Movie and TV News
I only posted an update a couple of days ago, but this week Nielsen released their new numbers in a more timely fashion, so we already have data for the following week. This is week six for Andor, or two weeks after the finale.
And it is still in the original series top 10. The only series ever to achieve the same was The Mandalorian. Nothing else. These Disney+ shows drop out of the top 10 pretty much immediately after the finale. Not Andor. With 385 million minutes it made #10. This now confirms the trend on the Luminate charts where Andor even stayed on the charts for an additional three weeks. Proving that Andor has a lot more staying power and a much stronger and longer tail end than virtually any other show that is not The Mandalorian. A well deserved success for all the people involved!
This is probably it then for Andor. And this will also be the last Nielsen / Luminate article for a long time probably, the next show should be Ahsoka in 2026 (probably).
And even though unrelated to Star Wars it may still interest a few people: brand new Marvel / MCU series “Ironheart” was released on Disney+ this week. This show had been in the can for three years and it was delayed all this time… they probably should have given it the Batgirl treatment (i.e. use it as a tax write off and put in the vault where no one will ever see it). They dropped three episodes at once on Tuesday, and the episodes are about as long as Andor’s episodes, total runtime of the three episodes is 142 minutes.
And it still did not make the Luminate streaming charts. But the #10 entry only has 260.8 million minutes. Which means fewer than 1.8 million people watched this. Ironheart seems to be a bomb on another level. Of course people said this is a lousy idea basically from the moment this show was announced. You have to remember though that this was greenlit half a decade ago when times were very different, still fresh on the heels of Black Panther that probably made someone think black girl copycat Ironman (who is a literal thief in this, if you can believe it) as the star of a show is a bright idea.
The Nielsen Streaming Charts
The Luminate Streaming Charts
All’s well that ends well
 |
|
|
I will make it quick. It took quite a few days longer than usual for Nielsen to finally release new charts. This time it’s for week 1 after the Andor finale. On the Luminate charts Andor remained in the top 10 for another three weeks after the finale dropped. So it was always interesting to see if Andor can repeat the same feat on the Nielsen charts.
A quick reminder: it’s virtually unheard of that any Disney+ original series can remain in the top 10 one week after the finale. The Mandalorian managed that. And now Andor season 2 managed it as well (season 1 did not). Andor had a very respectable 527 million minutes watchtime, which is good enough for #4 on the original shows charts, beating various Netflix shows. And remember, this is for a week in which no new episodes dropped.
This confirms that Andor has a long tail end and that viewer retention is higher than for other Star Wars series that are not The Mandalorian. It may also mean that more people waited to binge this time. And with that season 2 is getting closer to season 1 total watchtime. Watchtimes will eventually probably be equal, meaning the show did not lose any viewers really between season 1 and 2, of course Andor is still one of the lesser watched shows overall, but it will beat The Acolyte and Skeleton Crew. It will be really interesting to see if Andor can still remain in the top 10 next week. Which always depends on the competition of course. The #10 show this week has 361 million minutes.
|
|
|
New reports (by scooper DanielRPK and several entertainment outlets also have stories about this) have surfaced that claim the Rey movie is on hold. Some outlets even use the word “shelved”. And that even James Mangold’s “Dawn of the Jedi” movie will move forward first, this in addition to Shawn Levy’s Ryan Gosling “Starfighter” movie which is said to begin filming later this year.
This is no real surprise of course, the Rey movie has had a few people desperately trying to come up with a script, with nothing to show for even after more than two years. Even Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy has been awfully silent about the movie ever since her bizarre appearance on CNN 18 months ago. All clear indicators that this movie is in typical development hell, and it can be very difficult to ever escape from that.
And with Kennedy allegedly resigning in August (no confirmation yet) it could very well mean Obaid-Chinoy will soon join Rian Johnson in his clubhouse. His trilogy was never officially cancelled either.
In my opinion Disney and a post Kennedy Lucasfilm would be well advised never to make that Rey movie. If they want the Star Wars franchise to have a future in theaters, that is. I only feel sorry for Daisy Ridley, who would have received the single biggest paycheck of her entire career (she received a pittance for the sequels, relatively speaking)… I suppose it’s more direct to streaming movies for her then.
