Overview of The Powers That Be Daily (Puck | Audacy)
This episode focuses on two big Hollywood stories: Disney’s attempt to revive Star Wars in theaters with The Mandalorian and Grogu, and the unusual quiet around the Cannes Film Festival, where Hollywood is largely avoiding big splashy premieres. Peter Hamby and Matt Bellany argue that both stories reflect the same industry shift: IP and controlled marketing now matter more than traditional movie-star power or prestige-festival buzz.
Star Wars Is Being Relaunched as a TV-to-Film Franchise
The core argument
- The hosts say Star Wars is no longer functioning primarily as a film franchise.
- After The Rise of Skywalker (2019), Disney/Lucasfilm struggled to figure out what the theatrical future of the franchise should be.
- Meanwhile, the Star Wars universe found more success on TV and streaming through shows like:
- The Mandalorian
- Andor
- Ahsoka
Why The Mandalorian and Grogu matters
- The new movie is essentially Disney’s attempt to turn its one strong post-acquisition Star Wars success into a theatrical reboot.
- Bellany frames it as Disney using successful IP to restart the film side of the franchise, rather than relying on movie stars or a fresh cinematic concept.
- The conversation emphasizes that this is a risky move because TV-to-film adaptations are hard to launch.
Box office expectations
- Early tracking is around $80 million for the four-day weekend.
- That is described as weak for a Star Wars film, especially compared with past entries.
- Bellany notes that even the underperforming Solo opened to $84 million over three days, which underscores how soft the current tracking is.
Star power vs. brand power
- The film includes names like Pedro Pascal and Sigourney Weaver, but the hosts stress that the real draw is the Star Wars brand.
- They contrast this with future projects like Ryan Gosling’s Starfighter, where Disney may lean more on an individual star.
- The broader takeaway: modern franchise movies are driven more by IP and audience familiarity than by marquee casting.
Disney’s Leadership and Franchise Strategy
Who really influences these decisions
- The hosts say Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro is not likely to have an immediate impact on film strategy because movie pipelines move too slowly.
- More relevant executives include:
- Dana Walden, who oversees broader content strategy
- Dave Filoni, who now has a bigger creative role at Lucasfilm and has been deeply involved in the TV side of Star Wars
Disney’s broader slate
- Even with uncertainty around Star Wars, Disney is portrayed as relatively strong overall this year, with major releases including:
- Toy Story
- Live-action Moana
- A new Avengers film in December
- Still, the hosts suggest Disney is nervous about what Star Wars has become and whether theatrical relaunches can still work.
Cannes: Prestige, Rules, and Hollywood’s Absence
Cannes as one of the last formal red carpets
- Bellany describes Cannes as one of the last places in Hollywood where a strict formal dress code still really matters.
- He says enforcement is real:
- Men may be stopped if they are not dressed formally enough
- Women are expected to wear high heels
- Selfies on the red carpet are not allowed
Why the selfie rule matters
- The discussion highlights how Cannes tries to preserve old-school prestige even while bringing in modern sponsors like Meta.
- Influencers can attend, but the festival still restricts the kind of casual social content they would normally produce.
- Bellany jokes that he has even “snuck in a couple selfies,” but only in limited ways.
Standing ovations are not a real signal
- Bellany says Cannes standing ovations are often meaningless because they can be engineered.
- Studios and producers may place people in the audience to keep applause going.
- The length of the ovation is therefore not a reliable indicator of quality.
Why Hollywood is skipping Cannes
- The biggest reason: studios don’t want a film to be judged too early in a critical environment.
- Cannes reviews can damage a movie before marketing has fully rolled out.
- Bellany points to Elemental as an example of a film whose Cannes reception was cool rather than enthusiastic, which created early negative momentum.
How Movie Marketing Has Changed
The new quote economy
- The hosts discuss how studios now rely less on traditional reviews and more on:
- Rotten Tomatoes scores
- Social media reactions
- Selective quote placement in trailers and ads
The decline of traditional criticism
- Quotes are increasingly pulled from:
- Smaller outlets
- Social media users on X/Twitter
- People who may have ties to the studios
- Bellany argues this creates a kind of marketing “astroturf,” where praise can be manufactured or at least heavily curated.
Main Takeaways
- Disney is trying to use The Mandalorian to reboot Star Wars theatrically after years of TV-driven success.
- Early box office tracking suggests the movie is underwhelming for a Star Wars release.
- The episode argues that modern franchise success depends more on IP than on stars.
- Cannes still has prestige, but it is increasingly disconnected from Hollywood’s real marketing priorities.
- Studios now prefer controlled, data-friendly promotional ecosystems over risky festival reactions and traditional criticism.
Notable Insight
- The episode’s central thesis is that Hollywood no longer trusts either theater-first mythology or festival prestige as much as it once did. Instead, it leans on recognizable IP, carefully managed buzz, and metrics that can be shaped before audiences ever see the movie.