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

I'm quite heartened by the choice of Arndt. He doesn't have to build the world - it's already there. But the movies he has penned all seem to have good characterization and dialogue, so I'm hopeful for a quality screenplay. I think this is good news.

I'm also happy to see LF get right out there and confirm the rumor. It gives me a really good feeling about how far along in the process they really are, and that makes me feel confident we'll really see a release date in 2015.

 

I can promise you thry've done no such thing.

The are great writers and creators and they don't heed fanboyism in any way.

Listening to fanboys leads to disaster.

 

Why did they though, I wonder? And why in such a low key fashion?

It was just a rumour and had no actual evidence to prove or dismiss it.

It is foolish to thing the rumour just being out there forced their hand.

I'm wondering if there is more to the story or other big news is coming.

Or the like.

 

I think he'll approach this like anyone approaching a universe project, even if you're going for a radical change there will be fundamental things that will remain the same.

It's like writing for a comic book superhero film almost, you know there are some things that have received wide critical acclaim (Imagine the Dark Knight without it's roots in The Killing Joke), and there are things that are widely regarded to be the most horrific ideas in the history of ideas (Spider-Man: One More Day for example).

For those of us that read or did read the EU we do have our own set of stories that we consider essential, and while most of us are of differing opinions I think I can safely say that things like The Thrawn Trilogy are much like The Killing Joke, great lynchpins and sources of material to utilize in film. There are also things like Spider-Man: One More Day that we wish never happened as their horrifically bad (I tend to put the Dark Nest series here).

What a good screenwriter will do is take those elements that work, those most popular and useful elements and weave them into the story. Original it may be, but nothing is ever produced in a vacuum.

 

@ ThatWanFromStewjon
Well, the sites reporting the information are not really known for unfounded rumors. Vulture is the online wing of NY Magazine, and their entertainment reporting is usually pretty sound - their recaps can be pretty good as well. The Hollywood Reporter as well. So, even if the sources were unnamed, they were good sources, IMO. And that's obviously true, as LF confirmed.

Could be it was leaked purposefully, to see how the fandom reacted? There's no way they aren't watching the big sites to see what the climate is like.

 

I don't really accept the leak idea, because I don't even think there was 24 hours between leak and confirmation. Not very useful for gauging reaction.

But I do agree completely that people need to be more discerning when dismissing "rumors" from news websites. These websites are still businesses, and their future successes are at least somewhat based on their reputations. They aren't going to "confirm" stuff all willy-nilly.

 

I think the news got out so LFL/ Disney decided to make it official and own the speculation so to speak. It won't be long before they announce a director.

 

I sure hope so, they have less than three years until release.

 

Yeah, they need to get a wriggle on.

 

For one thing he had more than 2 lines of dialogue throughout the movie. And he did more than wield a glowing sword.

The fights in the OT were more emotional also because the characters were given dialogue, not just choreographed movements to memorize and execute.
The thing is that words do matter more, rather than just dumping visuals on the screen.

Qui-Gon was not a good character, but he was the ONLY character in TPM. He was written like a human-friggin'-being. I liked the relatively boring Qui-Gon because he was the only guy in that entire movie who was written decently. And of course, he had to die at the end.

On the subject of the writer, I am really looking forward to the movie more than before. This guy seems to be more capable of giving his characters emotions, not just lines of dialogue.
TESB had more emotion in it than the entire prequel saga put together and if there is one "new age" writer who I think can pull it off it would be this guy (along with just another handful of people).
Now all we need is a competent director and we might just get the trilogy we were promised before the PT was released.
A more mature trilogy, more in tone with the OT, darker than the PT and more serious. For once after the OT I want characters I give a damn about, I want characters who I can relate to and I want characters who are not written backwards.

 

I can accept that, and you're right - there wasn't a lot of time between leak and the confirmation.

But, yeah, my main point is that sites like Vulture and THR aren't in the business of reporting rumors. They have good sources, well-placed sources in the entertainment industry - and there is a mutual benefit here. The sites get good scoops and the entertainment biz gets free PR. Win-win.

 

The name of the movie is "The Phantom Menace". As in "you're not supposed to know who the bad guy is". That is the point.

 

You're totally missing the point but if you want to debate further, let's take it to dm so we don't derail further.

 

From this interview:

 

Yes, we do know who the villain is.
First of all it can't be the two jokers dressed in silly outfits and who can't move their mouths properly. It can't be the guy who has only two lines of dialogue, while the only "memorable" characteristic is the 2-bladed sword.
It can't be Watto...it can't be Sebulba either. It's not Jabba either. He/it just appears in a glorified cameo where he/it eats the head off a space-rat.

My money is on the menacing hologram who seems to be giving orders to some of the people mentioned above and is called by the name of "Lord Sidious".

