Will Disney Fire Rian Johnson?

[jtd]

We're almost two weeks out now from the release of Star Wars The Last Jedi.

Make your predictions! Is Disney satisfied enough? Or will they be re-evaluating and making changes in direction?

(Personally, my guess is he will be removed/replaced. I don't think those fans that were disappointed with the movie will be in such a willing mood to go out and buy pre-sales and opening day tickets as they were in the past. But that's my opinion.)

[AJBopp]

What is it exactly you think he might be fired from? I'm confused

[Hawkgirl_70]

Oh heck no!
He's their boy and they like him.

I've already voiced my opinion in several posts around these boards that I DID NOT LIKE THIS MOVIE.
With that being said, Disney liked it and approved it.
They saw it in advance. They're giving him 3 more movies as a result.
Bottom line, my vote doesn't count and theirs does so he's here to stay unfortunately.

[Powerboy]

We're almost two weeks out now from the release of Star Wars The Last Jedi.

Make your predictions! Is Disney satisfied enough? Or will they be re-evaluating and making changes in direction?

(Personally, my guess is he will be removed/replaced. I don't think those fans that were disappointed with the movie will be in such a willing mood to go out and buy pre-sales and opening day tickets as they were in the past. But that's my opinion.)

Based on this

http://variety.com/2017/film/box-off...-2-1202648631/

why would they not have him write and direct the next one?

Oh, because some people on the Internet don't like a movie and clearly that represents a common opinion when the movie seems to actually be one of the biggest of all time? There are always people who don't like something and think it means others don't.

[RikWriter]

I doubt it. They should, though. He royally screwed up the franchise.

[regg215]

While they absolutely should, I don't think there is any way disney will. Simply put firing johnson would be admitting failure with episode 8 and there is no chance disney will do that. The only way I could see his job being in danger would be if episode 9 sees a significant decline in sales and with it being Star Wars there is little to no chance that will happen. Even though this movie really split the fanbase I think disney will just chalk it up to a necessary division to get rid of older fans and earn newer ones and while as an older fan I dislike that strategy it is hard to argue against it based on the financial success these movies have had so far.

[AnakinFlair]

Based on this

http://variety.com/2017/film/box-off...-2-1202648631/

why would they not have him write and direct the next one?

Oh, because some people on the Internet don't like a movie and clearly that represents a common opinion when the movie seems to actually be one of the biggest of all time? There are always people who don't like something and think it means others don't.

It was a 67.5% drop off between weeks 1 and 2, and a 55% drop off between weeks 2-3. Disney might have liked it. The critics may have liked it. But audiences are staying away and a corporation like Disney will not look upon that favorably. That being said, since it is Disney- they could afford to stick with him. I can see them looking to build an entirely new audience and write off the existing fan base.

Also, he's not writing and directing the next one. Disney gave him his own trilogy. JJ Abrams will be back for Episode 9, which should be a hoot considering Rian seemingly took great joy in destroying everything that JJ set up. And this is coming from someone who HATES JJ Abrams. The clear disdain Rian had of JJ's TFA was breathtaking to me.

[robreedwrites]

Right now, Rian Johnson doesn't even know what the trilogy will be about. He's still coming up with it. Disney announcing this trilogy was likely to build up anticipation for TLJ, because they clearly loved it. Audiences haven't as much. If Disney likes what Rian Johnson ultimately comes up with, I figure they'll move forward. If they don't, they won't. I just hope they don't have Episode IX double back on VIII. JJ Abrams liked the script for VIII, so I don't think he'd go back on the twists here unless the studio felt panicked. TLJ is doing good at the box office, but is also significantly trailing TFA. So it depends on what Disney expected.

[Username taken]

Nope! Disney won’t fire Rian Johnson,

They might take a tighter control over the production but they won’t fire him.

The Last Jedi when it’s all said and done is a very well made movie that had a clunky plot and story.

[the nomad]

Nope! Disney won’t fire Rian Johnson,

They might take a tighter control over the production but they won’t fire him.

The Last Jedi when it’s all said and done is a very well made movie that had a clunky plot and story.

Well made movie with a clunky plot and story???? It's not a very well made movie then now is it.

Nah, they won't fire him. WB didn't fire Snyder after the divisive nature of Man of Steel. They doubled down and gave him BVS and Justice League. All made money in spite of reviews being less than favorable.

