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Who desires to name the photographs on “Star Wars“?

No, actually, as a result of it’s type of a thankless job. After all, the intergalactic franchise is sacrosanct as a cultural establishment, so the president of Lucasfilm — residence to “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” — has probably the most prestigious posts in Hollywood.

However there’s additionally the fact they’ll be trolled on social media, parodied on “South Park” and criticized as too woke, too company, too slavishly dedicated to George Lucas’s imaginative and prescient, or too prepared to depart from Jedi canon.

And whoever will get the gig might be taking on at a low level in one in all cinema’s greatest and most beloved franchises. Powers that be on the Disney-owned empire haven’t managed to get a movie off the bottom in six years (an eternity in at this time’s hyperactive tradition). And the films which have appeared within the decade-plus since Disney acquired Lucasfilm for $4 billion have been an train in diminishing returns – each financially and critically. In the meantime, Disney+ spinoff tv exhibits resembling “The Acolyte” have been unceremoniously canceled after one season.

And but, inside hours of studies that Kathleen Kennedy will step down as president of Lucasfilm on the finish of 2025, executives, artistic expertise and mega-producers had been scrambling to get on the radar of Disney CEO Bob Iger and Disney Leisure Co-Chairman Alan Bergman. There are solely so many of those jobs available, in spite of everything, and cracking the code on “Star Wars” may imply wielding a Kevin Feige-like affect in leisure.

However the profitable applicant should supply a really explicit set of expertise. Foremost amongst them are deep relationships with artists and auteurs. That’s essential as a result of underneath Kennedy, “Star Wars” has cycled by means of a variety of A-list filmmakers – from Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who had been fired from “Solo” mid-production, to Patty Jenkins and David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, whose films had been introduced after which deserted on account of artistic variations. That’s to not point out the litany of in-demand expertise, like James Mangold, Taika Waititi, Donald Glover and Rian Johnson, whose house opera-centric spinoffs have but to materialize. Kennedy has by no means had bother attracting prime administrators. However maintaining them employed has been an ongoing problem. Even filmmakers whose films really debuted on the large display screen, resembling Gareth Edwards (“Rogue One”), noticed the ultimate product both reshot or dramatically refashioned within the modifying course of. The subsequent particular person tapped to direct a brand new “Star Wars” film will need assurances that they received’t shortly be part of the ranks of the employed and fired.

Whoever will get the Lucasfilm gig should supply an expansive imaginative and prescient for the place to take the 48-year-old franchise – one which entails streaming, in addition to a extra constant output of films. There’s been an unintentional seven-year hole between 2019’s “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” the final function movie to hit screens, and the upcoming “The Mandalorian & Grogu,” a continuation of the Disney+ present that Lucasfilm plans to unveil theatrically in 2026.

Even Disney’s personal Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is probably the most financially profitable franchise in historical past, has struggled in recent times to keep up the identical stage of high quality because it has moved past films and into streaming. It’s simple for even probably the most thrilling franchises to change into oversaturated and develop stale.

“It’s one of many authentic, nice legacy tales with as a lot potential as any of the nice motion and science fiction tales,” says David A. Gross, who runs the film consulting agency Franchise Leisure Analysis. “Has it been over-developed? Underdeveloped? At this level it’s sprawling and inconceivable to quantify. ‘Mandalorian & Grogu’ would be the first new theatrical launch in a lifetime. Let’s see the way it lands.”

So, the proper candidate should supply greater than a passive curiosity in all issues Skywalker. Like Marvel’s boss Feige, they have to be deeply versed within the mythology that Lucas established with 1977’s authentic “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope” after which expanded over the course of sequels, graphic novels, videogames, theme park points of interest, even the ill-fated “Vacation Particular.” As a result of these films and exhibits are pricey to supply and essential to Disney’s backside line, it wouldn’t damage if they’d some enterprise background, together with a sure inventive spark.

“It’s actually exhausting to search out individuals who have love and information of ‘Star Wars’ and can run an enormous firm. That is somebody who must know the way lengthy a lightsaber is and the way you cost it…” says Stephen Galloway, dean of Chapman College’s movie faculty. “What number of executives know the reply to these questions?”

