Boardwalk Times: Stories from the Seashore — Five Takeaways and Five Questions After Star Wars Celebration Japan ⁉️— UPDATE
This month's newsletter includes takeaways and questions from Star Wars Celebration Japan, a look at Marvel Studios' momentum, Boardwalk Times' 8th anniversary and more.
Last month Substack had an outage which affected our monthly newsletter. Here it is.
Welcome back to Boardwalk Times: Stories from the Seashore!
In this issue, we will be covering:
Five Takeaways and Five Questions After Star Wars Celebration Japan ⁉️
Marvel Studios Builds Momentum 📈
Boardwalk Times 8th Anniversary 🎡
Podcast Plugs 🎙
Links of the Month 📰
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Five Takeaways and Five Questions After Star Wars Celebration Japan ⁉️
Star Wars Celebration Japan left us with five takeaways and five questions. The event was attended by 105,000 guests from 125 countries. An 8% increase in overall attendance from the last Celebration, which took place in 2023 in London. It seems like the event itself is growing in popularity.
Takeaways ⁉️
1. Dave Filoni’s Star Wars film is still in development
The film is not being outwardly promoted and it wasn’t even listed during Kathleen Kennedy’s rundown of films in development at Lucasfilm. The film wasn’t even listed on official blog posts from StarWars.com. Yet various outlets that spoke to Filoni were given insight into the fact the film is still happening and that Filoni is impressed by Kevin Feige’s timeline ability with Marvel.
2. Kathleen Kennedy confirmed a large film slate
Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy confirmed films by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, James Mangold, Taika Waititi, and a new trilogy by Simon Kinberg are all in development. If you include the Filoni film, that is a seven-film slate. Sure, some of these may not make it out of development, but it does show Lucasfilm is actively working on the theatrical future of Star Wars.
3. Shawn Levy and Ryan Gosling’s Star Wars: Starfighter arrives in 2027
The film goes into production this fall, and Star Wars: Starfighter arrives on May 28, 2027. This should give the team plenty of time for visuals and to get a strong cast onboard for the project. There is a rumored list of big names who have already passed on Starfighter, however, I would love to see a deeper dive into why some actors aren’t joining this particular Star Wars project.
Also, as a sidenote, Lucasfilm selling the Shawn Levy/Ryan Gosling Star Wars: Starfighter film as a standalone film that takes place after The Rise of Skywalker is hilarious. I feel like we’re getting Daisy Ridley and Oscar Isaac cameos at the very least. If Levy’s work on Deadpool & Wolverine is any indication, he’s going to give fans what they want.
4. Besides Ahsoka and Animation, Disney+ doesn’t have another live-action series or special in development (as far as we know)
Ahsoka season two is now filming, and Lucasfilm Animation has two new series next year with Maul—Shadow Lord and The Ninth Jedi (Star Wars: Visions spinoff). Yet what does the future of live-action Star Wars on Disney+ look like? It seems The Mandalorian is pivoting to be a big-screen franchise. Lucasfilm been mum on the future of Skeleton Crew (more on that later). There seems to be no Acolyte spinoff in the works or even an Andor spinoff. Lucasfilm hasn’t even confirmed a wildcard live-action series like Doctor Aphra or The Old Republic. What will the future hold? Will there be one live-action Star Wars Disney+ series a year? Or will there be a strategy change to specials?
5. Star Wars has untapped potential in the Disney Parks
If Star Wars Celebration is any indication, there is untapped potential for the franchise within the Disney Parks. I would say Walt Disney Imagineering has endless opportunity to incorporate more droids into the Disney Parks. I think seeing more scenes added to Star Tours and Smugglers Run is a start too. However, I believe Disney is going to continue to expand the story of Batuu in new ways and I wouldn’t rule out another Star Wars storytelling direction for the Disney Parks.
Questions ⁉️
1. Who will be Kathleen Kennedy’s successor?
To me, it seems like this question will be answered at some point this year. Kathleen Kennedy will never retire from producing and filmmaking, but she may not longer want to lead Lucasfilm. I think it’s clear Dave Filoni is the Chief Creative Officer at Lucasfilm but he needs to be paired with a business mind similar to what Pete Docter at Pixar and Jared Bush have at Walt Disney Animation. With that being said, it seems like Lynwen Brennan may be the natural successor? Although Carrie Beck could probably fit into Kennedy’s role as well, and she has a working relationship with Filoni.
2. Does Lucasfilm Animation have another non-Clone Wars era series in development?
I know Lucasfilm Animation loves doing stories set around The Clone Wars, but is there another Star Wars animation series in development that maybe takes place in a different period? Could we do a Rebels sequel that also acts as a prequel to The Mandalorian/Ahsoka/Book of Boba Fett, etc? What about a new animated show during the sequel trilogy or High Republic? It feels like there is more areas to explore outside of The Clone Wars.
3. The future of the Mandoverse after The Mandalorian and Grogu and the silence around Skeleton Crew?
What’s next for the Mandoverse after The Mandalorian and Grogu and Ahsoka season two? Are we going all in on the Dave Filoni film? Are we doing another season of TV before these stories all have that big crossover event? What’s going to happen? Also, why was Lucasfilm so silent about Skeleton Crew during Celebration? Even Manny Jacinto from the canceled The Acolyte appeared, yet it felt like there was hardly anything on Skeleton Crew. Why not bring out the actors or creatives? What’s next for the Skeleton Crew? That’s a big question that looms just as big as what’s next for the Mandoverse?
