Speculation Will this new Trilogy be a precursor to another Prequel?

Yeah that is utterly laughable.

 

I don't think many people enjoyed the mystery like you did.

 

No, I did not enjoy the prequels, however, they had great potential because of theOT. I'm not crazy about ROTJ either. Terrible story. However, I am a fan, and the think SW could be great again, with better writing and directing. Lucas can consult, but leave the details to younger, fresher talent. I am worried when I look at Disney's track record with Marvel.

 

Lucas never wanted to start in the middle of any story at all. There was no "middle" of any story when he made the original Star Wars back in the 70's. In fact the original Star Wars when it was released in '77 didn't have any "episode #" attached to it at all. It was a basic slap-together of a bunch of ideas he had. He made the original Star Wars as a stand alone sci-fi movie and hoped for the best. The way the movie is structured gives it away. There were no real plans for any sequels at that point. He lucked out and people loved it, so he built on some old ideas to come up with ESB and RotJ, and then slapped an episode # on Star Wars and called it "A New Hope" in the re-release in '79.

 

It didn't have an episode number no, as he didnt know if the film would be a success and it could stand alone if it wasn't, but he had planned out a larger story encompassing the history of Obi-Wan, Darth etc. If i look around i think i can find a quote to support my statement.

 

This is wildly inaccurate. There has always been debate as to how many episodes where originally planned, but ANH was never intended as a one off. As stated above, the Ep # was left off, and the part of the story that COULD stand alone was produced first for a number of reasons.

 

I meant that people didn't enjoy wondering, not that people didn't like the answers they got.

 

*conversation intrusion*
Its sadly true. Now a days people want to know everything about everything with no suprises. Makes me kinda happy JJ is doing this film cause now we have a higher chance of secrets being kept which could REALLY benefit this movie.

 

It's a possibility, I agree. While there are definite characters, themes and other story elements which I really hope are showcased (examples include a male protagonist who is Luke's son, the continuation of the father/son theme and the monomyth, and a John Williams score), I'm making it a point to remember that I'm not the one making these decisions and that if I go into Episdode VII with an open mind, there's every chance I'll be wonderfully entertained.

 

I see it differently. In the beginning there was no "a new hope" per se. GL made the original SW and sort of improvised from there. Lucas had a very generalized story idea for this grand space opera, allegedly for between 9 to 12 chapters, but it was nowhere near fully developed by the time of the release of the original Star Wars, he had ideas only. He was constantly improvising and changing ideas and developed concepts, (even well into the early 2000's). Star Wars '77 was made as a stand alone flick based on what he felt were the most marketable and presentable ideas based on where he was at that time. The Star Wars of 1977 wasn't exactly an "episode 4" per se to a "bigger story" as many people think. SW77 wasn't designed that way. There was no real serious grand design or specs for any larger story until after Star Wars proved to be a box office success. The Idea that Lucas had this great vision for everything right from the beginning is patently false.

 

George Lucas' preface to the 1994 reissue of Splinter of the Mind's Eye:

"It wasn't long after I began writing Star Wars that I realized the story was more than a single film could hold. As the saga of the Skywalkers and Jedi Knights unfolded, I began to see it as a tale that could take at least nine films to tell—three trilogies—and I realized, in making my way through the back story and after story, that I was really setting out to write the middle story."​

 

Alright, speaking for myself, I thought that it was one of the ingenoius things Lucas did in writing SW. It gave the SW Universe a history, a gravitas. It created speculation of a larger story involving the Clone Wars and the Origins of Darth Vader, and his pursuit of the Jedi and their destruction. It also has much to do with the mystery of the Force, the origins of the Empire and the person of the Emperor himself. Great Stuff! When Threepio said 'No more adventures!', I admittedly was interested, asking myself and other SW entusiats, 'what adventures?'

 

The only thing that is almost correct about what you are saying is the idea that Star Wars, the originl film, was in fact produced so that it COULD be a stand alone film, but that is only because Lucas did not know if he would ever have the opportunity to produce the rest of the saga. That does not mean that all the details of the rest of the story were in place, and we all know that things changed along the way during Empire and Jedi, but similar to were e are today with the ST, there were notes/outlines/treatments as to the direction the story was going. Sure, GL had to start with the first movie and hope it does well, but to say that he had no plans is false.

Every interview,every documentary, every article, every instance of history and evidence shows otherwise.

This isn't really a debatable issue or "way I see it" type of thing. It's documented, and I dont mean just by Lucas.

 

Will this new Trilogy be a precursor to another Prequel?

Do you mean another sequel Trilogy?

