Happy Sunday and welcome to the primary version of this new and hopefully recurring collection of weekly articles breaking down the final week within the Star Wars galaxy, and our little nook of the Internet we name Star Wars News Net (or SWNN for buddies). I’m not but certain what this could develop into, however I do know I like the format of the publication, the place the author has a direct connection to the reader, in order that’s usually the aim right here — solely this isn’t coming to your inboxes but; perhaps sooner or later if there’s curiosity!
This week marked the return of the Great Void for Star Wars, that area in between exhibits the place we don’t actually have a lot occurring. Ahsoka has wrapped, and we all know Skeleton Crew is coming in some unspecified time in the future — although who is aware of when. Plus, there is no such thing as a manufacturing occurring in addition to writers writing scripts, and thus there’s not loads to speak about until information breaks of a brand new present/film in improvement. So we’re left with New York Comic-Con information, Minecraft trailers, and Star Wars: Visions manga variations. Live-action followers could also be about to enter hibernation, however publishing followers are consuming nicely lately. Plus, the High Republic is coming again with Phase III this fall.
But earlier than we get to enterprise, a programming observe…
- Ahsoka could have concluded its first-season run, however we’re not but over it. This week, we ran three characteristic items on the present, together with Aled’s take on the present with out having seen Rebels, the most recent within the (personal-favorite) collection of SWNN Roundtables, the place members of the SWNN workers pitched in the place season 2 would go subsequent, and the primary of a number of full-season evaluations of the Rosario Dawson-led present. This was Jay’s assessment; we have now extra takes on the collection coming quickly from extra members of our crew, some who loved it extra and a few who didn’t join with it as a lot. Look ahead to that this upcoming week.
Star Wars, Disney Plus, and Viewership Data
Here is a element I haven’t seen many retailers absolutely dissect: Disney Plus is now revealing viewership knowledge. No, it’s not an in depth evaluation as we get from the field workplace each weekend, and even every single day, however Ahsoka opened the can again in August for Disney to brag about their newest streaming successes. Or a minimum of make it seem like they’re.
A short historical past lesson right here: Disney Plus introduced every week after the primary two episodes of Ahsoka got here out in August that Part One had obtained 14 million views (1 view = minutes watched / whole runtime) in its first 5 days, turning into the highest-streamed title on Disney Plus that week; they made related bulletins after the premieres of The Little Mermaid and Elemental, every of them billed as “one of many greatest film premieres ever on Disney Plus” after getting 16M and 26.4M views respectively. Most just lately, Loki season 2 was introduced because the second-highest season premiere of the 12 months, gathering 10.9M views — in its first three days.
This is clearly Disney controlling the narrative and the most recent instance of headlines which can be manipulated to the acute to color the specified image. First of all, I nonetheless haven’t had any press launch on Haunted Mansion‘s Disney Plus numbers hit my inbox, I ponder why that’s… Second, Ahsoka Part One could have collected 14M views, however what about Part Two, which was out there on the identical time? Those numbers are clearly not even comparable. But these Loki season 2 numbers actually piqued my curiosity.
Why change the numbers’ window to 3 days? Obviously, they might have liked to have “highest premiere of 2023” everywhere in the headlines, however they’re claiming that The Mandalorian season 3 holds that. (An fascinating bit of knowledge as we look again on the headlines from March.) I see two potential eventualities right here. First, viewership declined on days 4 and 5 and it didn’t match Ahsoka‘s 14M views, and claiming your greatest Marvel title on Disney Plus was simply the third most-streamed season premiere of the 12 months, out of 4 high-profile exhibits, isn’t actually fascinating. That could be the right instance of adjusting the numbers to hit your narrative, which in a means they’re of their proper to do, but it surely additionally invalidates any try at transparency and makes all the numbers above seem like one other advert with meaningless data.
