The mood over at Lucasfilm probably isn’t great right now. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny was supposed to be one of the biggest movies of the summer: Harrison Ford is cracking the whip one last time as one of the most revered characters in cinema history, they had a reliable action director in James Mangold, and a killer supporting cast.
Unfortunately, audiences didn’t agree, with Dial of Destiny cratering at the box office and set to lose Disney millions of dollars. So, with Disney and Lucasfilm’s upcoming Star Wars slate featuring Mangold’s Dawn of the Jedi, is it time for a rethink?
A lengthy and pessimistic post on r/StarWars argues a behind-the-scenes shakeup must happen. But fingers aren’t being pointed at James Mangold (and to be fair, Dial of Destiny is actually a very fun movie) but at long-time Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy.
Even mentioning her name generally attracts the worst kind of fan, though it’s difficult to deny that her leadership has seen some major wobbles in a galaxy far, far away. Projects like Solo and The Rise of Skywalker were ruined by executive meddling, and much of the success of the Disney Plus shows is down to Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni overseeing them rather than Kennedy.
The post concludes that now is the perfect time to ditch Kennedy. We’re entering a new era of Star Wars and it’s time for a fresh perspective at the top of the company.
Replies are a little more charitable, pointing out that 2023 has been a slow year for summer blockbusters, with too many megabudget releases coming in June and July. Right now audiences simply can’t afford to see every major release (particularly with high ticket prices), and anyone with a Disney Plus subscription will know it’s arriving on the service sooner or later.
Others believe that Indiana Jones and Star Wars aren’t directly comparable. Star Wars is continually reinventing itself while Dial of Destiny is intentionally trying to recreate the thrills of the classic 1980s movies and leaning on Harrison Ford to sell the movie. And perhaps younger audiences don’t have the same affection for Ford as older ones.
We suspect Kennedy is safe for some time yet. It’s worth remembering that despite some major missteps Star Wars is bigger than it’s ever been and she’s succeeded in her mission to expand the franchise beyond appealing to a young male audience.
That said, if a couple of the upcoming Star Wars movies meet the same fate as Dial of Destiny then Disney will start getting antsy that one of their gold-standard mega-franchises perhaps isn’t getting the treatment it should,
