Is Kathleen Kennedy OUT at Lucasfilm? - Error Code Show

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Multiple reports earlier this week were saying

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that Kathleen Kennedy, the embattled president

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of Lucasfilm, since George sold it off to the

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House of Mouse, is retiring sometime this year.

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To be clear, there are now conflicting reports,

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and actually a new breaking report, about this

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topic. Look, we've talked about Star Wars, my

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first and favorite fandom, and this topic in

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particular multiple times on the show. So let's

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do a level reset. Kathleen Kennedy has one of

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the best resumes of any producer in Hollywood,

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full stop. She's an eight time Oscar nominee.

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She's produced things like Jurassic Park, Hook,

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Schindler's List, Back to the Future, Goonies

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and E .T. So when George announced her, because

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George picked her, not the house of mouse, George

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Lucas picked her as her as his successor and

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taking over Lucasfilm. It was a louded announcement.

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People were like, yep, that's the right choice.

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Time has shown us that this was not a good role

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for her. So even if the reports were true, we're

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going to talk about why I'm not popping bottles

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yet. Right. And also whether the reports are

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true. All right. Let's start with the bullshit

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and the breaking news. Deadline has the immediate

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reaction from Kathleen Kennedy. They got the

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interview after the news broke. Here's where

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she's going to say something and not say something

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at the same time. I am not retiring. What is

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happening at Lucasfilm is I have been talking

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for quite some time with Bob and Alan about what

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the succession might look like. We have an amazing

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bench of people and we have every intention of

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making an announcement months or a year down

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the road. We are locked up as to what that's

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going to be. Please note what she said. She said

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two things there. I'm not retiring. We're making

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an announcement. What does this mean in PR speak?

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I think that the initial reporting is correct,

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insofar as I think they're going to announce

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that she is stepping down as the head of Lucasfilm

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at the end of this year, at the end of 2025 when

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her contract's up. And I think they know who

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they're putting in place. She's not going to

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retire, though. They're not going to fire her.

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She's just going to go back to doing what she's

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actually good at, which is producing movies,

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not running a corporation. Right? She's gonna

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produce movies. She's married to Frank Marshall.

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He produces movies. He's a billion years old,

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too. That guy will die and she will die producing

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movies. Okay, that's what they're gonna do. So,

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do I think that she's gonna keep producing movies

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for Star Wars? Yep. Do I think she's gonna produce

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movies for other people? Yep. So, is she retiring?

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No, she's not gonna go sit on a beach somewhere

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and that's what she means. Do I think that Disney

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has already identified who's going to take over

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for her at the end of this year? Yes. Why am

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I not excited about this? Because I don't know

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who it is yet. We thought Cathy Kennedy was a

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good pick when they announced her. Okay. Chad,

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I'll leave it to you. And I've heard a bunch

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of you guys' arguments before about who should

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take over. And there's been loads of speculation

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this week, right? I'm not popping bottles until

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we know who's taking that job and until we get

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about two years into it So we see what they because

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you gotta remember you're putting something to

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head of Lucasfilm It's gonna take them two years

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to get anything done Okay, making movies is not

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a fast fucking process people So there's that

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Jay, what are your thoughts I think we know who

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it is. Who do you think it is? The only one that

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can save us who that could reunite us during

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this time of need that can bring us together.

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Donald Trump. No. Oh, my God. Definitely not

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kidding. I'm kidding. Go, Elon. It's going to

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be Elon. He's just going to walk in with a chainsaw

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day one. Jesus. Go. The guy, the guy that is,

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you know, the chosen one, the promised one that's

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going to come in and you reunite the country,

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take us back to our childhood, back to our roots,

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back to family. Give me a name. Vin Diesel. No,

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no, that would be, that would be horrible. I

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would, I would cry. Um, no, I'm just kidding.

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We actually, I mean, I have no idea. I, I met

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Very curious who they are going to select. And

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this is very tricky because, like you said, like

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we thought this was a good pick to begin with.

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And then. You know, we found out like, OK, she's

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a really good producer, but can't run a company.

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I don't know. It's. I don't know. I really don't.

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OK. Who is the troll? The troll. John Favreau,

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please no. Please no. Okay, here's what I'm going

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to say. One, the head of Lucasfilm does not just

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make Star Wars movies. Let's start there. Lucasfilm

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is the head of ILM and Skywalker Sound, which

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does a not insignificant amount of the special

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effects for the entire movie industry. Even stuff

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not made by Disney, okay, because they are the

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best at what they do. So, I... I'll be honest,

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I don't want another movie producer in there.

