Tag: Disney

Great news for Star Wars and Marvel fans! Kevin Feige, the head of Marvel Studios, will be working on a new Star Wars film for Lucasfilm and Disney.

Walt Disney Studios chairman, Alan Horn, gave the good news to The Hollywood Reporter.

Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy “is pursuing a new era in ‘Star Wars’ storytelling, and knowing what a die-hard fan Kevin is, it made sense for these two extraordinary producers to work on a ‘Star Wars’ film together,” Walt Disney Studios co-chairman Alan Horn tells The Hollywood Reporter.

Feige is best known for helping the Marvel Cinematic Universe become the hugely success for Disney. Let’s hope that Feige can work his magic in a galaxy far, far away!

From The Hollywood Reporter:

To the surprise of no one, Kevin Feige is a huge Star Wars fan. It might surprise many, however, that the Marvel Studios chief is going to be developing a Star Wars movie as Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy makes new plans for a wave of projects set in the universe, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Feige had discussed a foray into the Star Wars universe in a late summer meeting with Kennedy and studio co-chairmen Alan Horn and Alan Bergman, sources say. In response to a query from THR, Walt Disney Studios co-chairman and chief creative officer Horn said, “We are excited about the projects Kathy and the Lucasfilm team are working on, not only in terms of Star Wars but also Indiana Jones and reaching into other parts of the company including Children of Blood and Bone with Emma Watts and Fox. With the close of the Skywalker Saga, Kathy is pursuing a new era in Star Wars storytelling, and knowing what a die-hard fan Kevin is, it made sense for these two extraordinary producers to work on a Star Wars film together.”

Some see this move as a prelude to a larger role for Feige within Lucasfilm, while others say it merely reflects the Marvel executive’s passion for the franchise. A top Disney source says Kennedy remains in charge with no plans for any changes. One knowledgeable source says Feige has told a major actor that there’s a specific role he would like that person to play if and when he makes the movie.

However, with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker set to hit theaters Dec. 20, it is understandable that Disney would like to keep as much about the future of the franchise under wraps as possible. Skywalker, otherwise known as Episode IX, is meant to be the final installment of the series that was first launched by George Lucas in 1977. It is also meant to win back fans after the last sequel trilogy entry, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, divided audiences, even though reviews were largely positive and the film grossed $1.3 billion worldwide.

Under Feige’s leadership, Marvel has had an extraordinary run of hits, including four of the top 10 movies ever released. This summer, Avengers: Endgame grossed $2.9 billion and surpassed Avatar to become the top grosser of all time, not adjusted for inflation. Feige has a packed slate of Marvel movies and TV in the works, and he is expected to take a big role in developing the Marvel heroes, like the X-Men, that Disney got in the Fox acquisition.

Kennedy has been president of Lucasfilm since 2012. She is one of the very few women in top executive jobs at Disney, but she was picked for the job by Lucas before he sold his company for $4 billion that year. In September 2018, she renewed her contract for three years.

So far, the four Star Wars films produced for Disney have grossed almost $4.5 billion. But while Feige has presided over a mostly seamless rollout of one Marvel hit after another, reinvigorating the Star Wars franchise has not been a smooth process. Gareth Edwards was effectively sidelined as the helmer of the troubled 2016 film Rogue One, with Tony Gilroy shooting the third act. The film went on to become a hit, generating strong reviews and $1.1 billion worldwide.