The Big Jump Back for Star Wars at Disney

by Ray Keating

DisneyBizJournal.com

January 6, 2020

If any doubt existed about the success of Star Wars at the box office, it has been laid to rest. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is closing on $1 billion at the box office.

Perhaps some will respond: “Yeah, so what?” Well, let’s put this in perspective.

Consider that while Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) earned $1.3 billion in box office gross, it also – as we have noted before – failed miserably in terms of story and fan appeal. Its fan score on RottenTomatoes.com stands at a miserable 43 percent.

That was followed by Solo: A Star Wars Story, which, while a solid Star Warsentry, failed at the box office, taking in only $393 million. The likely total cost for the film topped $400 million.

So, Disney and LucasFilm had reason to be nervous about the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. And then came mixed reviews from critics, with a score of 54 percent on RottenTomatoes.com. 

But actual moviegoers and fans have given a resounding thumbs up, with an 86 percent score on RottonTomatoes.com and handing over $919 million in box office gross through yesterday, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com. So, while The Rise of Skywalker has only been out for two weeks, its gross has managed to beat the full box office take for Solo by 134 percent ... and counting. I’m guessing that Skywalker will wind up topping the $1.3 billion raked in by The Last Jedi.

At the same time, the lengthy lines and glowing reviews for the Star Wars: The Rise of the Resistance attraction in Walt Disney World – which will open on January 17 in Disneyland – and the success of The Mandalorian on Disney+ points to Star Wars relief and profits at Disney. 

And yes, in a told-you-so moment, this is exactly what DisneyBizJournal predicted in previous pieces. You’re welcome. ;-) 

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

The Rise of Skywalker Earns 4 Stars! Has “Star Wars Heart” (Spoiler Free Review)

by Ray Keating

Review

DisneyBizJournal.com

December 21, 2019

DisneyBizJournal.com Movie Rating: 4 stars out of 5

DisneyBizJournal.com Box Office Rating:  $$$$ out of $$$$

When I was growing up and the Star Wars-vs.-Star Trek battle raged, I ranked as a Trek fan. However, while still appreciating Star Trek – particularly the Kirk, Spock and McCoy relationship in the original series and related movies – I gradually have become much more of a Star Wars than a Star Trek fan. Why? I came to an answer only recently. In the end, Star Wars has more heart than Star Trek. And yes, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has plenty of “Star Wars heart.”

So, what’s “Star Wars heart”? Well, in the lingo of “The Force,” it’s a feeling emerging from a combination of joy, adventure, courage, determination, optimism, humor, a willingness to sacrifice, and hope, along with characters who moviegoers come to love.

After Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which suffered from a severe shortage of “Star Wars heart,” many people wondered if Star Wars could bounce back with The Rise of Skywalker. Director J.J. Abrams and the film’s cast pulled it off in stellar fashion. The Rise of Skywalker is a worthy end to the nine-movie, three-trilogies Skywalker tale. (Not, of course, the end of Star Wars stories.)

As for the reviewers who either didn’t like The Rise of Skywalker, or found it middling or uneven, I struggle wondering what movie they wound up watching. Because it certainly wasn’t the film I saw and thoroughly enjoyed. Maybe each of those less-than-pleased critics had a bad day, or perhaps they don’t like epic films that excel in storytelling (including some needed repairs after The Last Jedi), visual effects, emotional power, drama, and humor.

And unlike the character mess in The Last Jedi, The Rise of Skywalker stays true to and advances each character, which should be appreciated by Star Wars fans and filmgoers in general

Quite simply, to not like The Rise of Skywalker is to not like a great time at the movies.

As for the box office numbers, things look strong for Star Wars and Disney, with the opening box office tally as of Friday, December 20 (i.e., opening day), registering $149 million globally.

So, grab the popcorn (check out the cool souvenir popcorn bucket I picked up at an AMC theater) and a cool drink, and enjoy Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. And when you get a chance, go see it again. That’s my plan.

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.

Fans Ignore Critics – Apparently Love “Rise of Skywalker”

by Ray Keating

DisneyBizJournal.com

December 20, 2019

According to RottenTomatoes.com, fans seem to love Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – serving up a stellar score for the film. The fans’ assessment stands in stark contrast to the score offered by assembling reviews by critics.

Earlier this week, I asserted that critics don’t generally “get” Star Wars, and while not having seen the movie yet myself, the critics vs. the audience scores seem to back up this declaration. Indeed, as noted in the following graphic, fans got it right on The Last Jedi,while reviewers were dead wrong. 

So, I’m betting that the fans get it on The Rise of Skywalker compared to critics.

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.

Before Succumbing to Dark Side Reviews of “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”

by Ray Keating

DisneyBizJournal.com

December 18, 2019

But for the most extreme cases, I never put much stock in the opinions of movie critics. That’s worth keeping in mind before seeing Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

I haven’t seen the movie yet. That’s scheduled for Saturday afternoon. And yes, after seeing the film, I will write my own review. But whether it be my review or any other, it’s always best to see the movie for yourself, and formulate your own views.

