Star Wars fandom is fuming right now after Lucasfilm has reportedly closed a deal with Simon Kinberg to develop another Star Wars trilogy. While the report suggested that Kinberg is onboarded for a continuation of The Skywalker Saga, insiders disputed the claim and shared that the new trilogy will begin a new saga. Either way, fans do not want the project to be associated with Kinberg.
Kinberg’s recent portfolio hasn’t been very colorful. He is often credited with singlehandedly ruining the X-Men franchise with his involvement in some of the later projects. Little do fans know that he was an executive producer on the latest film in the X-Men series (now Marvel), Deadpool & Wolverine.
Simon Kinberg’s Work In One Franchise Should Be A Nightmare For Star Wars Fan After New Update
Deadline reported that Simon Kinberg and Kathleen Kennedy shook hands on a trilogy, that will probably comprise Episodes 10-12 of The Skywalker Saga. Kinberg previously worked with Lucasfilm on the Emmy-nominated animated Star Wars show, Star Wars Rebel. He was also part of J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens in a consulting capacity.
But fans are not happy about this update for multiple reasons. For one, fans of the space opera don’t want Kennedy and Disney to keep on milking the Skywalker storyline. Another reason for fans to be skeptical of this project is Kinberg. Scooper @MyTimeToShineH rightly pointed out why Kinberg might not be the right fit at this point for Star Wars.
Like I really wanted to support Kathleen Kennedy and be on her side but this is the last straw.
Hiring the guy who ruined the X-Men franchise, TWICE?! https://t.co/HT0aJhK1Qh
— MyTimeToShineHello (@MyTimeToShineH) November 7, 2024
The scooper was referring to how Kinberg was involved with some of the worst X-Men films over the years. He was the writer of X-Men: The Last Stand, the weakest among the first three X-Men films. The franchise took some time to revive from the disastrous film. He later served as the writer and producer of both Days of the Future Past and Apocalypse. While one was a hit, the other was a miss.
He made his directorial debut with the film Dark Phoenix. Not only was it an absolute box office disaster, the film effectively ended the franchise. The film lost approximately $133 million after its marketing and distribution costs (via Deadline). It has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 22% which shared that the film ended the X-Men franchise with “deeply disappointing results.”
However, Kinberg was also a producer on Logan and the first two Deadpool films. Rob Liefeld, the creator of Deadpool, came in support of Kinberg. He shared that it was Kinberg who pushed Fox to make Deadpool. According to Liefeld, Kinberg is a central figure in the Deadpool films. He also added that Kinberg was notably the producer of three of the best X-Men films.
Simon is a super talented guy, wrote and produced Mr. & Mrs. Smith, produced The Martian with Ridley, created & produced Rebels, created and produces Invasion on Apple. Pushed Fox to make Deadpool when they didn’t want to make it, didn’t want to make it with Ryan, he is a central… https://t.co/4aQ4NlkXET
— robliefeld (@robertliefeld) November 7, 2024
Kinberg also produced the Academy Award-nominated film The Martian. He produced Robert Downey Jr.’s Sherlock Holmes and Kenneth Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express. In television, he served as executive producer on Designated Survivor, Legion, and The Gifted.
Simon Kinberg Is Also Attached To Another Decades-Old IP
It is not just Star Wars fans who are not okay with Simon Kinberg joining the franchise in a major creative role. When he was attached to produce a Star Trek movie earlier this year, the fans of the sci-fi universe were also frustrated. The reboot project has hired Seth Grahame-Smith to write the script and Toby Haynes to direct.
Besides directing (and ruining) Dark Phoenix, Kinberg has another disaster film to his directing portfolio. He made the disastrous women-centric spy thriller film The 355 in 2022. It received negative reviews and resulted in an estimated $93 million loss for Universal Pictures (via The Numbers).
Dark Phoenix and other X-Men films are available for streaming on Disney+.