Already, individuals across the leisure enterprise are providing up their predictions for who will get drafted to a galaxy far, far-off. They embody Jon Favreau, who oversees “The Mandalorian” on Disney+ and has expertise helming blockbusters resembling “Iron Man,” in addition to Dave Filoni, Lucasfilm’s chief artistic officer and government producer of “The Ebook of Boba Fett” and “Skeleton Crew.” Others who could possibly be on a want checklist are “Harry Potter” producer David Heyman and Legendary Leisure’s Mary Guardian, who oversees the “Dune” and “Godzilla” franchises.

One prime agent suggests Peter Rice, who was fired by former Disney CEO Bob Chapek in 2022 in a extensively panned transfer, as a potential match. “As an government, he helped develop ‘X-Males’ and has relationships with the highest actors, writer-directors,” says the agent. “His total style would re-energize everyone. Plus, he’s obtained nice relationships at Disney.”

Some on the artistic aspect may not need the headache that comes with being an government. Favreau, as an example, makes far extra money as a filmmaker for rent than he would as a company swimsuit — and he doesn’t have to fret about maintaining his Siths straight from his P&L. However would Lucasfilm take a web page from DC and pair a artistic kind with a producer who speaks Wall Road-ese, à la James Gunn and Peter Safran. That considering may make Favreau and Filoni the proper mixture.

“When you’re a artistic particular person, do you need to be operating a multi-billion-dollar firm? It’s a unique job,” Galloway says. “You’re additional and additional faraway from creativity. Producers aren’t essentially nice executives.”

Although Kennedy has endured greater than her justifiable share of criticism from followers and Hollywood over the various stalled tasks and inconsistent movies and exhibits, she might be exhausting to switch. When she took the job at Lucasfilm in 2012, she had already established herself as probably the most profitable producers, having labored carefully with the likes of Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis on every thing from “Jurassic Park” to “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” to “Lincoln.” After taking management of the corporate, she employed J.J. Abrams and triumphantly rebooted “Star Wars” with “The Power Awakens,” which stays the highest-grossing movie in home field workplace historical past with $936 million (and $2 billion globally).

In doing so, Kennedy proved “Star Wars” was a sturdy sufficient fantasy journey to outlive the departure of its creator, George Lucas, who had handpicked her earlier than leaving when Disney purchased his firm. Comply with-ups within the trilogy, 2017’s “The Final Jedi” and “The Rise of Skywalker,” although nonetheless billion-dollar smashes, every made about half as a lot as “The Power Awakens” earned a couple of years earlier. In between, 2018’s spinoff “Solo: A Star Wars Story” turned the primary “Star Wars” film to ever lose cash in its theatrical run. From there, although, Kennedy managed to increase the franchise past films and into streaming, accurately betting the Power would keep robust with “The Mandalorian” creator Favreau and a cute child Yoda.

“To present her due, Kathleen had a very tough problem: How do you are taking over George Lucas’s child? She did it and stayed for 13 years,” says Galloway. “There are only a few franchises which have survived that lengthy.”

It is sensible that “Star Wars” would possibly want a contemporary perspective — and it isn’t alone. Nearly all of Hollywood’s main franchises are at the moment going through rising pains. “Mission: Inconceivable” is wrapping up this summer season with Tom Cruise’s eighth and closing installment within the globe-trotting collection, “The Remaining Reckoning.” Marvel is trying to course-correct after a disappointing run following 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame.” Harry Potter, having tried and didn’t make “Implausible Beasts” a factor, is shifting to Max with a brand new TV collection in regards to the well-known boy wizard. And simply final week, James Bond ceded artistic management from the Broccoli household to Amazon MGM after struggling for years to chart a post-Daniel Craig course. That would give Star Wars a gap to fill the void for giant blockbuster leisure.

Doing so might require taking the type of daring artistic dangers that leisure conglomerates aren’t recognized for embracing. It’s price remembering, nonetheless, that when Lucas first got here up together with his imaginative and prescient for a collection of mystical warriors and darkish lords, few in Hollywood thought it will work. He was turned down by many main studios and even after he managed to persuade twentieth Century Fox to again his movie, he nonetheless anxious it will flop. At a screening for fellow filmmakers that included Brian De Palma, author Gloria Katz, and a smattering of Fox fits, the response was so destructive that Lucas anxious his profession could possibly be over.

However there was one essential supply of help within the viewers – Lucas’ buddy, Steven Spielberg. “George, it’s nice. It’s gonna make $100 million,” Spielberg reportedly mentioned.

It turned out Spielberg was off by a number of billion {dollars}.

Tatiana Siegel contributed to this report.