Star Wars Magic at the Box Office with “The Phantom Menace”

 by Ray Keating

News/Analysis

DisneyBizJournal.com

May 8, 2024

 

Guess what movie was Number 2 at the domestic box office this past weekend (May 3-5)? It was the special re-release of a 25-year-old Star Wars movie.

 

That’s right, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace took in $8.7 million, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com, and that was second behind The Fall Guy ($27.7 million). 

Hmmm. I’m not sure if that says more about the current state of movies in theaters or the lasting effects of Star Wars. Probably both are at work here.

 

By the way, when released originally in 1999, the film cost $115 million to make, and it pulled in more than $924 million in gross box office revenues. That’s a major box office success.

 

And as for those who still diss the Star Wars prequels, while each film had its problems, they actually have improved with age, like a fine wine. Star Wars creator George Lucas directed The Phantom Menace, and there’s much to appreciate. 

 

My favorite moment is the final light saber battle where Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi take on Darth Maul. Lucas excels with these kinds of operatic scenes. But there’s a great deal more than action here to appreciate. Watch how each character acts or reacts when the fighting is paused periodically due to the forcefields engaging. Darth Maul paces like a caged animal. Qui-Gon kneels and meditates. And the young Obi-Wan bounces, wanting to get back in the action. 

 

Great stuff. 

 

I’m glad I journeyed to the theater this past weekend to catch The Phantom Menace on the big screen – apparently with a good number of other people.

 

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Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com; and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries, the Alliance of Saint Michael novels, and assorted nonfiction books. Have Ray Keating speak your group, business, school, church, or organization. Email him at raykeating@keatingreports.com.

 

The views expressed here are his own – after all, no one else should be held responsible for this stuff, right?

 

The Disney Planner: The TO DO List Solution combines a simple, powerful system for getting things done with encouragement and fun for Disney fans, including those who love Mickey, Marvel, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Pixar, princesses and more.

 

Never miss any new book by Ray Keating by joining the Pastor Stephen Grant Fellowship with Ray Keating at

https://www.patreon.com/pastorstephengrantfellowship.

 

Various books by Ray Keating…

 

• The Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries. There are 19 books in the series now.

 

• Cathedral: An Alliance of Saint Michael Novel is at Amazon. 

 

• Order The Weekly Economist III: Another 52 Quick Reads to Help You Think Like an Economist, The Weekly Economist II: 52 More Quick Reads to Help You Think Like an Economist, and The Weekly Economist: 52 Quick Reads to Help You Think Like an Economist at Amazon.com.

 

• Signed editions of Ray’s books are at www.raykeatingbooksandmore.com. 

 

Also, check out Ray’s podcasts – the Daily Dose of Disney, Free Enterprise in Three Minutes, and the PRESS CLUB C Podcast.

Listen to Walt Disney, Roy O. Disney, Stan Lee, Captain America, Phineas and Ferb, and More!

Have you checked out the Daily Dose of Disney with Ray Keating Podcast? Each week we turn to a particular person, character or theme in the Disney universe, and see what insights and/or fun we can garner from a quote on each weekday.

Tune in and enjoy right here, or wherever you listen to podcasts!

Obi-Wan Kenobi, Michael Eisner, Walt Disney and More

Check out the Daily Dose of Disney with Ray Keating Podcast. With a slightly new format, each week we turn to a particular person, character or theme in the Disney universe, and see what insights and/or fun we can garner from a quote on each weekday. So far, we’ve done the Obi-Wan Kenobi week, the Michael Eisner week, and now we’ve just kicked off the Walt Disney week. 

Listen here or wherever you enjoy podcasts!

New Format for the "Daily Dose of Disney with Ray Keating"Podcast - Starting with Obi-Wan Kenobi

 This is exciting as we’re launching a slightly new format for the "Daily Dose of Disney Podcast with Ray Keating." Each week now, we’ll turn to a particular person, character or theme in the Disney universe, and see what insights and/or fun we can garner from a quote on each weekday. Our first week will focus on quotes from the Star Wars character Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Episode #413: Obi-Wan Kenobi Week – Obi-Wan on the Force – During the first week of our slightly new format, we’re looking at quotes from Obi-Wan Kenobi. And in this episode, we turn to perhaps the most famous quote in all of Star Wars, and ponder how it can be viewed in different ways.

Tune in here!

