A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

On Quora, member Michael Justin asks: Will  Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker  flop like  Solo: A Star Wars Story? My response: Considering that most of the audience for the Skywalker Saga films is larger than the core of naysaying “Never Disney  Star Wars ” fan-group, I would say…”No.” Solo: A Star Wars Story  failed to perform well at the box office, not because of the success of a boycott led by  The Last Jedi- basher clique or because it was a lousy  Star Wars  film, but rather by its behind-the-scenes drama, a lackadaisical marketing campaign, spectacularly  bad  scheduling, and perhaps even a mild case of franchise weariness. Of all those factors, the most serious was Lucasfilm’s hiring and subsequent firing of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller as directors of a  Star Wars  films. Reportedly, the creators of  The LEGO Movie  wanted to give  Solo  an  Ocean’s 11  comedy-cape...

Did Solo: A Star Wars Story prove that people are losing interest in Star Wars? No.  Solo’ s failure at the box office  doesn’t  prove that people are losing interest in  Star Wars. If  Solo: A Star Wars Story  does prove anything, it is that: Bob Iger, the Chairman of The Walt Disney Company, erred badly by greenlighting too many  Star Wars  films back-to-back Lucasfilm erred by hiring Phil Lord and Christopher Miller in the first place, considering that  Solo  co-writer Lawrence Kasdan did not like their approach to the material Releasing  Solo: A Star Wars Story  on May 25, 2018 was a bad idea, even though it was meant to commemorate  Star Wars’  41st Anniversary Even worse, releasing  Solo  without giving much thought to mounting an effective publicity campaign, and on a date that was close to another Disney-owned studio’s blockbuster film’s premiere, was a bad move Star Wars  is...

© 2018 Abrams and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)  On May 25, 2018, New York City-based publisher Abrams Books released Phil Szostak's The Art of Solo: A Star Wars, the latest entry in the long-running  The Art of Star Wars series that began with Carol Titleman's classic 1979 work, The Art of Star Wars.  Featuring production paintings, costume designs, sketches and concept paintings for props, spaceships, and the many characters that were imagined for the 10th live-action Star Wars movie, The Art of Solo: A Star Wars Story is a treasure trove of graphic artwork created by some of Lucasfilm's most talented artists. Concept art for the Vandor train heist by artist Thom Tenery. © 2018 Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) Published on the same day that Solo: A Star Wars Story premiered, Szostak's fourth The Art of... book is divided thusly: Foreword by Neil Lamont Foreword by James Clyne Introduction by Phil Szostak Who's Who Harry and the Boy Han Solo Qi'ra ...