Kathleen Kennedy On ‘Star Wars’ Woke Complaints: “Storytelling Does Need To Be Representative Of All People”

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor David Oyelowo plays the title character in “Lawmen: Bass Reeves,” the true story of a man who escaped enslavement and went on to become one of the first U.S. Deputy Marshals. While there is no shortage of stories from the 1860s and 1870s, there are only four known images of Bass Reeves.

Rosario Dawson, Hayden Christensen, and Lucasfilm Creative Chief Dave Filoni were on the Happy Sad Confused podcast to discuss the “Star Wars” series “Ahsoka” this week (read our review). And while all eyes are on season two of “Ahsoka,” which Filoni says he’s writing, so it’s presumably on the way at some point, many fans are wondering what’s going on with the feature-length film.

As we know from yesterday’s excerpt from an upcoming episode of The Playlist’s The Discourse podcast featuring Jude Law promoting his forthcoming film period drama “Firebrand” opposite Alicia Vikander (read our review), the actor basically turned down an early version of “Superman” when Brett Ratner was attached to direct. For years, Law seemed to avoid most franchises.

Naman Ramachandran London and New York-based film sales agency The Mise En Scene Company (MSC) has diversified, securing world rights to scripted series “Driven.” The show stars Rebecca Henderson, known for her roles in “Star Wars: The Acolyte” (Disney) and “Russian Doll” (Netflix), and Liza Colón-Zayas from “The Bear” (FX). Produced by O Positive Films in New York and created by David Shane, represented by 3 Arts Entertainment, “Driven” centers on Theodora “Teddy” Fischer (Henderson), an Uber driver and struggling post-post-modern novelist. Teddy’s life hits rock bottom after getting fired from an animated children’s show for a controversial episode and dealing with her wife’s departure.

“The Sunday Times,” Dunne wrote, “First of all, let me cut to the chase and say that Carrie never became my girlfriend. She knew, long before I did, that being lovers would diminish our possibilities.

Warning: Spoilers ahead Star Wars fans have been left reeling by the shock of a major name actor being killed off in the opening minutes of the new prequel series The Acolyte.The show is set 100 years before Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, and the first two episodes were released to streaming on Disney+ on June 4.The Acolyte has been created by Russian Doll’s Leslye Headland and it stars Amandla Stenberg (The Hate U Give, Bodies Bodies Bodies) in the twin lead roles of Osha and Mae. The two characters are raised by a coven of witches, led by Jodie Turner-Smith, and are separated by tragedy, with Osha training as a Jedi before lapsing, while Mae turns to the dark side.In the opening moments of the first episode, we see a mysterious woman enter a bar and kill the Jedi Master Indara, played by Carrie-Anne Moss.

Star Wars universe is continuing to expand. When “The Acolyte” premieres tonight on Disney+, June 4, the High Republic Era will make its way into live-action canon after years of canonical comics and novels. In “The Acolyte,” an investigation into a spree of murders pits a Jedi Master and his former Padawan against forces of evil long thought to be extinct within the galaxy.

WARNING: The following review contains spoilers from the first two episodes of Disney+/Lucasfilm’s series The Acolyte which drop tonight at 6PM PT.

No amount of rewatching, revisionism, and distance makes the leaden “Star Wars” prequels good, sorry (lord knows I’ve tried). But teeming with terrifically substantive ideas, just not convincing in the execution of any of them, the most juicy and complex legacy that George Lucas ever left “Star Wars” with—something the franchise always seems to flirt with and yet never fully embrace—is the notion of failure, and the Jedi Order as a deeply flawed and ultimately ruinous organization.

EXCLUSIVE: Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Sarah Snook (Succession, Predestination) has set her next big project following the conclusion of HBO’s hit series Succession.

