC, again predictably following Tenet delay is saying they won’t open until mid to late August.

Bottom line is Summer 2020 for movies in America is dead, gone and soon to be cremated or buried. We now must look to the Fall and beyond for cinematic salvation.

Bill & Ted Face The Music – day and date release on September 1

Bill & Ted: Face The Music, which I have scheduled for a FIRST LOOK today has been bumped to September 1, 2020 simultaneously on both VOD and whatever theaters are open. We won’t hear a peep from NATO / AMC on this one, as they have too many fires raging on their lawn to squabble over theatrical windows any more.

Speaking of NATO, they lost their lawsuit to force opening in New Jersey.

Top Gun: Maverick re-holsters release until July 2, 2021

We’ll have to contain our excitement for Maverick’s return. Paramount has grounded Tom Cruise’s sequel until July 2, 2021. Paramount’s horror sequel, A Quiet Place: Part II, will not be released until 2021 either. That is covered below.

What other announced film delays?

Am certain to be missing some, but here’s what we’ve learned as of this writing, bullet-style in chronological delayed release date:

• Unhinged – delayed from July 31, making this the lone new title that would have been released in theaters in July, now that only happens in the Twilight Zone. A third delay with no specific August date, but studio Solstice wants to release next month. They are in a holding pattern to see what Tenet and Mulan are doing.
• The Empty Man – delayed from August 7 to December 4, 2020
• SpongeBob Movie: Sponge On The Run – delayed multiple times, most recently from August 7 until January 2021 with day and date release (VOD + Theaters)
• A Quiet Place Part II – delayed multiple times, most recently from September 4, 2020 to April 23, 2021
• The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It – delayed from September 11, 2020 to June 4, 2021
• 2 Hearts – delayed from September 11 to October 16
• Halloween Kills – delayed from October 16, 2020 to October 15, 2021
• The New Mutants – psych! This one has not been delayed again — yet — and is still planned for August 28. They reiterated this at the Comic-Con@Home panel. It’s still almost a month away, so this could change …

For a complete list of movies coming to theaters in 2020, visit: FIRST LOOK: 75+ Movies Coming To Theaters In 2020 — the title of that post will probably be wrong at the rate we’re going, but that page continues to be updated regularly. I’ve started a 2021 coming soon to theaters page, but not ready to share that quite yet, because of the ever-changing dates and moves.

What’s left coming to theaters in August 2020?

Seven movies as of this writing. I’ll have that posted at some point in the next week, but again, still waiting to see further movie delays. September only shows *3* movies coming to theaters at the moment. Based on everything that’s not happening, more delays should be expected.

Star Wars 2021 Themed Hotel at Disneyworld May Be A Force To Reckon With

No matter what you thought about Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, this Disneyworld Star Wars themed hotel called the looks like a ton of fun.

Fans will begin their assent into space by entering the terminal, before being sent into space via a launch pod.

Disney’s new ‘Star Wars’ hotel will begin taking reservations later this year | CNN Travel

Bet our grandchildren would dig hanging out in this galaxy. I mentioned it to my wife and she was like, “um, no” but hey, I think it looks cool. Probably it is cost prohibitive for families, I didn’t dig too deep into it to know for sure. Anybody seen projected pricing on this?

More research needed.

Meanwhile, I’m having The Mandalorian withdrawals. Got to wait for another season, but haven’t really been back to Disney+ since the first season concluded.

No, George Lucas is not coming back to Star Wars

Hearing a few rumors that George Lucas might be back in some capacity? I’m not buying it. He’s been pretty consistently retired from Star Wars since the sale to Disney. Sure, he’ll drop by the set or offer some creative office time to espouse some of his creator wisdom, they’ll bow to him and/or pat him on the head, and then do whatever the heck they want. I’m not even sure George Lucas back doing anything except if he is behind the director’s chair, is newsworthy. That isn’t meant as disrespectful, he’ll always be credited for his genius creation, but it’s in different creative hands now. Star Wars fans need to accept that and move on from Lucas.

Unless he says he’s written a new script and is directing a new Star Wars movie. Then somebody can pinch me and we’ll talk about it.

There is a reason I try not to give too much bandwidth to rumors, because they are worth clicks and quick eyeball traffic, but it’s generally wiser to just focus on what we know, not what we don’t.