ST Lucasfilm Confirms: Michael Arndt To Write Screenplay For Episode VII

Toy Story 3 was extremely emotional. It was the satisfying conclusion to one of the movie trilogies from our childhood. If we get the emotions down right the movie will be good. The fights in the OT were so much more emotional that the ones in the PT and if they are the ST will be amazing.

 

I don't see how Vader was in anyway more developed than Maul by the end of the first movie.

The little we know of Vader doesn't really change until ROTJ, and we only find out why he did it all in the Prequels.

I'm sure we'd have been given a lot more on Maul if he had been intended to be in all three.

But his role was to be an awesome badass villain, who we expect to be the new Vader for the Prequels, only to have Kenobi out badass him do unexpectedly.

Characters in Star Wars are there to push the story forward because that is the purpose of Star Wars - to tell a classic story of good and evil, the consequences of selfishness and that no matter bad things get a man can change everything with one act of decency.

Lucas is a storyteller. For him, the story is more important.

 

I hope they do throw it out and cherry picks the best of the EU. But I think there will be many fans who will be unhappy and will be vocal about it which will create its own pressure.[/quote]

Let them. They'll only exsist on the Googles and will cause no pressure to Arndt, they'll only upset themselves.

 

Nothing is wrong with you. For whatever reason, there exists an emotional relation between you and those characters.

For those of us that didn't enjoy the films, sadly no such connection was made. Liam Neeson brought about as much warmth to the role as humanly possible, but it doesn't change the fact that Qui-Gon was mostly a blank slate. I couldn't even begin to tell you how sterile and manufactured I thought Padme was. Actually most - if not all - of the prequel characters were pretty manufactured. They were whatever the plot needed them to be. It's time for Anakin and Padme to fall in love? Okay, no problem. It's time for Anakin to turn to the dark side? Sure, cue the slaughtering of children.

I just have difficulty seeing how one could compare the compelling adventures of Luke, Han, and Leia to the ones of... whoever you thought were our heroes in the prequels. I say that not to poke fun, but to me there was a stark difference. And I struggle to understand how if you loved the originals, that the prequels were somehow able to resonate with you in quite that same fashion.

You have to be brutally honest with yourself. Do you think you would have fell in love with The Phantom Menace - or any of it's characters - had it not been a Star Wars movie?

 

I don't think he'll care our know about it.

If people start bothering him in some personal way - well there are laws against that.

 

Space opera doesn't need to be technobabble, and it's still a subgenre of science fiction. Technobabble doesn't define science fiction..

Epic science fiction is no less science fiction than scientific science fiction, like Star Trek.

Mythological tropes, epic, character-driven dramatic plots, are no less strangers to science fiction than they are to fantasy. Science fiction can have mythical, epic, storylines......

That stuff isn't confined to LOTR type worlds..

 

Although I dig the prequels overall, I agree with you that TPM lost focus at times. Apparently, in the original drafts Maul had more to do and Obi-Wan was the one to find Anakin (which is more in line with the backstory from ROTJ). I still don't understand why he got sidetracked with much less important characters (Qui-Gon, Jar Jar) at the expense of the key figures in the saga. I wish he passed those rough to a decent screenwriter who could have stayed focused better.

 

Sure. Maybe. But you can't deny the science fiction elements.

It's a science fiction fairy tale, keep it at that.

How is SW a fairy tale? It doesn't have fairy tale elements. Parents don't read it to their kids at night.

Besides, fairy tales don't have violence and explosions.....

 

Ironically enough, Qui-Gon was actually one of the few bright points of TPM.
I actually wish he had more to do. Both him and Maul were wasted opportunities.

 

This all fun, but it had eaten into my Revolution and Merlin time.

And TCW too.

Goodnight.

 

Fairy tales actually tend to have a ludicrous amount of rather creative violence, you should not base your idea of a "fairy tale" on the polished kiddie friendly version that the movies and cartoons usually portray.

 

Have you read the Grimms Fairy tales? Snow White and the 7 Dwarves had the Wicked Witch put into a barrel with stakes in it and the barrel was rolled down the street. In another version she had hot shoes put on her feet and she danced herself to death. Fairy tales can be violent

 

Ok, give an example.

Second of all, please explain how Star Wars is a fairy tale.......