Same thing here. Last Jedi very very very divisive but still made money. They gave him his own trilogy but it's a wait and see on how it's gonna do since it supposedly won't have a connection to the main story. People won't forget this movie that's for sure, and because of that it will color ppl's judgement about seeing another Rian Johnson Star Wars based movie.

[Soubhagya]

What is it exactly you think he might be fired from? I'm confused

Yes from where exactly? He is not directing Episode IX. He has a trilogy coming up which could be just about anything. 500 years ago. A story set in some far unexplored corner of the galaxy. The scope of the Star Wars universe is huge and spanning over thousands of years. My guess is he is doing something completely unrelated to the saga. A free reign to do anything and everything. To build from scratch. A Star Wars saga film won't give him that much freedom.

And why fire him at all. Disney were really happy with his film and have a lot of confidence in him. And i don't understand the narrative of being divisive. No it is not. It has excellent critical reception.

Among three audience scores the only anomaly is RT audience score at 54%. IMDB at 7.6. Cinemascore at A. IMDB and Cinemascore is alright. I say that both IMDB and RT audience scores are unreliable. Cinemascore is the only one which verifies all viewers. Rest can be manipulated by people, as people can vote multiple times and even without seeing the film.

The second weekend drop is expected. Historically, the second films of the Star Wars trilogy have earned the least. It had to contend with pretty good competition. And the drop appears bad in comparison to other films because it earned 220 million in the first place! Within 11 days it has reached near 800 million. An article by Forbes.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottme.../#34fe93ce7d2e

To call it divisive we can compare it with BvS which was a truly divisive film. That film opened to 422 million worldwide in opening weekend in comparison to 450 million of The Last Jedi. Let's begin.

Critics scores:
BvS RT 27%. TLJ RT 91%.
BvS Metacritic 44. TLJ 86.

Audience scores:
BvS Cinemascore B. TLJ Cinemascore A.


Both IMDB and RT audience scores are not reliable. But just for the sake of comparison.
BvS IMDB 6.6. TLJ IMDB 7.6 (till now)
BvS Audience RT audience 63%. TLJ 54%(till now)

There was another survey which took a sample of about 4400 people.

http://comicbook.com/starwars/2017/1...poll-petition/

So, 68.5 % drop is a tad disappointing. But its not entirely unexpected for TLJ. But if it fails to reach 1 billion in its lifetime then there is a cause for alarm for Disney.

That does not mean that there is an insignificant number of people who disliked the film. Quite a number of people disliked it. That much people were not there in TFA. But to call it divisive would be erroneous. That has to be backed by something concrete. Let us see the whole run. After that one will see one's opinion confirmed.

Its a great film. Unlike BvS, i can say that for TLJ. But films being of a subjective nature can be disliked by people. I had a similar experience with Slumdog Millionaire. Critics may have gone ga ga over it. It might have won the best film in the Oscars. But i disliked it. It was too boring. I did not like Dunkirk too. Incredible experience for me because i have loved every single Nolan film till now.

Being Star Wars the divisiveness is being magnified. But yes it is being disliked by a significant number of people. And that has also contributed to the big drop.

[AndrewCrossett]

Among three audience scores the only anomaly is RT audience score at 54%. IMDB at 7.6. Cinemascore at A. IMDB and Cinemascore is alright. I say that both IMDB and RT audience scores are unreliable. Cinemascore is the only one which verifies all viewers. Rest can be manipulated by people, as people can vote multiple times and even without seeing the film.

The poor audience score is a result of a coordinated effort by an "alt-right" group:

http://www.indiewire.com/2017/12/sta...rs-1201910095/

But the group claiming credit is so cartoonishly stupid and stereotypical that I have to think any claimed political motive is really just for the Lulz.

[Carabas]

I don't think Rian Johnson has ever even worked directly for Disney.

[Judge Dredd]

Critically acclaimed film that had the second best opening weekend of all time and has almost made 800 million dollars. What one of these things would Disney look at and decide hey we should not bring this guy back for more? Fans need to remember that the angry people are in the minority no matter how loud you complain. Disney is not looking at message boards they are looking at critic reviews and box office both have been out of the park. As mentioned by others he has also been giving his own trilogy that has no story in place yet, sounds like they like and trust the man.

[KurtW95]

It’s too late. He already screwed everything up. Firing him and replacing him with somebody better won’t fix the current state of Star Wars.