The second chance right here is that the numbers did surpass Ahsoka‘s, however they didn’t wish to eclipse Dave Filoni’s present. If so, I’m uncertain what the narrative could be right here: Are they afraid to announce that season 2 of a present is getting extra viewers than the primary season of a distinct present from a distinct franchise? Do they not wish to overshadow Dave Filoni’s child when he will get the inevitable season 2 announcement on Ahsoka?
What I’m most to see now could be how they are going to take it from right here. I all the time thought they’d make an announcement on Loki season 2, as a result of that present was fairly large so they might have large numbers to brag about. But I used to be most inquisitive about Haunted Mansion, which they didn’t even acknowledge (and even give the seemingly acceptable Halloween window it ought to have most likely gotten? A dialogue for an additional time, for certain.), and now my consideration shifts in direction of the subsequent two large exhibits: Marvel’s Echo (supposedly out in January) and Lucasfilm’s Skeleton Crew, which I nonetheless suspect it should come out in February (I’m conscious of that copyright doc saying it was focusing on a January date, however keep in mind it was filed in July and it was a tentative launch window; Lucasfilm had declined to touch upon the difficulty of the present’s supposed delay into 2024 again after I did a separate story.)
Both of those exhibits are usually not on many followers’ radars, and I believe they gained’t do a variety of enterprise on streaming. Will we get one other press launch à la Ahsoka by then? I definitely hope so, however I’m not holding my breath. For now, Lucasfilm has surprisingly saved quiet in regards to the numbers on the remainder of the season, together with the finale and even Part Five, which they have been very excessive on (to the purpose they even held fan screenings internationally).
Bob Iger, Video Games, and the New Disney
Another large story this week was a Bloomberg profile story on Bob Iger’s disastrous return 12 months. Writer Thomas Buckley wrote an intensive and considerate piece on how the previous few months have actually turned Iger right into a Hollywood villain and tainted his immaculate fame. And buried inside that piece, as noticed by Video Games Chronicle, was the truth that Iger’s deputies are insisting on Disney buying. main online game firm like Electronic Arts (EA).
This doesn’t are available a vacuum. Disney is bleeding for cash for the time being: their 2023 theatrical slate has been disastrous to date, with solely Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 assembly expectations (and barely). They have The Marvels and Wish within the final couple of months of the 12 months, and it’s actually solely the animated characteristic that might carry some hope to the Magic Kingdom (Nia DaCosta’s Marvel movie just isn’t getting good monitoring numbers and has no stars doing promotional TikTok movies). The streaming enterprise they invested all of their cash into just isn’t the pot of gold everybody thought it was, and now that they’ve just about capped the worldwide variety of subscribers, all they’ll do is elevate the costs till mother and father discover the energy to inform their youngsters why they’ll not watch Moana and Frozen on a loop anymore.
But it’s been even worse for Iger (and that is no sympathy card). The government, as soon as praised and beloved by everybody, caught his foot in his mouth again in July at billionaires’ camp to accuse the actors of not being sensible of their calls for, earlier than going again to drink cocktails and play pool together with his CEO buddies subsequent to the lot the place every had parked their non-public jets. And that occurred just a few months after activist investor Nelson Peltz, who opposed Iger’s imaginative and prescient for Disney, purchased sufficient inventory for his voice to matter inside the corporate. He then engaged in a proxy combat to get a seat on the Disney board — he misplaced the battle, however gained the warfare, as a result of Iger finally conceded to his calls for. They could sound acquainted: an enormous reorganization of the corporate, slicing in content material spend, and likewise placing 7,000 staff on the road.
Iger has since reupped his contract via 2026, however what’s outdated is new once more. Peltz is now again, as he strategically leaked to the Wall Street Journal this week, and now owns 1.7 p.c of Disney’s inventory. According to the “nameless” leak to the Journal, he intends to ask for “a number of” seats on the board this time, and, as Puck News speculates, he’s more likely to launch one other proxy combat within the spring if his calls for are usually not met. But what would he ask for now as a substitute of the board seats? Disney is publicly concerned with promoting off ABC and maybe even ESPN, is contemplating all choices as regards to buying all of Hulu from Universal or promoting it, and is determined for any stream of income. It acquired into playing throughout the summer time, a facet of the enterprise Iger as soon as swore he’d by no means contact, and is eager on betting on the one factor that continues to carry cash to its door: parks.