4. Why is Lucasfilm obsessed with the May release dates?
Lucasfilm will release two films in the May slot over the next two years. Sure, Star Wars was once a May franchise, but times have changed. That May slot is firmly a Marvel Studios slot, and it feels a bit odd that they are still obsessed with trying to release films in May instead of just opting for the December release date and making their films feel like true end-of-the-year events. The holiday corridor always does big business, and if Disney is strategic, you could’ve had a every-other-year rotation of Star Wars and Avatar in December. I just don’t get the obsession with May!
5. Any reason why Los Angeles was picked over Anaheim for Star Wars Celebration 2027?
From a pure synergy and money-making standpoint, wouldn’t Disney want people closer to Disneyland Resort? Maybe Disney/Lucasfilm like the Los Angeles nostalgia, and maybe the George Lucas Museum in LA will play a role in Celebration 2027? Yet I just can’t see why Disney wouldn’t want 100,000+ guests in Anaheim near Disneyland with the potential to do other D23 and Disney Parks events that coincide with Star Wars Celebration. It feels like money is being left on the table.
It also seems true that Destination D23/Star Wars Celebration will fall on odd years (2025, 2027), and then D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event will fall on even years. Perhaps a Marvel-themed event like AvengerCon could take place on even years as well. Disney is the one company that has the fan base and event ambitions to pull it off. Also, by running more fandom-oriented events, you may be able to curb the demand for the big D23 events. I’ve previously discussed the D23 event strategy at length.
Overall, Star Wars Celebration provided another newsworthy weekend for Lucasfilm and provided clarity on its direction. However, we were left with lingering questions that will surely be answered soon.
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Marvel Studios Builds Momentum 📈
Marvel Studios seems confident in Thunderbolts* just from its marketing and advance screening strategy alone. The early reactions and reviews are quite telling. The film is tracking to earn around $70 million over its opening weekend but it’s expected to be much higher as positive word-of-mouth flows in. I could see it growing to a pretty high level as there’s nothing like a good Marvel Studios film at the box office. I also believe Thunderbolts* has the potential to leg out for a few weeks even if it loses IMAX screens after two weeks (which is typical for major releases).
This is coming off of Marvel Television’s Daredevil: Born Again which was a crowdpleasing show that will be back for season two along with a Punisher special presentation. It seems like Marvel Television moving forward will go with shows that can be yearly and consider Daredevil one of them.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is the next major release from Marvel Studios and it seems like that film has been universally praised since the start. The retro-futuristic marketing has helped and it seems like we’re getting a heavier Fantastic Four presence at Disneyland before the film launches.
This on top of Avengers: Doomsday which just started filming and has been building excitement through casting and cryptic teases. That film will be a major event but many wonder if it can realistically make its May 2026 date.
No matter how you look at it, Marvel Studios has some momentum. It seems like Feige and Co. have figured out a path forward for its films and on the television side as well. Now as a fan we just hope the MCU continues to entertain.
Boardwalk Times 8th Anniversary 🎡
Boardwalk Times will continue to bring you the most extensive and comprehensive coverage of The Walt Disney Company. From our business-focused coverage to our podcast network. Boardwalk Times will continue to do quarterly earnings, mailbags, investor events, research surveys, coverage of live events, historical features, original reporting, and more.
Phenomenal articles from Kyle Silagyi and Kelly McCubbin on our anniversary: Kyle’s piece on IP’s Disney should revisit is outstanding. Kelly’s piece was extremely timely as Universal continues expand, should Disney embrace being Disney again?
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Read the entire Anniversary piece.
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Podcast Plugs 🎙
The team behind Not Just A Goof came on The Zach Perilstein Show to discuss the new Disney+ documentary about A Goofy Movie. (Spotify) (Apple)
Boardwalk Times Multiverse of Marvel has concluded its season of Better Call Murdock — A Daredevil: Born Again After-Show. The show returns next year! (Spotify) (Apple)
The Lowdown on the Plus-up has a new episode about Universal Studios’ Conan: A Sword and Sorcery Spectacular. (Spotify) (Apple)
This is the Waycast: Andor has launched with weekly analysis from Giovanni Delgadillo and Joaquin Fernandez. (Spotify) (Apple)
LINKS OF THE MONTH
— We broke a story this month. Camp Rock 3 is in development at Disney+. (Boardwalk Times)
— A great piece from the Not Just A Goof team on how their indie doc landed on Disney+. (No Film School)
— Not Just A Goof Uncovers The Untold Story of A Goofy Movie. (Boardwalk Times)
— Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro talks with his alma mater. (The Hoya)
— Kyle Silagyi continues to crush it for Boardwalk Times; his recent piece on 20th Century Studios and the Disney Parks is a wonderful read. (Boardwalk Times)
— How Star Wars Is Changing Its Tune. (The Hollywood Reporter)
— A re-release of Revenge of the Sith has made a global haul of $42 million and counting so far. (The Walt Disney Company)
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Well done as always. And I surely want to know the theory around having the event in LA vs Anaheim.