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I don't unless they are doing what DC did. Now,

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there's been some speculation that maybe they're

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looking at what DC did where they went, we're

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going to take James Gunn and Peter Safran and

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make them co -presidents, right? James, you're

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in charge of creative. Peter, you run the fucking

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business and you guys work together to make the

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best DC we can make. But if you're going to put

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somebody like Favreau or Filoni in there, you

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have to put somebody in there that actually knows

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something about running a business. Okay? And

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I'm talking a multi -billion dollar franchise

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and sub -businesses and all this shit. Because

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Star Wars is licensing. It's merchandise. It's

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brand. It's so many things that is more than

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just I made a Star Wars movie. OK. I think you

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leave Filoni. Filoni is the chief creative officer

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over at Lucasfilm right now, and I think you

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leave him right the fuck there. Also, I don't

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think Jon Favreau wants to. Be the head of a

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company. I think John likes making Mandalorian.

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I think he likes popping up in Spider -Man movies.

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And Iron Man movies, right? Yeah. There are a

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couple of VPs who did somebody sent me the article

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hang on let me swing and find it There's a couple

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of VPs over at Lucasfilm that might be able to

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do it There's some people outside of Disney's

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ecosystem that could do it how many people in

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the world fit that bill let literally you're

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asking that question. It's probably less than

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20 There are probably 20 people In the world.

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In the entertainment business, who could you

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could pluck off the street and go run Lucasfilm,

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one of the most valuable and storied franchise

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companies in the world. Right. Like, that's not

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an easy task. Especially with the state that

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the Star Wars fandom is in right now. I think

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it's great. I think we should bring back charge

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our banks, maybe. Maybe Jar Jar Binks can like

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run Lucas Films. Somebody asked about hiring

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poachers, somebody from Watson. They're not a

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big enough company. They're just not. And then

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it's not they're not an entertainment company.

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You have to understand Hollywood. Right. Which

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is why one of the reasons the whole Wizards D

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&D Hasbro D &D like movie shit didn't work and

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why Hasbro ended up selling E1. because. You

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know, they screwed it up. Hasbro bought a production

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company in Hollywood, screwed it up and ended

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up selling it for way less than they bought it

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for because they didn't know how to make movies.

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Get realistic about potential options. Five years

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ago, Feige would have been an option. Again,

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there's a couple of people and I just I don't

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have the article in front of me. Maybe I can

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find it real quick. There's a couple of people

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at Lucasfilm who might be able to do it. Hollywood

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Reporter had a bunch of people that they identified.

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Favreau, Filoni, Feige, Emma Watts. She could

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probably do it. She's a 20th Century Fox Hannah

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McGillum, maybe Emma Watson's not a bad pick

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most again as people you don't they're not household

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names So Do I want Kathy Kennedy out? Yes, I

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do. I don't I don't want her there anymore I

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think she just screwed it up really really bad

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and I respect her as producer But she's a fucking

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terrible company head. And I don't know why Disney's

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left her there for as long as they have, because

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she has she has done some serious damage to Star

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Wars. Yeah, and I'll I'll say, like, it's not

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God, it's not an easy job. I don't I don't even

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I wouldn't I wouldn't want to do it, to be completely

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honest. It's it's one of those things where Um,

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I used to really love working on cars. Like I

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would skip school in high school to go to the

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junk yard. Uh, and so everyone was like, Oh,

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like you're going to become a mechanic. And I

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was like, no, like that's my hobby. I don't want

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it to become my job. I, I would not want to be.

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I wouldn't, I would hate for someone to be like.

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J is the reason why Star Wars sucks, which you're

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never going to make every Star Wars fan happy.

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Nope. So no, I would. Well, and somebody in the

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in the Twitch chat to bring up something. And

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again, I've actually heard this from multiple

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creatives. There are directors who have out and

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out said out loud, I will not work on a Star

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Wars movie right now. I won't touch that with

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a 10 foot pole because the fandom is just too

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much right now. Like. There's just no way to

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do it. And again, being a studio head is also

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not being a creative. That is not your job. Right.

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That that's not what you do. OK. You're showing

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our show notes, man. Oh, wow. That's fine. Oh,

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my God. I had something else. Build. Yeah. Yeah.

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Your job is to make money for the company. That's

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that's absolutely right, chat. That is their

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job. And that's what they're supposed to do.

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Like, I hate to fucking say it, but that's the

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deal, baby. Yeah. So get somebody like Emma Watts

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or a studio head that they've already got. That's

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like a smaller studio head. Put them in charge

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of Lucasfilm. Somebody who can go you, you, you,

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you, you, you five people make new good Star

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Wars content and leave them the fuck alone. OK.

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Like that's what you do. So anyway, so there

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you go Kathleen's not retiring, but she's probably

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leaving Lucasfilm Good I'll be happy once I know

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who the hell's coming in and you know what I'll

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be happy when we actually get another Star Wars

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movie Because I am pissed that I've had no Star

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Wars on the big screen in six fucking years Okay,

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that's to me is the biggest crime here. Okay,

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nothing Anyway, let us know what you think down

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in the comments below