Disney’s Multi-Billion Dollar Star Wars Disaster Gets Desperate Overhaul

Clear Facts

• Disney invested billions in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge theme park lands based on the new trilogy films and fictional planet “Batuu”
• The lands focused on newer characters like Rey and Kylo Ren instead of beloved original trilogy heroes, following advice from Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy
• Disney is now bringing back Han Solo, Princess Leia, and Luke Skywalker to the parks, tacitly admitting their original strategy failed

Just a few years ago, the Walt Disney Company proudly opened Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in multiple parks across the country, betting billions that fans wanted to experience the world of the newest trilogy. That gamble has spectacularly backfired.

Disney poured massive resources into the Galaxy’s Edge design and construction, basing the entire experience on a fictional world called “Batuu.” The company hyped up cutting-edge technology and immersive elements meant to keep guests engaged for hours, returning again and again to build experience points through interactive props and character encounters.

But there was a critical flaw in the foundation. “Batuu” was purposefully set in the world of the newest trilogy, populated by characters like Rey and Kylo Ren rather than the iconic heroes Americans grew up loving. This decision came directly from Kathleen Kennedy, then-head of Lucasfilm, who advised then-Disney CEO Bob Iger to focus on the future rather than the past.

Now, under new leadership, Disney is completely reversing course. In the process, they’re admitting they completely missed the mark with their multi-billion dollar project.

The Original Mistake

Former Walt Disney World Vice President Dan Cockerell explained in an interview why Galaxy’s Edge initially focused on the new trilogy instead of the beloved original films. It came down to one fateful meeting between Bob Iger and Kathleen Kennedy.

“We got a call one day. They said, ‘Well, we got some news for you all.’ And the Imagineering guys, they’ve heard this line many, many times during their careers. And I had never been through this,” Cockerell recalled.

“They said, ‘Well, yesterday Bob Iger met with Kathleen Kennedy, who as a lot people may know was sort of George Lucas’ protégé and headed up Lucasfilm. And they had a conversation. They had a meeting. And Kathleen Kennedy, her point of view was, there are way more Disney Star Wars stories ahead of us than behind us. So we really should think about do we want to build a Tatooine, and build what all the fifty-somethings remember Star Wars is or do we want to build something else which is going to appeal to all the upcoming generations who are going to know the new stories.'”

Don’t focus the land on characters people actually like, Kennedy advised. Focus instead on the new movies. And Iger listened.

Those new movies have come and gone, and “Star Wars” has never meant less in the national conversation. Under new CEO Josh D’Amaro, Disney announced this month they’re bringing Han Solo, Princess Leia, and Luke Skywalker into Galaxy’s Edge, along with finally incorporating John Williams’ beloved score from the original films.

Desperation Drives the Changes

That’s how you know they’re admitting they made a gigantic mistake listening to Kathleen Kennedy. Bringing these characters into Galaxy’s Edge makes no logical or thematic sense, particularly since they’re being portrayed as their younger selves from the original trilogy.

But Disney is desperate to make their gigantic investment in Galaxy’s Edge worth it. They’re hoping characters people actually like will bring new fans and keep them there longer.

It’s a series of unforced errors that could have been easily avoided. Disney made mediocre movies that have been mostly forgotten, assumed people cared about Rey and Kylo Ren or Finn or Poe Dameron, and then bet billions of dollars that their newer stories would be more popular moving forward than the old ones.

They were wrong about all of it. None of the depth, complexity, charm, or swashbuckling excitement of the original characters is present in the new movies.

The studio hasn’t released a new “main trilogy” Star Wars movie in years and isn’t close to releasing one. Now they’re having to undo these mistakes without spending billions to reconfigure the land.

What a disaster. And even more frustratingly, a predictable and avoidable one that ignored what paying customers actually wanted in favor of corporate hubris.

Let us know what you think, please share your thoughts in the comments below.