Leave your humorous comments below!
Mandatory photo of Rey crying
|
|
|
Nielsen have added the final batch of Andor episodes, that is episodes 10 – 12, to their charts. So how did Andor do? One could say “pretty well”. How well? Andor was the #1 most watched streaming content in North America with its finale. Yes, it’s actually number one on the general streaming charts, making it a super rare victory for Disney+. And even better: Rogue One entered the Nielsen top 10 movie charts! Click through for all the details!
Having a good time
|
|
|
Pre-production for Star Wars: Starfighter, the Ryan Gosling movie directed by Shawn Levy (Deadpool & Wolverine, Stranger Things, Free Guy), has added another cast member. Mia Goth will join the project as one of the villains. Production is still presumed to begin later this fall and release date, as of now, is 28 May 2027, so about a year after The Mandalorian & Grogu hits theaters in May 2026.
Mia is of course a British actress (all Star Wars villains must always be British!) and she has starred in various projects previously, you can see her in movies like Suspiria, Emma (based on the Jane Austen novel) or even very artsy projects like Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac Vol. II. Star Wars will be her first foray into the world of escapist space adventures.
Do you think the Ryan Gosling movie can succeed? Are you interested in this project which is supposed to be a stand alone story with all new characters, but set in a post sequels timeline?
Mia Goth joins Star Wars
|
|
|
The new Nielsen streaming charts are available and the Andor episodes 7 through 9 were added. How does the show fare? In absolute numbers very, very well.
Andor is now the #5 show on the general streaming charts (it was #6 last week) and is still #3 on the original series charts with 830 million minutes watched, a slight increase over last week where it was 821 million.
But how does that compare to previous shows? Click through for more!
UPDATED
Syril is disappointed that Dedra won’t watch Andor
|
|
|
Andor is on the rise on the Nielsen streaming charts! Nielsen have added the second batch of episodes that were released in week 2, that means episodes 4 through 6. And Andor, regardless of whether the amount of content released benefits the show, is the first Star Wars series since basically The Mandalorian and the Ahsoka premiere that is comfortably in the overall top 10 most streamed content charts in North America!
And on the Luminate streaming charts Andor accomplishes a rare feat. It’s still in the top 10 two weeks after the last episode was released. Again, the only other Star Wars series to manage this (on the Nielsen charts however), was The Mandalorian.
Time to party
|
|
|
I waited a little longer this time to talk about the Andor streaming charts performance because I didn’t just want to cover the Luminate charts, but wanted to wait for Nielsen to add at least the first three episodes so we can better compare performance of the show with previous Star Wars series. Luminate only has numbers for The Acolyte and Skeleton Crew, both of which failed to even enter the charts repeatedly, so we only have incomplete data. But with Nielsen we can see how Andor stacks up compared to all the other shows.
So how does Andor perform? Surprisingly well. So well, that for the first time in almost forever a Star Wars series made the overall top 10 on the Nielsen streaming charts with 10th place. And 4th place in the original series charts.
In fact, an additional report by Parrot Analytics about financial performance of the show tells us that Andor is, despite its exorbitant budget, still a financial success for Disney.
So let’s look at the details! Click through for more!
Success
|
|
|
I am sorry it took me a while to post the review for the Andor series finale. But there was so much to digest and unpack this week.
To call the series finale a triumph is an understatement. The finale is very, very surprising (I bet no one would have ever predicted this kind of story for the finale) and gives each and every character the ending they deserve, and some of those endings are also quite surprising, but always very fitting.
And to all the people who never cared for Andor, which is absolutely fine, Andor is very different from your typical Star Wars, let me tell you just this: the show, but especially the series finale, has not only made Rogue One a better movie now, but even made the original Star Wars movie a much more impactful story 48 years later. And this is the true artistic achievement here. Stories we already loved have now become so much more meaningful and richer and ultimately even better. When Luke fires that torpedo now… you will truly know what it means. Rogue One did some of that already, but the Andor series finale puts it all on another level. It elevates Star Wars as a whole, the entire series has. The finale is peak Star Wars.
