The internet is abuzz with the big news that Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige is developing a new Star Wars movie with Disney. The Hollywood Reporter broke the news and now it’s up to the rest of us to make sense of what it means for the future of Disney, the Star Wars franchise, and even the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

What we know so far

A huge Star Wars fan, Feige reportedly met with Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy and Walt Disney Studios co-chairmen Alan Horn and Alan Bergman in late summer to discuss possible involvement in the franchise.

As the Skywalker Saga wraps this December with the release of Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker, Kennedy is looking to reinvigorate the Star Wars universe with new projects.

Walt Disney Studios co-chairman and chief creative officer Horn told THR: “With the close of the Skywalker Saga, Kathy is pursuing a new era in Star Wars storytelling, and knowing what a die-hard fan Kevin is, it made sense for these two extraordinary producers to work on a Star Wars film together.”

According to THR, Feige has told an unnamed “major actor” that he has a specific role in mind for them when the movie gets made, but otherwise there aren’t any details.

What does it mean for the future of “Star Wars”?

It’s unclear if Feige’s involvement in Star Wars suggest he’ll be taking on a larger role within Lucasfilm. Kennedy, who has been president of Lucasfilm since 2012, is one of the very few women holding top executive jobs at Disney. THR cites a top Disney source saying that Kennedy remains in charge without any plans for an executive shakeup anytime soon. Kennedy’s contract takes her through 2021.

Though the four Star Wars films Kennedy and Lucasfilm have produced for Disney have grossed almost $4.5 billion, the creative process hasn’t been without its hiccups.

Director Tony Gilroy was brought in to shoot the third act of the troubled 2016 film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story after Disney expressed dissatisfaction with Gareth Edwards’s direction. In 2017, Kennedy axed directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller during production of Solo: A Star Wars Story, the prequel film, bringing in Ron Howard to finish the film. Later that year, director Colin Trevorrow was dropped as director of Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker and replaced by J.J. Abrams, who also directed the 2015 film The Force Awakens.

Solo was the the lowest-grossing live-action film in Star Wars history, pulling in a relatively paltry $392 million at the box office.

Since becoming president of Marvel Studios in 2007, the films that Feig has produced have a combined worldwide box office gross of over $26.8 billion.

In 2019, he was nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award for producing Black Panther, the first superhero film to ever receive the nod, as well as the first film in the MCU to win an Academy Award (it won three).

Meanwhile, Avengers: Endgame, which Feig produced, has broken countless box office records since its release in April, including highest grossing film ever (not adjusted for inflation).

Disney chairman Bob Iger recently told The New York Times that the studio had made mistakes with the Star Wars franchise. “I just think that we might’ve put a little bit too much in the marketplace too fast,” he said.

What’s next for “Star Wars”?

It will be a while before we hear more details on Feige’s Star Wars projects. In the meantime, both Last Jedi director Rian Johnson and Game of Thrones showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff are working on feature projects set in the Star Wars universe.

Disney is also focused on its soon-to-launch streaming service Disney+ and it’s clear that Lucasfilm will be a key component of the platform. Jon Favreau’s live-action Star Wars space Western, The Mandalorian, is set to premiere Nov. 12 on Disney+. And other Star Wars projects are in the works, including a Rogue One prequel series and an Ewan McGregor-led Obi-Wan Kenobi series.

Is Disney hoping that Feige will bring some of the success he’s had with the MCU over to the Star Wars universe? In a word, yes.

