There’s been a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.
It’s being reported that Disney will no longer offer media badges for Star Wars Celebration going forward, but the reason remains unclear.
Peter Sciretta of Screen Rant seemed to be the first media personality to report on this on Twitter.
Star Wars Celebration is no longer going to be having media passes. pic.twitter.com/UhHR5hLKTV
— Peter Sciretta (@PeterSciretta) June 27, 2022
He posted a snippet from a (presumably) Disney email stating that “please note, there will be no general media applications this year.”
Star Wars Celebration will be taking place in Europe in 2023, which might factor into the decision.
Star Wars has been a very polarizing franchise on social media, with many influencers either loving or hating what Disney has done with the franchise since purchasing Lucasfilm in 2012.
It could be that The Mouse just wants a tighter grip on what’s being reported… or they’re just trying to save money during the Chapek Era.
There’s also the issue of just who to invite to these sorts of things.
There was quite a bit of drama around the media guest list for Galaxy’s Edge when it opened in Disneyland in 2019. Star Wars fan podcaster Kristian Harloff, formerly of Collider, was upset that Disney preferred younger, more Instagrammable women be present instead of lifelong Star Wars fans.
Maybe Disney just thinks Star Wars is “too big too fail,” and that they don’t need any additional word of mouth.
You know, how former CEO Bob Iger was convinced that Galaxy’s Edge wouldn’t need any marketing. Right before it was hailed as a massive flop.
Pirates & Princesses (PNP) is an independent, opinionated fan-powered news blog that covers Disney and Universal Theme Parks, Themed Entertainment and related Pop Culture from a consumer's point of view. Opinions expressed by our contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of PNP, its editors, affiliates, sponsors or advertisers. PNP is an unofficial news source and has no connection to The Walt Disney Company, NBCUniversal or any other company that we may cover.