Mike Fleming Jr., Deadline:

Lucasfilm has closed a deal with Simon Kinberg to develop a trilogy of Star Wars films. Kinberg will write the trio, and produce them with Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy.

I heard this will comprise episodes 10-12 of The Skywalker Saga that began with George Lucas’s 1977 first film that along with Steven Spielberg’s Jaws reshaped the global blockbuster game. Insiders disputed my intel that Kinberg will continue that storyline, saying this will instead begin a new saga, and sit alongside Star Wars percolating projects with James Mangold, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Taika Waititi and Donald Glover. As usual, Lucasfilm and Disney are not commenting.

It really says something that in the year 2024, not only am I not excited in any way, shape or form about a new Star Wars project, but also: I highly doubt that it will be made.

Meet your new friends in the pile, New Kinberg Trilogy: Boba Fett Movie, Game of Thrones Duo Trilogy, Rian Johnson Trilogy, Kevin Feige Movie, Guillermo Del Toro Jabba The Hutt Movie, and surely, more to come…

make me eat these words, disney.

Anthony D’Alessandro, Deadline:

The Lego Group under its deal with Universal Pictures is making three untitled live-action movies with directors Jake Kasdan, Patty Jenkins and Attack the Block filmmaker Joe Cornish.

Huh.

Universal’s been working on these movies with a five year deal signed in 2020, so I guess this is the “show your work” phase of things. A few elements stand out.

1. Patty Jenkins, once again tied to a franchise movie, after seemingly being put in director’s jail since Wonder Woman 1984 and her Star Wars movie, Rogue Squadron being in development hell.
2. Jake Kasdan being announced, though he’s got to now rush out a new Dwayne Johnson-lead Jumanji movie for the end of 2026
3. Joe Cornish being attached, who — since debuting so strongly with Attack the Block — has been attached to a lot of projects, only really producing the under-seen The Kid Who Would Be King and the mostly forgettable Lockwood & Co. show for Netflix. Sure, he scripted the great Tintin movie, and was half responsible for the Edgar Wright-era Ant Man script, but, besides that, it’s just been rumored project after rumored project.
4. Live-Action? Really?

I don’t know if I’m a pessimist, but something about this reeks of “Oh crap, we need to show LEGO we’re working on something so they renew our deal next year.”

But maybe I’m wrong and these movies will be good.

Samantha Cole, 404 Media:

But many stayed at Automattic even though they didn’t agree with Mullenweg’s actions, telling 404 Media they remained due to financial strain or the challenging job market. Several employees who remained at the company describe a culture of paranoia and fear for those still there.

“Overall, the environment is now full of people who unequivocally support Matt’s actions, and people who couldn’t leave because of financial reasons (and those are mostly silent),” one Automattic employee told me.

The current and former Automattic employees I spoke to for this article did so under the condition of anonymity, out of concerns about retaliation from Mullenweg.

What an absolute mess. Feeling all the happier I moved everything to Micro.blog earlier this year.

I find it somewhat ironic that Matt Mullenweg so regularly attacks David Heinemeier Hansson from 37signals, when they both now have absolutely shown their ass online, offered buyouts, and are stunned to see just how bad they screwed up with their employees.

Fix your shit, Matt.

Huw, Brickset:

Today, the LEGO Group reveals the launch of the LEGO Marvel X-Men: The X-Mansion Buildable Set. Get ready to answer Professor X’s call as this set will telepathically transmit you straight into the LEGO brick heart of the X-Men universe.

With 3,093 pieces, this immersive, creative construction project gives adults a chance to unwind and lose themselves as they build a lasting model of an essential and recurring part of Marvel’s much loved X-Men stories: The Xavier Institute for Higher Learning.

After many, many leaks the last few weeks, LEGO confirms the most poorly held secret in some time and has officially revealed their latest massive scale set – the X-Mansion from X-Men.

Some of the rooms look a little small, and the $330 price is quite eye-watering, but if you’re a fan of X-Men, it’s hard to not want to get one of these.

I’m sure someone out there will have this, the Daily Bugle set, the Avengers Tower and the SHIELD Helicarrier to have a massive Marvel LEGO Universe in their home.

Netflix on YouTube:

Set in the aftermath of a robot uprising in an alternate version of the ’90s, The Electric State follows an orphaned teenager who ventures across the American West with a cartoon-inspired robot, a smuggler, and his sidekick in search of her younger brother. The film stars Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pratt, Ke Huy Quan, Jason Alexander, Woody Norman, with Giancarlo Esposito and Stanley Tucci. Woody Harrelson, Anthony Mackie, Brian Cox, Jenny Slate, Hank Azaria, Colman Domingo and Alan Tudyk join the cast in voice roles. THE ELECTRIC STATE premieres globally on Netflix MARCH 14.

If nothing else, they’ve nailed the aesthetic of the original book by Simon Stalenhag. We’ll see how the script works out.

I do have to admit, I laughed pretty hard at The Gray Man being listed alongside all those Marvel movies as if it was an equivalent success by the Russo Brothers. Keep trying, Netflix, keep trying.