互联网正在疯传一则重大消息，漫威影业的负责人凯文·费格正在为迪士尼拍摄新《星球大战》电影。《好莱坞报道》杂志首先爆出了这则新闻。至于这则消息对迪士尼、《星球大战》系列电影，甚至漫威电影宇宙的未来有什么影响，则是见仁见智。

目前已知的信息

作为《星球大战》的粉丝，费格据称已于夏末与卢卡斯影业的总裁卡斯林·肯尼迪、迪士尼影业的联席董事长阿兰·霍恩和阿兰·伯格曼进行了会面，探讨参与拍摄该电影系列的可能性。

随着12月上映的《星球大战9：天行者崛起》带来天行者的传奇故事，肯尼迪希望借助新项目来重振《星球大战》宇宙。

迪士尼影业的联席董事长兼首席创意官霍恩对《好莱坞报道》说：“随着天行者故事的完结，凯西将掀开《星球大战》故事的新篇章，我们也知道凯文是该系列的铁杆粉丝，因此，我们自然也就萌发了让这两位杰出制片人合作拍摄《星球大战》电影的念头。”

《好莱坞报道》称，费格已经向一位匿名“主要演员”吹风，在电影开拍之后，他已为其想好了具体的角色，但除此之外没有任何具体信息。

对《星球大战》系列电影的未来有何影响？

我们也不知道，费格参与《星球大战》的拍摄是否意味着他将在卢卡斯影业担任更为重要的职务。肯尼迪自2012年以来便担任卢卡斯影业的总裁，是迪士尼的极少数女高管之一。《好莱坞报道》称，迪士尼的一位高层线人表示，公司仍将由肯尼迪主管，而且近期没有任何高管更换计划。肯尼迪的合约能够让她干完2021年。

尽管肯尼迪和卢卡斯影业共同为迪士尼拍摄的4部《星球大战》电影已经揽获了近45亿美元的票房，但电影制作过程并非一帆风顺。

在迪士尼表达对加勒斯·爱德华导演作品的不满之后，公司聘请导演托尼·吉尔罗伊拍摄了问题重重的2016年续作《星球大战外传：侠盗一号》。2017年肯尼迪在拍摄该系列前传《游侠索罗：星球大战外传》之时开掉了导演菲尔·罗德和克里斯·米勒，并聘请了罗恩·霍华德接手。当年晚些时候，公司又用2015年电影《星球大战7：原力觉醒》的导演J.J.·阿布拉姆斯取代了科林·特雷弗罗，执导《星球大战：天行者崛起》。

《游侠索罗》是《星战》系列史上票房最差的实景真人电影，收入总额相对来说并不尽人意，仅有3.92亿美元。

自2007年担任漫威影业总裁以来，费格拍摄的电影在全球的总票房已经超过了268亿美元。

2019年，他因电影《黑豹》获奥斯卡最佳影片提名，这是第一部获奥斯卡提名的超级英雄影片，也是第一部获奥斯卡奖（获三项大奖）的漫威宇宙电影。

与此同时，费格的《复仇者联盟4：终局之战》自4月上映以来已经打破了无数票房纪录，其中包括史上最高总票房（不计通胀）。

迪士尼的董事长鲍勃·艾格最近对《纽约时报》说，迪士尼影业在《星球大战》系列影片中犯了一些错误。他说：“我认为，我们可能在市场上投入的有点多，而且速度太快了。”

《星球大战》系列将何去何从？

要想了解有关费格《星球大战》项目的具体信息，我们可能还需要等一段时间。与此同时，《最后的武士》导演莱恩·约翰逊以及《权力游戏》制片人D.B.·维斯和大卫·本尼尔夫正在研究《星球大战》电影宇宙中的剧情项目。

迪士尼在其即将推出的视频流服务Disney+也投入了不少精力，而且很明显，卢卡斯影业将成为该平台的一个关键组件。乔恩·费儒《星球大战》宇宙真人实景剧作《曼达洛人》将于11月12日在Disney+上映。其他《星战》系列作品也在制作当中，包括《侠盗一号》前传系列影片，以及伊万·麦克格雷格主演的欧比旺·肯诺比系列电影。

迪士尼是否希望费格能在《星战》电影宇宙中重现漫威电影宇宙的些许成功呢？简言之，是的。（财富中文网）

译者：冯丰

审校：夏林