 

I understand that now. But i still dont see how star wars is a fairy tale........

 

He could have had the same effect in the supporting roles similar that of Obi-Wan in TPM. Instead, he stole Obi-Wan's spotlight and we didn't get any development of Obi-Wan and Anakin's relationship which backfired in AOTC/ROTS. I thought it's Ewan who was wasted in TPM (I really liked him in Trainspotting).

 

True that.

 

If Qui gon jinn lived, would anakin have turned to the darkside? Would qui gon have led anakin away from palpatine, or mentored him?

 

Um dude, Little Miss Sunshine isn't a kids movie.

 

A young naive farmboy meets up with a old wizard, a jocky with a lovable companion, and rescue a princess and save the galaxy.

 

They never met in EP 2. They both were at the Geonosian arena, but thats it.

 

According to Merriam-Webster:
Definition of FAIRY TALE

1​

a : a story (as for children) involving fantastic forces and beings (as fairies, wizards, and goblins) —called also fairy story

b : a story in which improbable events lead to a happy ending

 

I can see it both ways. Alot of the OT is pure sleight-of-hand, especially in ESB, where almost nothing changes or happens for long stretches of time, but people feel mysteriously compelled to extol its virtues as the zenith of genre dramaturgy. I also think some of the character development was very well done in the PT, such as establishing and exploiting Anakin's psychological problems, and showing us what Sidious must have seen in the Jedi Council, their weaknesses: Yoda, the slow-moving forgiver, Ki Adi Mundi, the yes-man, Mace Windu, the rigid cop with an attitude; it's pretty clear how they were outfoxed by exploiting their natural tendencies. That's good drama.

But I also have to agree that Lucas's writing and direction of the dramatic/character parts of the story are as flat as paper. The part of his mind that dreamed up this whole world, invented insanely complicated but brilliant ways to tell a story, and illustrated it all with some of the ravishing images ever put to screen, the part of his mind that gave us huge battles, gripping duels, and death-defying action sequences, seems to be completely incapable of making characters come to life through dialogue, not without a lot of help. Now, I like his writing, it's his voice, it's unique, and c'mon, his corny dialogue is fun, I'm quoting it all the time! But it doesn't have the "intensity", warmth, or polish of the OT. The writing itself is pretty similar, but it's what the director does with it that counts. Kersh got Mark, Frank Oz and Billy Dee to give us memorable scenes (I refuse to bend on Harrison & Carrie - they're wallpaper in that movie) and it counted for a lot. Lando's dialogue is not great, but Billy Dee gave it swagger and style. Marquand got really warm, organic performances from everyone. Lucas delivered a lot of blank stares.

And I say that as a die-hard hyper Lucas-fan who loves the PT and TCW. I like "Mortis" better than ESB. I love that crazier side to SW. I prefer it!

But it's time to elevate the writing & direction above "works fine to really good". SW can be great drama, I truly believe that. Dave Filoni's been quietly pushing the boundaries with GL on TCW. EVII has the potential to really bring it up to par with the best historical dramas ever filmed. I have faith in Arndt.

 

I feel that Star Wars is also at least partly fantasy, with The Force and people coming back as ghosts. Anyway, Arndt's lack of experience with scifi shouldn't be an issue. Kasden had not written anything like that prior to Empire Strikes Back.

 

Star Wars was a fairy tale. Our hero saves a princess from a villain. Replace the castle with a death star and swords with lightsabers... and you pretty much have yourselves an old fashioned fairy tale.

 

Qui Gon wasn't a wasted character, he was a pointless character. Why on EARTH George went from making Obi-Wan a primary character to giving him a side kick part is beyond me. The only reason people like Qui-Gon is because of Liam Neeson, if it had been played by someone else nobody would even remember him. Obi-Wan should have been the main character, and his blooming relationship with Anakin should have been the main focus of the movie. Which the original drafts actually had.

In any account we have the Prequel Forum for Prequel lover. Go there and play, because I garuantee one thing Episode 7 will have very little PT in the ST. I forsee a movie more like the OT. Arndt is a fan of the OT, he even teaches his love for how the ANH ended, so I really doubt the tone and feel of any of the PT is going to make into the ST.

Just saying. I'll put money on it, if any of you honestly are dumb enough to think I'm wrong.