Anyway, this week’s review for the finale is a bit long maybe, but I still hope you will join me in a discussion about the Andor series finale Make It Stop / Who Else Knows? / Jedha, Kyber, Erso. Just click on the banner below or here!
|
|
|
This week’s three episode arc of Andor, Messenger / Who Are You? / Welcome To The Rebellion, was quite something. What can I even say? I believe Andor is exactly the kind of series we need at the moment.
Star Wars is and has always been timeless, but also, in many ways, relevant to the current era.
Andor this week is, for me, peak Star Wars, the best ever, exactly the right tv/streaming show at a perfect time. Never has Star Wars been more relevant, in my opinion.
Of course many will feel Andor is peak boredom, not Star Wars and that the political focus this week is annoying. But everyone else will hopefully agree with me that Star Wars has never been better.
|
|
|
It took a while to review the new Andor arc this week. It’s a lot of content and I want to give it its due and let it sink in as well, the three episodes combined (Ever been to Ghorman? / I Have Friends Everywhere / What A Festive Evening) had a net runtime of about 2h15min (not including the credits even).
And in my opinion it was peak television. But also the most un-starwars-y thing ever (more than ever even!). Anyone who wants their lightsabers, space battles and other usual things in Star Wars will consider Andor to be the most pretentious boring nonsense ever. Without a doubt.
Anyone else will love it to bits. And there are so many things to love this time yet again. Andor turns into a proper spy thriller this week with lots of personal drama and peak world building. And someone even gets their sweet revenge!
|
|
|
Now this is quite impressive for a 20-year-old movie! The rerelease of Revenge of the Sith is the #2 movie at the US box office! The last of the prequel movies earned $25.2 million over the weekend. Which outperforms a few new releases like the Until Dawn movie or The Accountant 2.
This is certainly evidence that Star Wars still has a lot of appeal, only fans are starved of good Star Wars movies, we haven’t had one since Rogue One. This may be a positive sign for the Mandalorian & Grogu movie if it actually sticks the landing. Of course Revenge of the Sith has things the Mandalorian will probably not have: Jedi, space battles and epic duels. So it remains to be seen if streaming show characters can actually transition successfully to the big screen. But fans certainly are longing for a good and fun Star Wars movie again. Now if only Lucasfilm actually made movies like that again. But there is hope both the Mandalorian movie and the Ryan Gosling movie may at least try earnestly to give fans fun and entertaining movies.
Did you watch the movie in theaters over the weekend?
|
|
|
Andor is back! Finally! We had to wait 2 1/2 years for this.
Lucasfilm and Disney have wisely decided to release each movie consisting of three episodes all at once, so for three weeks we will get three episodes on the same day. But that also means it’s a lot, and I mean a LOT, of content. The first movie is almost 2 1/2 hours long, reaching Lord of the Rings (theatrical cut) territory.
I want to make it short here: Andor is still the same. So it’s still the most “un-starwarsy” thing ever and anyone who felt Andor season 1 was boring or just bad even maybe will not change his or her mind. If you are one of those then you really need not bother and you can move on. What you will get here are lavish wedding parties, people talking in offices, and Syril having dinner with his mom who wants to get to know his all new sweet girlfriend (none other than ISB officer Dedra).
And anyone who loved season 1 will almost certainly also enjoy or even love the first three episodes of season 2! There is lots to talk about, so please either click here or on the banner below to discuss the first three episodes of season 2, One Year Later, Sagrone Teema and Harvest!
|
|
|
The Ninth Jedi was easily the best episode in the first Visions season. Back then the Japanese studio behind the short said that they hope to be able to continue the story since they have mapped out so much more than the short was showing, enough for a full series even.
In case you forgot: The Ninth Jedi is set in the far future of the Star Wars Galaxy where the Jedi Order is nothing but a distant memory and all but extinct, even if there are still a few Force sensitive people who call themselves Jedi in the galaxy. But they have no lightsabers. The art of making them has been lost a long time ago, but on a remote planet one man still knows how to make lightsabers, the Sith however capture him and eventually his young daughter and a young Jedi boy set out to help rebuild the Jedi order and to rescue the lightsaber swordsmith after defeating a couple of Sith who try to kill them all.
