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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Official Info Michael Arndt no longer writing Episode VII

Discussion in 'Star Wars: New Films - No Spoilers Allowed' started by citizenmilton, Oct 24, 2013.

  1. Lars_Muul

    Lars_Muul Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Oct 2, 2000
    It doesn't merely suggest it. It says it outright.
    What does it say about the possibility of a complete rewrite, though? Nothing.

    This got me thinking about the development of the script for TESB. GL hired Leigh Brackett, who wrote a draft that was delivered shortly before she died of cancer. From what I've heard, very little of that draft made it all the way to the shooting script. GL himself wrote two new drafts after Brackett passed away and then Kasdan was brought in.
    TESB as we know it is supposedly radically different from what Brackett wrote, even if the core essence of it remained the same throughout (She still got credit for the final script, though).

    This is just the way these things work sometimes and that's not by definition a bad thing. Many times, it actually works out for the best in the end.

    Judging by the majority of the replies in this thread, I'd say no.




    - But why must you confront him?
    - He has become a very great threat.

    /LM
     
  2. EHT

    EHT Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 13, 2007
    "Taking over" does not equal "starting over". Other than that, this is just like many of the other points being made about this, which to me sound like a combination of reading too much into it, jumping to conclusions, and panicking.
     
  3. citizenmilton

    citizenmilton Jedi Padawan star 1

    Registered:
    Oct 30, 2012
    For all practical purposes, it does look like starting over. The fact that they put out a press release and phrased it in that way strongly suggests that Arndt will not be credited as a co-writer of the film. And according to writer's guild rules, that would mean the changes are massive. This, coupled w/ Faraci's report that it's a page-one rewrite, and the fact that Kasdan was originally slated for one of the spin-off films, suggests the changes are huge, probably closer to 'starting over' than any other fair description.

    Why is it considered "panicking" to simply observe these occurrences and draw that conclusion? Nobody's crying "game over, man" like Bill Paxton in Aliens. Some of us just happen to prefer Arndt as a writer over Abrams. At this point in time, reading the available information, the chances of artistic success for the film have dropped according to those of us who evaluate Arndt's writing highly and Abram's writing lowly. Doesn't necessarily mean the film's in such trouble that the situation is irrevocably bad. Perhaps Kasdan's influence will be strong. Perhaps JJ was meant to write this project all along, perhaps he's inspired and not treating this as a hired-hand job. At this point, it's all inference and guesswork. If I had to bet money on whether I'd likely walk out of EP VII giving it an "A" cinemascore, when Arndt was on board, I would've wagered some cash on that possibility. Now? It's a "pick 'em." That's not a panic. It's an observation. I'll still be in line all-day-long on some date in 2016* waiting to get in to the first screening.



    *yeah, I'm expecting that too, would be fine with being wrong on both of these expectations :)
     
    Immortiss likes this.
  4. EHT

    EHT Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 13, 2007
    Fair enough, maybe you're not panicking. Some of the other posters saying that everything must be getting started over from scratch have come across that way.
     
    Immortiss likes this.
  5. EMPEROR_WINDU

    EMPEROR_WINDU Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 23, 2002
    If JJ is writing the script, I can't say that instills much confidence in me that VII will live up to the OT (or even II and III). With that having been said, I do have hope that Kasdan can deliver.

    I do find myself wondering if Arndt's leaving is not so much a result of his script but GL's outlines of the ST. Maybe Arndt wrote the script and LFL wasn't happy with the overall direction of the ST and have decided to go in a totally different direction.

    I don't have a lot of knowledge on how films are made, but I gotta be honest that if I had a choice between Abrams and Lucas writing a SW movie I'd take Lucas after judging the PT in its totality.
     
  6. Poor Greedo

    Poor Greedo Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Nov 6, 2012
    Could be worse. Could be Michael Bay or Sam Raimi.
     
  7. Placeholder

    Placeholder Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 30, 2013
    I wouldn't say that you are panicking, but you're jumping to conclusions. We can't know the reason for this change, and we don't know if it's a rewrite. We don't know if he is going to be creditedd or not. We don't know anything. We only know that they issued a press release that the man was leaving the project and that JJ and Kasdan are going to be the ones moving forward. It could be that there was a creative difference on one plot point, and Arndt didn't want to make the change. It could be anything. It could be something personal. People leave jobs for reasons outside of professional considerations.

    There are a thousand reasons people leave a job. Any one of them could be true.
     
    eht13 likes this.
  8. A Chorus of Disapproval

    A Chorus of Disapproval Head Admin & TV Screaming Service star 10 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Aug 19, 2003
    I said this in the 7SA version of this discussion, but hopefully it helps alleviate some of the undue anxiety here...

    If we simply read quotes from Arndt and others associated with the production from over the past year, there are multiple indicators that this collaboration isn't current news. Arndt was praising working with both Kasdan and JJ on the script during the earliest interviews granted after he began work. The odds are probably high of this being a case of his contribution being done and the director and the other (in this case Kasdan) writer wrapping up the final touches (which would make sense on multiple levels since Kasdan is involved with all 3 sequels and would possibly know the big picture moreso than Arndt...) and this only seeming like "news" because it finally hit the media and they put some emphasis on the more dramatic sounding elements of Arndt's departure.
     