Favreau on Work, Obi-Wan on Luck

Daily Dose of Disney with Ray Keating – Episode #263: Director Jon Favreau on Understanding Who You’re Working For – Not every undertaking in business is like an indy film. Sometimes we’re talking big budgets, and that comes with certain responsibilities.

Daily Dose of Disney with Ray Keating – Episode #264: Obi-Wan Kenobi on Luck – Do you agree with Obi-Wan on luck, take the oppositive view, or something in between?

The “Daily Dose of Disney with Ray Keating” podcast serves up a Disney or Disney-related quote each day, with DisneyBizJournal’s Ray Keating offering brief, additional thoughts on how each dose ties in to life, career, business, entrepreneurship, creativity, storytelling, work, or just plain fun.

Obi-Wan, Mos Eisley and ... Washington, D.C.?

Daily Dose of Disney with Ray Keating – Episode #24: Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Wisdom on Mos Eisley – Ray Keating loves Obi-Wan’s quote in Star Wars about Mos Eisley, and can’t help but think of a real-life city.

The “Daily Dose of Disney with Ray Keating” podcast serves up a Disney or Disney-related quote each day, with DisneyBizJournal’s Ray Keating offering brief, additional thoughts on how each dose ties in to life, career, business, entrepreneurship, creativity, storytelling, work, or just plain fun.

OK with the Disney+ Price Hike?

 by Ray Keating

News/Analysis

DisneyBizJournal.com

March 29, 2021

 

On Friday, March 26, the monthly subscription price for Disney+ went from $6.99 to $7.99, which also meant that the bundle price for Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu increased from $12.99 to $13.99 per month.

 

By the way, the most popular subscription level for Netflix increased by $1 to $13.99 per month in October of last year.

 

So, what’s heading to Disney+ to help people feel better about paying $12 more a year for the service?

Courtesy of Disney+

Well, Disney announced today that its Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney+ series, starring Ewan McGregor as the Jedi Master, will start shooting in April. It takes place a decade after the events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. In addition to McGregor, the cast includes Hayden Christensen returning as Darth Vader, along with Moses Ingram, Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Kumail Nanjiani, Indira Varma, Rupert Friend, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Sung Kang, Simone Kessell and Benny Safdie.

 

Also, new episodes of the popular Marvel series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which premiered on March 19, will arrive each Friday in April, running to the finale on April 23. That will be followed by Assembled: The Making of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier on April 30.

 

Also, installments of The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, a 10-episode season, will continue to be released on Fridays in April and into May.

 

And a new series, Big Shot, starring John Stamos, will tip off on April 16. The series features Stamos as Coach Korn, a hothead coach who lost his NCAA men’s basketball coaching job, and has to take a position as coach at an all-girls high school. (Can anyone say some kind of spin on Hoosiers – which, if you’re going to go that route, would be mighty shoes to fill given that Hoosiers ranks as one of the all-time great sports movies? John Stamos is likeable, but he’s no Gene Hackman.)

 

A good deal more comes to Disney+ in April, but these clearly are the big highlights. Of course, much more has been announced for Disney+ over the coming months – including the Marvel Loki series, starring Tom Hiddleston, arriving on Disney+ on June 11 – and even years. So, it seems pretty clear that especially fans of Marvel and Star Wars will not have much of a problem forking over the extra buck a month.

 

__________

 

Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of the  Pastor Stephen Grant novels and assorted nonfiction books. Have Ray Keating speak your group, business, school, church, or organization. Email him at raykeating@keatingreports.com.

 

The views expressed here are his own – after all, no one else should be held responsible for this stuff, right?

 

Keating has two new books out. Vatican Shadows: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel is the 13ththriller/mystery in the Pastor Stephen Grant series. Get the paperback or Kindle edition at Amazon, or signed books at www.raykeatingonline.com. Past Lives: A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story is the 14th book in the series. Get the paperback or Kindle edition at Amazon, or signed book at www.raykeatingonline.com. 

 

You also can order his book Behind Enemy Lines: Conservative Communiques from Left-Wing New York  from Amazon or signed books  at RayKeatingOnline.com. His other recent nonfiction book is Free Trade Rocks! 10 Points on International Trade Everyone Should Know. 

 

Please support the efforts of DisneyBizJournal.com to bring news, analysis and commentary on Disney to readers such as yourself. Make a contribution right here via PayPal. Thanks!

 

Still More Star Wars on Disney+?

by Ray Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

April 22, 2020

Could it be that another Star Wars series is in the works for Disney+? Well, that’s the case according to another exclusive report courtesy of Variety.

