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

@ Pfluegermeister

We got better things to read than your ranting. Seriously.

 

That's EXACTLY what I expect Arndt to bring to Star Wars: there's a world of difference between a film meant for children and a film that children can ALSO enjoy. Star Wars, whichever episode it is, unquestionably has to be the latter if it's going to work. Arndt conclusively demonstrated with TS3 that he can indeed be trusted with a franchise he himself did not create, and yet still give that franchise some vigor, fresh life, and genuine heart, and speak about issues that any age can relate to, adults AND children.

 

And again, let's just all move on.

 

I love the fact that he's a fan, that he gets it. He has used A New Hope as an example in his lectures and for me, that was one tight script. He can approach a franchise without rehashing stuff, he is an intelligent writer and he thinks of the audience as intelligent people as well. He's not pandering or basic in any way, he incorporates little pieces of dialogue that become favorite quotes upon repeated viewings.

The only thing that scares me is the high expectations and faith I have in this guy.

 

The moment I first heard about that myself, I instantly became desperate to SEE that lecture. I'm not necessarily saying I'd lose a limb to catch it, but it most DEFINITELY has caught my curiosity. And, if we're all honest here, I'm sure we'd ALL like to catch that lecture. We've generally been very positive about Arndt on the back of his record, and it's a good record, but I'd have to say that just to hear or see this lecture would answer a TON of questions we may have had about Arndt and what mindset he's entering Episode VII with. And I'd like to think that we'd all come away from the experience feeling a hell of a lot more comfortable about this, and have far fewer doubters.

 

Don't trust him at all after I read in The Secret History of Little Miss Sunshine that the third draft of the script was different from the second one.

 

I'm definitely not impressed that he's a Star Wars fan. Big deal, so is everybody.

 

Did you see the shocking revelations in The Secret History of Toy Story 3?

 

Saw Oblivion last night. Not sure how much was Arndt and how much was Kozinski and how much was the other writer (Karl Gajdusek). Some nice moments and ideas (I think the story came from Kozinski), but also a bit of a mess and felt extemerly cobbled together from ideas that have been explored before (some of them fairly recently). Certainly not in the same league as LMS or TS3.

 

Does someone have a link for Arndt's lectures on SW and the PT? I've tried Google, but since it is official that he writes the ST, you get thousands of hits, but not the ones I am looking for...

 

I believe he wrote one rewrite. There were like 5 writers on the project. It was a mess. I don't know how much of his draft actually survived. Its obvious one of the writers saw Duncan Jone's "Moon" and decided to lift it wholesale...

 

And WALL-E, The Matrix, Solaris, ID4, etc. Sure looked pretty though.

 

Did look nice, but you're right about the different references. Felt they were a bit too familiar and the line was crossed from homage to rip-off a little too often. And god, the voice over was clunky.

 

That's actually what I liked most about Oblivion. Whatever else - good or bad - can be said about Kosinski, he certainly knows how to compose a shot. I'd say that nearly every shot that wasn't an action scene was composed with a VERY painterly eye. It's actually BECAUSE Kosinski seems to love a perfectly-composed shot that, regardless of my liking his work, he'd be a poor choice for a Star Wars director. With the exception of Empire, the OT really wasn't made with an eye toward how utterly gorgeous each shot was; it was much more cinema verite, more documentarian in style. That's part of what kept those films moving. Empire wasn't any different in terms of shooting style, but somehow most of the shots just HAPPENED to be very well composed without becoming static paintings. Having Episodes VII-IX be shot in such a way that most of the shots just HAPPEN to look beautifully composed when they're not moving, as if it's just very well composed BY ACCIDENT, would be the best way to go visually. Kosinski's shots all look beautifully composed ON PURPOSE, noticeably so. That's not at all a sin, because it's very much a part of what made Oblivion work for me, but it doesn't make for good Star Wars.

The script? Well, it was what it was, which was not perfect, but it was at least original in that it was not a remake or a reimagining of some long-established property (as I understand it, it was an adaptation of a comic story of Kosinski's that I'm not sure was even published, but don't make me swear to that in court), and the visuals actually DID elevate the material somewhat. I ended up liking the film very much, but I'm not sure it's a proper example of Arndt's work. No film script with five writers on the project can be perfectly airtight and flawless. For Episode VII, he will have consultants and George himself probably looking over his shoulder, but Arndt will take sole credit and it will largely be his voice coming through in the script. A single voice usually makes for a streamlined script that doesn't lose its way - not always, depending on the writer, but Arndt has at least shown that it would probably be the case for him.

 

I hope so. In no way attributing the flaws to him. Hard to know whose was what.

 

If you check Oblivion's IMDB page, you can see Arndt used a different name for his credit. Maybe he was not that into that project and wanted to remain as dissociated as possible with it, who knows:

Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1483013/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_wr#writers

 

I saw that. Interesting. Wonder what prompted it? Maybe you're right.

 

Actually, I'd guess Ganger's right: you generally don't have your name removed from the credits like that unless you flat-out don't WANT your name on those credits. That's what directors would probably call the old Alan Smithee maneuver (Alan Smithee is the name directors choose when they don't want credit for the film, usually because it's been changed or edited by the studio far beyond what the director is willing to call his own work); God only knows if they have a similar practice in screenwriting, but it would hardly surprise me.

 

No doubt. Michael Bay and Gore Verbinski are both big Star Wars fans and I don't want them anywhere near a Star Wars production... heck I don't even want them on the lot when they are shooting Star Wars... maybe not even on the same continent.


Yancy

 

One has to ask which one of those Episode VII will be for him, then.

 

Yeah, this is a turning point in his career. Besides his involvement became HUGE news, specially in this "news drought" period. My older brother doesn't know anything about Star Wars, besides that flick he saw in theaters when he was a kid (lucky bastard), yet he knows the guy who wrote Toy Story 3 is writing the new one.

If Arndt uses this alternative name as a shield for projects that are essentially paychecks, I doubt he will do so with Episode VII, specially now that everyone is expecting something from him.

His role is probably unprecedented. To step in as main creative force in a 36 year old franchise that generates more money than a small country is a career (life) move. It's ridiculous to think he will use an alias. He's either all in or not in at all.

He must do or do not, there is no try.