And now at Celebration Japan we not only got the release date for Visions Volume 3, October 27th on Disney+, but we also learned that yet another The Ninth Jedi short, “Child of Hope”, will be part of Visions Volume 3. However, the news do not stop here, because then it was announced that The Ninth Jedi will even get its very own limited spin-off series in 2026 that will continue where the Volume 3 short “Child of Hope” ends.
This is certainly excellent news for all the fans who asked for The Ninth Jedi not to be forgotten about. The very best thing would have been to announce a live action project, but seeing the story continue in animated form is certainly the next best thing.
Is there any other Visions short you’d like to see more of? Especially volume 1 had a few interesting stories. Volume 2 maybe not as much, which I found very uneven or at times even bad. Let’s hope Visions Volume 3 can step up the quality again. Ultimately I feel that Visions should become something of an ideas lab for Star Wars where creators can pitch their “vision” of Star Wars, with the best ones then getting picked up for more.
|
|
|
Revealed at Star Wars Celebration Japan, Star Wars: Starfighter is set to hit theaters on May 28, 2027. This standalone film, starring Ryan Gosling, will take place after the events of Episode IX.
|
|
|
The “Tales of..” series of shorts continues with Tales of the Underworld, Arriving May 4th. Click through to check out the full trailer!
Lady Asajj Ventress and her yellow lightsaber are back alongside the infamous quick-draw Cad Bane in a new anthology of animated shorts.
|
|
|
Click through to check out the second trailer for Andor season 2, along with the latest poster art.
|
|
|
After yesterday’s news there is already rampant speculation about who will succeed Kathleen Kennedy at Lucasfilm. The Hollywood Reporter even has an entire article about it and they have some insightful things to say! Click through for more!
UPDATE: Industry insider Jeff Sneider shared some additional info about Kennedy’s retirement and who may replace her.
Those guys?
|
|
|
Check out the latest anniversary poster from Matt Ferguson. The 20th Anniversary of Revenge of the Sith hits this year, and Matt Ferguson is continuing his run of amazing poster art to celebrate these milestones. And, beginning April 25th, Revenge of the Sith lands back in theaters for a 20th anniversary release.
|
|
|
Yes, I know, you may be skeptical. But very reputable Hollywood trade newsletter Puck News (their newsletter and website have a paywall) broke the story earlier tonight, according to three of their sources Kathleen Kennedy will step down as Lucasfilm president and retire by the end of 2025. Major Hollywood trade magazines like The Hollywood Reporter are running the story as well, this time it’s apparently for real! Click through to read it all!!!
Symbol photo
|
|
|
The Andor Season 2 trailer just dropped, along with the latest poster. Click through to check it out!
Andor is set to premiere on April 22. The 12 episode season will be presented in 4 weekly chapters of 3 episodes each.
|
|
|
Luminate, a Nielsen competitor who have been releasing streaming charts for some time now, released their year end streaming market analysis a while ago and their report – among other things – offers a lot of insight into how Star Wars is doing on Disney+. And in more general terms how Disney+ is doing, at least when it comes to original streaming content.
And for the first time ever we get numbers in this report for shows like Skeleton Crew and even The Bad Batch!
As you probably know Skeleton Crew never made either the Luminate or the Nielsen Streaming Charts. Nielsen have finally released their charts for the week in which the Skeleton Crew series finale was released – and it did not make the top 10 once again, making it the very first Star Wars live action show on Disney+ never to crack the top 10 original series charts.
But how bad was it really? Luminate’s report does include numbers for the first five episodes of Skeleton Crew (all the 2024 episodes) plus numbers for The Bad Batch which released earlier in 2024. And what do you think the #1 original show on Disney+ was in 2024? And how does it compare with the competition?
Star Wars in 2024
|
|
|
Third time’s the charm? The Rey Palpatine movie, tentatively titled “New Jedi Order”, has found yet another new writer. This after Damon Lindelof and his writing partner were let go over creative differences, then Steven Knight was tasked to come up with something, yet according to reports Lucasfilm didn’t like any of his treatments, so he focused on other things more worth his time and moved on… but Kathy won’t give up that easily, Lucasfilm has now hired yet another screenwriter as per The Hollywood Reporter, so this is pretty official!