And that piece of common sense might be more important when seeing a Star Wars film more so than any other movie. Why? It seems pretty clear to me that movie critics – and I’m generalizing here – tend not to “get” Star Wars. How can I make such an assertion?

Well, consider that the RottenTomatoes.com aggregated critics score for Star Wars: The Last Jedi was 91 percent. And that was for the worstStar Warsfilm EVER MADE. Therefore, when glancing at a RottonTomatoes.com score of 57 percent (as of this afternoon) from critics for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, I am heartened. 

Indeed, consider the following comment from Ryan Parker at The Hollywood Reporter: “It’s amazing. Last Jedi haters will be very pleased.” Yes! Bring on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker!

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.

Is Iger Right on Star Wars?

by Ray Keating

Commentary

DisneyBizJournal.com

November 5, 2019

Disney CEO Bob Iger has reiterated that less is more when it comes to Star Wars movies.

According to Gizmodo, in a recent radio interview for his new book, Iger declared, “I have said publicly that I think we made and released too many Star Wars films over a short period of time. I have not said that they were disappointing in any way. I’ve not said that I’m disappointed in their performance. I just think that there’s something so special about a Star Wars film, and less is more.”

Hmmm. Well, obviously, something changed. Was Iger on board with a Star Wars movie each year – which basically was what Disney had planned – and then suddenly had an unexplained change of heart and now believes “less is more”? 

There certainly is a case to be made for limiting a Star Wars movie release to every two or three years. After all, given what’s coming on Disney+ streaming – including the much-anticipated series The Mandalorian – I don’t think Star Wars fans will be left wanting for new tales from a galaxy far, far away.

However, a counter case can be made that a Star Wars film every year also can be quite special – when done well. That means having people at the helm of the Star Wars franchise and of each movie that truly understand the characters and the Star Wars universe. 

Director Rian Johnson, as evidenced by his Star Wars: The Last Jedi, doesn’t get the characters. Director Ron Howard is harder to assess, given that he came in late to do repair work on Solo. But, as I’ve said before, Solo is a solid movie that didn’t warrant punishment at the box office. 

The big question remains: Does Kathleen Kennedy really get Star Wars? George Lucas thought so when handing her control over LucasFilm. And Iger apparently thought so by leaving her in that position after Disney bought LucasFilm. But as for many of us, her record is, to be generous, less than admirable.

Yes, less can be more. But less also can just be less. Indeed, get the right people in place, and more actually can be more.

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.

Star Wars and JJ: Daunting Story and Box Office Challenges

by Ray Keating

Analysis

DisneyBizJournal.com

October 18, 2019

J.J. Abrams faces some big challenges with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which will hit theaters on December 20^th.  Is he ready? Well, according to an Entertainment Weekly report, Abrams declared, “We went into this thing knowing it has to be an ending. We’re not screwing around.”

Abrams faces the monumental task of wrapping up the nine-movie Star Wars Skywalker saga that began in 1977, and has become a cultural icon. EW also quoted Abrams, co-writer and director of The Rise of Skywalker, saying, “Endings are the thing that scare me the most.” Yeah, I bet.

But Abrams’ job was made far more difficult given that the eighth entry in the Skywalker series – Star Wars: The Last Jedi – has become so universally, well, hated. And quite frankly, justifiably so. The Last Jedi director and writer Rian Johnson turned out to be the exact wrong man for the job. It’s clear that he failed to understand key Star Wars characters – most glaringly, Luke Skywalker – and other story choices were made that made little sense. (For example, why were Rose and Finn off doing what they were doing? And the space ship chase made sense how? And Leia survived what? And Luke was where? You get the idea. Ugh.)

As a result, J.J. must do triple duty with The Rise of Skywalker in terms of the story. First, he has to satisfactorily close out the Skywalker tale spanning eight previous films. He also must deal with finishing specifics to this final trilogy. And he has to somehow repair at least some of the damage Johnson did. No wonder Abrams admitted to being a bit scared.

In turn, his work on the story obviously feeds into the box office. It’s kind of interesting to note that every Star Wars movie was a box office success, until the most recent one – Solo: A Star Wars Story. So, The Last Jedi, which, for example, serves up a miserable audience score on RottenTomatoes.com of 44 percent, still raked in an incredible $1.3 billion at the box office. However, Solo, while scoring notably higher, though still not great, with audiences at 64 percent on RottenTomatoes.com, wound up losing money, pulling in a box office gross of only $393 million. (See our postmortem on Solo: A Star Wars Story and related issues.) It’s like fans went to see The Last Jedi more than once, just to make sure they didn’t like it, and then decided not to bother with Solo at all. (By the way, the more I watch Solo, the more I like; and the more I watch The Last Jedi, the more it dislike it.)

So, J.J. Abrams – and therefore, of course, Disney – faces formidable story and business challenges. The longtime Star Wars fan in me is rooting hard for Abrams to pull it all off (and yes, the trailers have me excited). The analyst in me is cautiously optimistic.

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.