And as for their motives? There is a guy on the internet who made some very good points regarding the motivations and the plans of the so-called villains.
I know this is getting way damn off-topic, but here goes nothing:
Why is the TF invading Naboo? To force the Queen to accept their occupation of the planet you say. But Why? How does that help Palpatine? If Amidala would have signed the treaty, then there would have been no vote against Valorum. More to the point, Naboo was cut off from the rest of the Republic. How does that help Palpatine IN ANY WAY? If she couldn't inform the Senate, how could they know about the invasion?
Would he have called for the vote of no confidence against Valorum? But if the treaty was indeed signed and the occupation was considered legal, no one in the Senate would have given two Siths about the situation.
So Amidala escapes and Palpatine sends Darth Maul after them to capture the queen. Again?? Why is he so desperate for the queen to sign the treaty?
So Amidala and the Jedi get back to Naboo, and Palpatine orders Darth Maul to kill the Jedi and capture her. AGAIN ?!? Why?
Another thing is that if they were going to FORCE Amidala to sign the treaty, then why didn't they just forged the document? I mean they might as well. Not so different than forcing someone to sign a treaty at gun-point.
Why did Sidious order them to kill the two Jedi at the beginning? If Amidala was a coward and signed the treay, that might have gone unnoticed by the Senate, but once you are the prime suspect in the murdering of two Jedi, do you think that the Republic would just sit back and won't act regardless of the treaty?
Another very good question is why did the TF take orders from a mysterious hologram they never met before? What did Palpatine promise them? Money? They are the TRADE FEDERATION. They clearly have all the money in the world. Palpatine couldn't have promised them political advantages because that would have blown his cover.

See? That's the big problem. When the villains are caricatures, their motives make no sense and they're just there to provide the story with an evil faction.

And I don't judge a movie based on it's gross revenue. It is completely irrelevant when your average movie goer is a guy who stuffs himself with pop-corn and isn't really there to pay too much attention to the plot or characters.
There are many movies with better plots out there who didn't even make half the money TPM did.
If the day has finally come when we judge a movies based on its revenue, then we're in a kind of a sticky situation here. And that kind of thinking is probably what contributed to the slow decay of Hollywood quality we're experiencing for almost 10 years.

Good writing doesn't only involve well written main characters, but also well written bad guys. The bad guys need to be credible, to be menacing, to do more than "evil stuff" for reasons which are not explained or make no sense.
And like I stated in my previous post, I am confident that Arndt can pull this one off.
Like others have said, he already has the general idea of the story from Lucas. His job is to expand on those ideas, write the characters and the script itself.

 

The Jedi don't.
Even the Trade Federation don't actually know who Darth Sidious is other than a Sith.
It's also set up this way so that people whose first Star Wars movie is TPM won't know either. George wrote it this way so that TPM can be someone's first Star Wars movie and they don't know what's going to happen or who Darth Sidious is.

The Trade Federation invaded Naboo because Valorum asked the Jedi to negotiate with them to stop the blockade of Naboo. The Trade Federation was worried that the Jedi were going to force them to stop the blockade, which is why Palpatine told them to invade. Because the whole point of the blockade and ultimate invasion was to get sympathy in the Senate. Whether or not Amidala called for a vote of no confidence was besides the point. Eventually, if there was an invasion, which happened because Sidious told them, then whenever Valorum did step down or if someone else called a vote of no confidence because of what happened to the poor Naboo, then Palpatine would still have a chance to become Supreme Chancellor. If not, he will still have a majority of the Senate on his side in the future. Remember, this is a Sith who believes in the tenet of patience. It doesn't matter why or when Valorum steps down. Eventually, he won't be Supreme Chancellor, especially since they're a democracy, and he will have a chance to eventually get that seat regardless of what Amidala does.

Also, keep in mind, this is Palpatine's home planet. He is having his planet invaded for the sole purpose of getting sympathy in the Senate. He is letting potentially millions of people on his home planet die, just so he can get sympathy in the Senate. This isn't a caricature of evil. This is the personification of evil.

This is answered in the opening crawl:

The trade routes were in dispute. The Trade Federation wanted to protect theirs so they blockaded one such trade route. It also says they are greedy. So even if they have "a lot of money", it's clearly not enough for them. They are "greedy".

 

Again, guys, let's keep this thread about Arndt. We have an entire forum to debate PT stuff.

 

Buddy, for your own sake, don't criticise George Lucas in the movie forum - people take it personally. I know - I suggested Lucas was out of touch and was insulted by several users.

 

Ha, yeah I forgot. I've been around the boards for ages but changed my user name after the switch. Should have known better!

 

From el Mayimbe's twitter. So if a trusted source read that treatment for EPISODE VII & hypothetically we did the story details, would ya'll be interested in it?

 

No - no story details.

That is called being a ruiner.

 

I know, screw hollywood and Lucas and Disney. We should write it. We are Star Wars geeks afterall, and we know what is best for all of us...no wait, nevermind. I must be high.

 

Anyway it could only be got by dishonest means or just be a deliberate leak.

 

I never saw an "official link" to the new news so I thought I'd post one:

Lucasfilm Confirms Michael Arndt to Write 'Star Wars: Episode VII'

 

I am not too sure if that's good news because his resume includes:

Little Miss Sunshine - Isnt that a chick flick?

Toy Story 3 - Isn't that a kiddie flick?

Correct me if I'm wrong because I've never seen those films.