 

Yes, depending on what you mean. What I'm saying is that Lucasfilm has a template for making these films already; with which Disney has just bought all rights. Now what does that mean? Well, from a marketing and story standpoint it might make sense to make that next 3 films as the last in the Skywalker Saga (Episodes X, XI, and XII). The Actors are old enough. The films would be about Luke, Leia and Han and their twentysomething offspring. The writers could build another back story, related to the plot and directly connected to another trilogy to be made later (VII, VIII and IX) in order to create the opportunities the OT (IV, V, and VI) used, namely, references to the past (e.g., Ord Mandell, The Clone Wars, Darth Vader) that are never quite explained to the audience and appear in a forthcoming trilogy (I, II and III), for example. Lucasfilm has done this. They know how to do it. You could argue, given the price tag, this is what Disney had in mind when they bought the rights. It might be how GL sold it to them.

That would mean when you walk in to the theater Episode X rolls up and you know that there will be another earlier set trilogy. The last Trilogy would need to be recast in for the age of the characters. It wouldn't necessarily be the Thrawn Trilogy, but some such story as to show Luke's trials and tribulations in forming a New Jedi Order and Leia creating a Second Republic. It would not be about their children altogether. It would be set 3-5 years after ROTJ.

This way Disney gets six Skywalker Saga films which probably gross what they paid for the franchise and they also get any EU or standalone character films as pure profit.

Lucas said there were 12 film originally, however he has said that the last 3 were about Wookies and robots. But we also know that Lucas has developed this/these stories ever since he started making them live action (for good and bad). They have been developed over time. There wasn't one overall plan.

Also, they could officially call it Episode VII or what ever they want until it's released...what a huge surprise for the fans! They called ROTJ 'Blue Harvest' for Force sake.

Anyway, if I were going to make SW films for the next one-hundred years, as GL said, or have a SW film out every 2 to 3 years, as Bob Iger said, this is what I would do.

 

So? I would feed that line to fans all day and when I got them into the theater, when STAR WARS: Episode X scrolled by, they would be totally geeked to realize, HOLY FORCE GHOST, there's going to be more to this Saga!!!

 

What about Episode IV, V, and VI. What came after? I, II, III. It doesn't matter to a writer.

 

Perhaps.

 

It has nothing to do with need. Only profit and generation of new SW live action films. The 30 years between ROTJ and this new set of films is gold to Disney, and they will mine there, as long as there is a market. Inevitably, people will want to see the "DIRECT SEQUEL" to ROTJ. And Disney will want to sell it to them. Of course it will be recast. It may or may not be the THRAWN series. But it should all be connected.

 

Exactly!

 

In fact Lucas negotiated the rights to make sequels from FOX and "Splinter of the Minds' Eye" was a fall back and possible movie sequel. Han wasn't in it because Ford was the only one of the three without a sequel built in to the contract. This is all well documented in Making of Star Wars by: Rinzler. Also, A Brief Guide to Star Wars by: Robb.

In SW the main protagonist (Luke) never engages the antagonist (Vader). That's very unusual for the genre. Usually they resolve their conflict. Furthermore, Darth Vader escaped in the end, leaving the audience to believe in the possibility of a sequel. GL was a genius.

 

I like this idea of a prequel trilogy before the ST, whether it be live or animated. But if they go with something that takes place a few years after ROTJ, then it should be the Thrawn Trilogy.

 

Thanks for liking the idea. I conjured it last Saturday. I just joined the forum on Sunday and started the thread. People can be critical, but that's O.K. I'm trying to think of it from a businessman/writers perspective (GL). WWGLD?

I've never read the Thrawn Trilogy and know that it's both popular and unpopular. I'm indifferent, but my thought is that Disney now owns it and they will want to use it, not let it sit there. And if they did do something with it, it wouldn't be exactly the same. It would be a screenplay, unlike a novel.

I like some of the ideas in Shadows of the Empire. It would be interesting to take a younger cast, do that as a film, because Lucas said he would have made it in to one if he had had the time and inclination. It was marketed with a book, toys, merchandising, comics...everything but the actual film. The recast could make that and then do a trilogy after ROTJ.

Why do Episode VII with the old cast, with no opportunity left to make a direct sequel trilogy between them??? That's what I keep asking myself.

 

Because some of the EU that I would like to see probably won't ever be filmed, I think it's a mistake and a waste not going with a recast of younger actors. I hope the ST doesn't become a failure, because if it does, one will only think of what could've been if they had gone with Zahn's story instead.

 

So you recommend the Zahn books? It could easily be done and probably will be. Disney is going to make a fortune out of SW. They will make all kinds of movies for every fan. I worry about the Disney/Marvel model. Some stories are good. Most are bad. SW is different. Put the stories first!