Star Wars suffer more harassment “because of the fan base being so male dominated”.The franchise has long fielded misogynistic and racist comments from online trolls, with both Daisy Ridley and Kelly Marie Tran previously leaving social media as a result of the abuse.Now, ahead of the release of the new Disney+ Star Wars series The Acolyte, the same issue has repeated itself, with some fans referring to the show as “The Wokelyte” due its diverse cast.Created by Leslye Headland, The Acolyte is set long before the events of The Phantom Menace (1999) and charts the emergence of the Dark Side during the High Republic era.“Operating within these giant franchises now, with social media and the level of expectation — it’s terrifying,” Kennedy said, in a new interview with The New York Times.“I think Leslye has struggled a little bit with it. I think a lot of the women who step into Star Wars struggle with this a bit more.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director In a new interview with The New York Times for the upcoming “Star Wars” series “The Acolyte,” Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said she is aware that women in the space franchise are often attacked online more than men “because of the fan base being so male dominated.” Female stars Daisy Ridley and Kelly Marie Tran certainly faced online harassment from toxic fans when the most recent “Star Wars” film trilogy was released, and now “The Acolyte” is already being attacked in certain corners of the fandom. “The Acolyte” is an original story created by Leslye Headland that’s set long before the events of “The Phantom Menace.” Headland, known for directing films such as “Sleeping With Other People” and co-creating Netflix’s hit comedy series “Russian Doll,” is the first woman to serve as showrunner of a “Star Wars” series.

Carrie Fisher got back on drugs to slim down for the Star Wars sequels… At least that’s what her pal James Blunt says.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Musician James Blunt recently said at the Hay Festival in Wales (via People) that his close friend Carrie Fisher faced tremendous pressure to be thin for “Star Wars” when she reprised her iconic role of Princess Leia in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” Fisher previously told Good Housekeeping U.K. in 2015 shortly before “The Force Awakens” opened in theaters that she lost 35 pounds for the movie.

Earlier today, we shared a news item about Rahul Kohli being a bit heartbroken that he didn’t land a role in Marvel Studios’ “The Fantastic Four.” Now, here’s a story about another actor, Glen Powell, who is finally able to joke about the fact that he “blew” the final audition for a major “Star Wars” role.

James Blunt has blamed the pressure of the Star Wars workload for Carrie Fisher’s drugs relapse.The Princess Leia actor died in 2016 after suffering a cardiac arrest on board a flight from London to Los Angeles. She was 60 years old.The coroner’s report later confirmed that cocaine plus “traces” of heroin and MDMA (also known as ecstasy) had been found in her system.

Navin Chowdhry has been making waves since his debut on EastEnders in September 2022.The 53 year old actor joined the Walford cast as the villainous Nish, husband to Suki Panesar, fresh out of prison after serving time for murder. He's quickly becoming a memorable rogue in the series. He was even forced to beg bosses to make Nish less evil, as he was worried about how fans would see him because of his role.

George Lucas is defending the Star Wars franchise against criticism that he cast “all white men” in the movies.

Star Wars films were “all white”, countering that “most of the people are aliens”.Lucas was the executive producer, writer and director of the Star Wars franchise up until Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith in 2005, and also conceived and produced the Indiana Jones film series.Speaking at the Cannes Film Festival after receiving an honorary Palme d’Or Award, he responded to the accusation directly.“They would say, ‘It’s all white men’,” he said (via Variety). “Most of the people are aliens!”“The idea is you’re supposed to accept people for what they are, whether they’re big and furry or whether they’re green or whatever.

George Lucas returned to the Cannes Croisette for the first time since 1971 this week to receive an honorary Palme d’Or. So what did the 80-year-old director say about his career as he talked to a packed audience at the Debussy Theater after accepting the prize? Well, to the surprise of no one, THR reports that he mainly talked about “Star Wars.” Along the way, Lucas defended the prequel trilogy, his continual updates to the original trilogy, and lamented how Disney misused his ideas after he sold Lucasfilm to the company in 2012 for $4.05 billion.