And the new vict… I mean writer is George Nolfi! If you wonder “who?”. Nolfi has written seven movies in total so far. Among them several pretty average and forgettable ones. His best known works are the very average (some would say bad) “Timeline” (the movie based on a Michael Crichton book), then there’s Ocean’s 12, and he also wrote two pretty good Matt Damon movies, The Bourne Ultimatum and The Adjustment Bureau, the latter is like Timeline the only somewhat more fantastical movie where mysterious guardians of the timeline try to prevent a romance between Damon and co-star Emily Blunt. But Nolfi has never really worked on an all out scifi/fantasy movie before.
Nolfi is also a director, his most notable work as a director is The Adjustment Bureau.
So he has experience, he knows how to direct and to write (and produce) movies. Nolfi certainly has the qualification and at least the two Matt Damon movies are even pretty enjoyable. But let’s see where this is going. I am saying it once more: if Disney really let Kennedy make her Rey movie, even more so with a non-director like Obaid-Chinoy at the helm, they are more foolish than I already think they are.
Also, since Nolfi has worked a lot with Matt Damon previously… could this mean he’s joining Star Wars as well? Now we only need Ben Affleck!
Post your humorous thoughts in the comments!
|
|
|
It’s been a while since I talked about rumors, well, this time it’s more “leaks” than “rumors”, one of the sources is even The Hollywood Reporter. So no YouTube shenanigans really this time, more like credible leaks about upcoming things! Of course this article will be spoilerific to the max, so if you are allergic to spoilers please avoid! Click through for all the rumours and leaks!
You are about the enter the Star Wars Rumor Zone!
|
|
|
I’ll make this quick, since I have discussed this in detail previously. But the Skeleton Crew series finale failed to make the Luminate streaming charts which are already out for the past 7 days, so the final episode is already included. The #10 entry on the Luminate charts has 377.8 million minutes.
Meanwhile on the Nielsen charts episode 4 also failed to leave an impression, the show is still absent from those charts as well, the #10 original series here has 326 million minutes.
This means Skeleton Crew is with little doubt the least watched Star Wars live action show on Disney+ ever. With probably even less viewers than for Ms Marvel.
Anyone who still clings to the hope that this may somehow, maybe get an order for a second season will be sorely disappointed. It’s moot to discuss the reasons for this failure. It’s probably a combination of factors: kids as main characters which may not be something most adult Star Wars fans want, Star Wars Goonies meets Treasure Island may be too far removed from Star Wars as fans know and like it, and maybe The Acolyte has left nothing but scorched earth.
The only people to blame here are the ones making all the decisions at Lucasfilm and Disney. Absolutely not to blame however are the showruners Christopher Ford and Jon Watts and all the actors starring in Skeleton Crew, they delivered. The only question Watts and Ford may have to answer is if their pitch really was a good fit for Star Wars, however that is Kathleen Kennedy’s job to decide, not theirs, they did a really good job. So if you like Pirates of the Star Wars Galaxy as a concept the show was a fun ride with the best writing for any Disney+ Star Wars show outside of Andor and early Mandalorian seasons.
Why there is still no report of Kathleen Kennedy leaving Lucasfilm after her third colossal failure in a row (Indy 5, The Acolyte, now Skeleton Crew) and cratering merchandise and video game sales keeps on boggling the mind. Next victim of her touch of death could as well be The Mandalorian & Grogu movie, the leaks for that movie sound horrible. But by then it may be far too late to replace her. It’s difficult to see how Star Wars could make a comeback any time soon when there’s nothing but craters, smoking ruins and scorched earth.
Let’s hope for the best.
Defeat
|
|
|
-Click HERE to return to the home page-
![Captain Phasma - TBS [P3] - Six Inch Figures (06)](/galleries/2015/Review_CaptainPhasmaSixInchFiguresTBS6P3/thumbnails/Review_CaptainPhasmaSixInchFiguresTBS6P3009.jpg "Captain Phasma - TBS [P3] - Six Inch Figures (06)")
Toy Reviews