  9. Placeholder

    Placeholder Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 30, 2013
    A very real possibility
     
  10. SithStarSlayer

    SithStarSlayer Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Oct 23, 2003
    History IS on our side.
     
    anakinfansince1983 likes this.
  11. anakinfansince1983

    anakinfansince1983 Skywalker Saga/LFL/YJCC Manager star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Mar 4, 2011
    I was excited about the idea of Kasdan doing a spin off and even more excited about this.
     
  12. SithStarSlayer

    SithStarSlayer Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Oct 23, 2003
    Since I can't have Kersh on this and because I think JJA sucks, Larry is my guy!
    He's my only hope, actually.[face_blush]
     
    Dark Lady Mara likes this.
  13. citizenmilton

    citizenmilton Jedi Padawan star 1

    Registered:
    Oct 30, 2012
    I haven't concluded anything. I said the evidence looks like starting over and that it strongly suggests a certain state of play. I put those qualifiers in there for a reason - our information is incomplete. There's any number of reasons that this analysis could be completely wrong. I do have a clear opinion on the current state of things, but, am open to revision if conflicting information arises. If we have to wait until all the information is in to offer an opinion on this, we ought to just close this thread until Michael Arndt and JJ Abrams publish their memoirs in 2030.

    And I haven't "jumped" to anything. I'm parsing this PR/damage-control news through the lens of a cinephile who's followed Hollywood filmmaking for decades, has read a ton about screenwriters and the writing process, researched guild rules, followed writing-credit disputes over the years, etc. And all I'm trying to do is to cut through the fog and get a clearer picture of what's really going on. It's not like I saw a headline and then ran onto the forum and mashed the keyboard into all-caps mode and started screaming a whiny rant. I started this thread by quoting two different sources - that, in and of itself, shows an effort at consideration, looking at more than one viewpoint, and synthesizing a point of view. Yet I get labelled as a knee-jerker and a conclusion-jumper. Sigh.

    But, just to play devil's advocate, let's say they're not starting over - let's say JJ and LK are changing "half" of the screenplay, and that Arndt is going to remain onboard as a credited co-writer. There seems to be an assumption by many on this forum that that is an inherently better state of affairs?? Goodness gracious. If fans of this film franchise seem to think that's the case, I shudder. By and large, the best screenplays are the result of a singular vision. That vision could be shared in a collaboration/partnership. Screenplay-by-committee is the most-cited cause for mediocrity in major films by filmmaking professionals. Give me singular authorship any day over that. I guess the dominant message of celebrating a filmmaker's unique vision, as evidenced in figures such as Lucas/Coppola/Scorsese and highlighted in many of the DVD extras from Lucasfilm (such as the American Zoetrope story) - hasn't persuaded Star Wars fans.

    Even though I strongly prefer Arndt over JJ/LK at this point... since we've already cracked that egg, I'd much rather prefer JJ/LK to have as clean a slate as possible. I'd want them to have a shared vision, rather than a cleanup committee assignment.
     
  14. SithStarSlayer

    SithStarSlayer Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Oct 23, 2003
    At least they haven't shot the scenes, or we'd be talking about lack of vision, bring back Lucas.

    The sky is falling Falcon has crashed.

    And the real fun hasn't even started yet.
     
  15. Placeholder

    Placeholder Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 30, 2013
    The point remains, there isn't enough information here to be talking about evidence pointing to this or that or anything. There is nothing here to go on.

    The only thing we know is that Arndt is out, we don't the why. We don't know what it means for the script, we don't know anything. Nothing is "pointing" to anything.
     
  16. Arawn_Fenn

    Arawn_Fenn Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Jul 2, 2004
    And the last time that happened, we got Daala.

    Be very afraid.
     
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  17. DARTHVENGERDARTHSEAR

    DARTHVENGERDARTHSEAR Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jun 8, 2002
    This sounds like it will set the release date back another year. :(
     
  18. EHT

    EHT Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 13, 2007
    Darth Chiznuk likes this.
  19. Placeholder

    Placeholder Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 30, 2013
    That's not a very smart way to go about this. I'm a believer in setting firm deadlines, but this is a creative process. A lot of films get ruined by trying to force a deadline. That doesn't mean that's actually happening here, I'm always skeptical of reports from unknown "insiders", for all we know the script is basically done, but the point remains.


    As fans, we should prefer for them to take the time to make the movie right and come away with a good final product, than worry about a release date.
     
  20. DARTHVENGERDARTHSEAR

    DARTHVENGERDARTHSEAR Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jun 8, 2002
    I noticed the part where it said Arndt wrote the treatment before the sale. Heh. I guess the ST was coming regardless of the deal.
     
    SithStarSlayer likes this.
  21. Placeholder

    Placeholder Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 30, 2013
    No, it wasn't. A lot of work was done in advance of the sale, to make the property more attractive to Disney.
     
  22. DARTHVENGERDARTHSEAR

    DARTHVENGERDARTHSEAR Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jun 8, 2002
    oh.
     
  23. Placeholder

    Placeholder Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 30, 2013
    Lucas talked about that when the sale was announced.
     
  24. Padme501st

    Padme501st Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 4, 2006
    It's hard when you are on the outside looking in, but it feels like they haven't done much in the past year which makes a denied request for more time, frightening. I know it's due to lack of official news and they could be way ahead

    I just hope they know what they are doing, and not just worrying about money with no substance
     
  25. Placeholder

    Placeholder Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 30, 2013
    It makes me nervous that it's coming from Disney. If Lucasfilm needs more time to do this right, do it. It might be penny wise to stay on schedule but it could turn out to be dollar foolish if this movie ends up being crap.
     
    Padme501st likes this.