In September, the corporate disclosed via a safety submitting that they are going to be investing $60 billion in parks and cruises, whereas in addition they introduced this previous week that they are going to be elevating costs (one other Chapek-like technique that Iger would have most likely criticized just a few years in the past; now the tables have turned). But the reality is that parks are doing nicely, Galactic Starcruisers apart, so they only must squeeze that juice as a lot as potential whereas they work out easy methods to carry extra individuals to the theaters and on Disney Plus. Selling ABC, a declining asset, looks like a great possibility, however bear in mind: Bob Iger got here from that world, and likewise, it widens Disney’s attain and makes certain they’ll promote their newest Disney Plus present or Disneyland attraction in their very own home. It’s extra than simply promoting cash.
And that is the place the online game business is available in. Bob Iger is a purchaser, even when the media on this second part of his at Disney has positioned him as a vendor. Disney is an organization that has a variety of enterprise in so many features of the leisure business, not simply movie and TV — however the ever-rising world of gaming is one thing they’ve barely touched but. And they’re not alone, as different Hollywood studios, aside from Sony and I assume Warner Bros., have additionally not engaged on this facet of the enterprise. It’s solely a matter of time, although. Video video games are actually an even bigger half of popular culture than they’ve ever been, and we’re barely scratching the floor.
Disney has the best infrastructure to sort out this business subsequent. They know loads about long-term planning with their parks division and even their wealthy historical past with animation and are masters of storytelling. Their Star Wars video video games carry out as nicely and even higher than their streaming content material, and the recognition of Insomniac’s Spider-Man video games is big. Can Marvel Studios make the most of that? James Gunn, on the opposite facet of the fence, has already teased that they are going to be utilizing video games to boost their overarching story at DC. But after all this additionally provides so many extra layers of complication to the job of CEO of Disney, and likewise the board. Is this a headache value having? We’ll see. (For an in depth dialogue on Hollywood and video video games, take a look at this episode of the podcast The Town from just a few months in the past.)
Jocasta Nu’s Reading List
If all the above wasn’t sufficient to make your head spin on a Sunday night time, listed below are just a few extra fascinating write-ups from completely different websites on the Star Wars franchise.
- The Ringer says the MandoVerse wants a writers’ room, and they don’t seem to be improper. The most fascinating bit in regards to the article is how author Ben Lindbergh makes use of Star Wars to make the case. It’s a degree raised throughout a current episode of SWNN Live! and an argument we’ve been having in our inside chats in regards to the franchise for months. My major takeaway, although, is how the brand new WGA deal will really stop it from taking place.
- Screen Rant takes a have a look at the current (not-so-new) synopsis for Skeleton Crew and creates an fascinating principle: What if the children didn’t come from this galaxy, however relatively got here from a distinct one and have been misplaced in our common Star Wars galaxy?
- Remember that story a couple of misplaced X-wing mannequin being put up for public sale? Well, it offered for $2.6M! It’s all the time a great day if you purchase a brand new toy, whether or not you’re a billionaire otherwise you assume you’re overpaying for a $25 Black Series Stormtrooper. (Via The Hollywood Reporter.)
- SWNN’s Jay Goodearl makes his argument for a great however undoubtedly not nice first season of Ahsoka. More evaluations coming quickly!
What did you consider the primary version of “This Week, In a Galaxy Far, Far Away”? Let me know your feedback, recommendations, and complaints within the remark part. You may ship them to us straight by way of our Contact web page or by emailing us at [email protected]. Have a great week!
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish pupil that has films as his second ardour in life. His favourite film of all time is The Lord of the Rings, however he’s additionally an enormous Star Wars fan. However, fantasy films are usually not his solely cup of tea, as films from Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he began to know the language of filmmaking. He is that man who will watch a black and white film, simply because it’s in black and white.