Variety is reporting that a new, female-centric series “from Leslye Headland, the co-creator, showrunner, and executive producer of the critically-acclaimed Netflix series ‘Russian Doll,’” is ramping up, and that it “takes place in a different part of the ‘Star Wars’ timeline than other projects.”

That would put Disney+ with four, live-action Star Wars series at various stages of production – “The Mandalorian” heading into its second season in October with a third coming, and three more shows on the way, i.e., an Obi-Wan Kenobi series starring Ewan McGregor, a Rogue One prequel starring Diego Luna, and now this Headland vehicle.

For the ultimate Star Wars fan, this should satisfy, with another eye looking ahead to the next Star Wars movie scheduled, at this point, for December 2022.

Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of The Disney Planner 2020: The TO DO List Solution (now available at a deep discount) and the Pastor Stephen Grant novels. He can be contacted at  raykeating@keatingreports.com.

Disney’s Ongoing Star Wars Woes Show Need for New Leadership at LucasFilm

by Ray Keating

Commentary

DisneyBizJournal.com

January 24, 2020

As news and speculation spread across the internet about the Disney+ Obi-Wan Kenobi show being put on hold in an effort to get new writers and scripts, one has to wonder: What the heck is Kathleen Kennedy doing at Disney’s LucasFilm?

After all, this type of development is not exactly new during the Kennedy/Disney reign over Star Wars. During filming, Rogue One was re-written and re-shot. Solo: A Star Wars Story got a completely new director in the middle of production.

For good measure, while I certainly enjoyed Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, one has to admit that the two movies suffer from a certain lack of originality. And then there’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which amounted to a train wreck from story, character and Star Wars lore perspectives.

At the same time, though, there is a tradition of these kinds of challenges at LucasFilm, such as the long delays in getting the Star Wars prequels trilogy made, not to mention (to be generous) the uneven storytelling in those movies, as well as long delays in getting Indiana Jones movies made.

One has to wonder if Jon Favreau made the wonderful first season of The Mandalorian on Disney+ in spite of LucasFilm.

It’s kind of interesting in that the one thing you might have expected when Disney bought LucasFilm was that Star Wars, as well as Indiana Jones, would get a kind of kick in the pants. After all, Disney has a long history of producing good stories. You know, a big chunk of their business is making movies. Yet, here we are. 

The reign of Kathleen Kennedy at LucasFilm arguably has been one of delays, journeying off course and trying to get back on track, missed opportunities, and successes that, arguably, should have been bigger. It’s time for a new person or team to lead Disney’s LucasFilm – that understands both the business and creative sides of making movies and television shows. 

Maybe it’s time for Bob Iger to get Mr. Favreau on the line.

Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of The Disney Planner 2020: The TO DO List Solution and the Pastor Stephen Grant novels. He can be contacted at  raykeating@keatingreports.com.

“Game of Thrones” Duo Out at “Star Wars”: Let the Wild Speculation Begin

by Ray Keating

Analysis

DisneyBizJournal.com

October 29, 2019

The big news this morning is that the creators of Game of Thrones, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, have quit their planned Star Wars movie trilogy. 

Toss in the mix that Rian Johnson was vague in a recent interview about his continued Star Wars work, and we have the perfect storm for Star Wars fans to speculate wildly – including pointing fingers – about what’s going on and where things might be headed on the big screen in a galaxy far, far away.

Benioff and Weiss were expected to write and produce three Star Wars movies slated for released in each December of 2022, 2024 and 2026. But the duo also signed a big Netflix deal in August. So, perhaps the exit fromStar Warsshouldn’t be all that surprising.

As for Star Wars, Disney has a pretty robust slate coming, including “The Mandalorian” Disney+ series from Jon Favreau coming with the launch of the streaming service on November 12, with another two more live-action series slated – a Rogue One prequel and an Obi-Wan Kenobi series starring Ewan McGregor – and of course, the arrival of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in theaters on December 20.

And what about the recent news that Marvel Chief Creative Officer Kevin Feige also was developing a Star Wars movie?

Here’s my speculation that only comes from the hope of a fan: Kathleen Kennedy, who has not exactly thrived at the helm of Star Wars, steps back along with the various players she brought in – i.e., Johnson and the Thrones’ duo – and storytellers like Feige and Favreau step forward more prominently.

Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant novels. He can be contacted at  raykeating@keatingreports.com.