ST Official Sequel Trilogy / Legends / Expanded Universe discussion thread

Great article, with insights into disney's plans for the franchise.

Remember Disney now has complete creative control.

http://www.starwars7news.com/2013/12/disney-cfo-jay-rasulo-talks-star-wars.html#more

more articles, about what disney may be doing.

http://makingstarwars.net/2013/12/n...ni-series-leading-into-films-sounds-possible/


http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/12/10/disney-cfo-star-wars-will-follow-marvel-model


http://www.thewrap.com/disney-cfo-star-wars-will-follow-marvel-strategy/

Rebels is probably the beginning of their Star Wars animated projects, one of the advantages of having JJ, is Bad Robot's TV experience, and resources.
JJ wanted to do a Live action Star Trek series, no doubt his company will be looking at ideas for Star Wars Livr action series for the ABC stations, and Netflix.
they have the story group to make sure that future books, and comics are tightly connected to the new peojects, as they come.

TYhe Story Group was probably suggested by Disney, since Joss Whedon has one for the MCU

 

Those articles only seem to back up my assessment that the numbered saga will be complete with Episode IX and that there is a long-term plan in place for telling stories beyond that one using a similar model as Marvel. I'm sure a lot of this was worked out before the deal even happened.

 

I actually do think they'll be a Sequel Sequel Trilogy but I'm betting a blank spot of about 5 years in between Ep. 9 and Ep. 10. They'll try different stuff with the brand, maybe if the spin-offs are successful start doing series about that, maybe jump way, way back in the timeline. Then Ep. 10. But it won't have as quick a turnover as there has been in between the trilogy installments themselves.

 

Honestly, if Disney were to insist on dragging this story out beyond the ending that Lucas wrote for it and against his wishes, the likelihood is very high that I will be ignoring all new films from that point forward, and quite possibly several of the ones made prior to that happening due to the sour taste it would leave in my mouth. After the ST it's time to move into new storytelling territory, which it sounds like they're doing, and there is absolutely no good reason to keep going with the numbered episodes at that point. Star Wars is bigger than that and they know it.

 

The only way to really end any future Solo/Skywalker stories, is by making sure that The Solo's, and Skywalker;s don't have children, as long as their are future
characters with the last names of Skywalker/Solo, their will be creative people, and people at Disney who will want to use them.
the story of them dealing with Palpatine/Plaugeis, and their students, will end, but new stories can then be told.

 

Yah, but I'm saying Episode 10 might be an "in case of emergency break glass" option if they can't get something rolling elsewhere sans proper numbered "Episodes". God know if/when that would happen, though. That's their next to last plan. The final solution nuclear option is remake. The brand must be maximized to profit potential.

 

They can keep the family line going without resorting to continuing this specific story with the Episode numbers. All they have to do is start telling new stories with those characters outside of the confines of the saga's story structure. That's easily done. They're already beginning to tell standalone stories using characters from the saga which are apart from the saga. This is only the beginning of a move away from the saga in my opinion. But it doesn't mean they can't still use any of the same characters they want to tell these new stories. It just means that this particular story will be finished.

 

There will be a SST simply since the ST will create countless fans of that series that will demand more be it 5 years later or 20. Disney will also break new ground since they know they can't place all their chips on the Episodes being their main race horse, imho KotOR is a logical place to look for a new set of episodes. Rotating between the two imho gives a good bit of time between each story for plot developments and to finalize plans for each to have planned out trilogies. The spinoffs give hope of finding at least one or two that will kick off into massivly popular multi film series as well.

Now there is no reason George can't have input in the SST nor have already told them where to take it after, let's also not forget the rumors he had plans for 12 episodes (which later became 9 plus 3 spinoffs, though maybe if these 3 later episodes did exsist Disney can salvage them from 10-12 page story treatments Lucas may have left in a vault). He does now have 2% of Dinsey's stock and has placed all his loyal people into key spots before stepping down,so him returning to plan is very plausable.

Edit: As Mystery Roach says, the characters in the ST can have their own films as well. That said I still see them eventually all teaming up again in a SST.

 

I guess we'll just have to wait and see, but I have a strong feeling that they are using the ST to give Disney a leg up while they transition away from Episodes into a different method of storytelling that more resembles that which Marvel is using. This fits with everything Rasulo, Iger, and Lucas have said, and I see no reason not to take their words for it. If the transition is smooth enough, there will be no demand for a new trilogy in this saga because they will already be in the midst of huge new multi-film stories which are utilizing the same characters, not to mention all of the connected forays into other mediums as well.

 

Yes... but the Marvel franchise does have The Avengers. So if they transition to that model in a way every team up movie is an episode, whether its numbered or not. Imho not calling them episodes is splitting hairs. It will still be seperated under its own 'team up' name.

Really the only difference is that all those mentioned events on Ord Mantell or Sullust will now be reference to other spin off films, instead of just seemingly expanding the universe beyond the episodes. However by name or not, the episodes will always remain.

 

I think we're agreeing in principle about how they will handle it, though I disagree about the splitting hairs part. Not calling those films episodes will make a very big difference to me in my ability to accept and welcome them into the Star Wars universe.

I agree that there will continue to be the big event Star Wars films with smaller more specialized films in the interim, but the nine part saga will always somewhat stand apart as George Lucas's singular story, as it should be.

 

I do like the idea of a 9 part Lucas Saga Story as it's own thing. And it would be neat if they could have a different brand for the satellite of spin-off movies to spin around (or Expand the Universe, heh.) And I do dig the logic that it will move into the Marvel method, eventually everything will spin-around the big team-up movie. It just depends will they ring the dinner bell of an "Episode 10" to hang those future movies off of, or will they have something else to latch them altogether to? Or will there not be a centralized "main" flick? Will they just all bounce off each other?

Wacky future-extrapolation theory. During the ST era, the majority of the spin-offs will be "flashback" OT era movies, maybe one ST era by the time you hit Ep. 8 or 9 but the consistency between Star Wars ST Episode releases will stay 2 years on the same date. Then when it's just spin offs, it'll move into an "Marvel Phase" style method. Episode 10 will be, like, 5 years after spin offs, then into individual spin offs, then 4 years later Episode 11, etc.

 

The difference is you have a preconception of what to call them and why, while I'm just using old terms till we know something better to call them (though neither is better or worse imho, just stating where I think we both are coming from). However I think we both agree in princaple of Disney moving to a Marvel style of story telling, with solo adventures for some characters (maybe with a guest star sidekick or two) and team ups films tieing them all together every 2-5 years.

I personally think though episode terminolgy will still work however, since like The Avengers films they will flow together in a way that requires no spinoff movie watching for any audince member. In essence I just believe the Marvel model is the Star Wars model just with movies that fill in gaps between the movies (which the (old?) EU did in reverse). So I see no change beyond more films between each 'episode' beyond maybe calling it something other than episode. The name matters not to me though... just again calling it episode till Disney tells me what to call them.

 

It makes a difference to me because I'm all for Star Wars movies continuing in perpetuity, but I feel strongly that the story being told by Lucas should have a definitive beginning, middle, and end.

But, yeah, beyond that I don't think there will be much difference between the saga films and the other tentpole films except that the new films will ultimately end up telling a much larger story of which Lucas's nine part saga is just one relatively small component. The various TV projects will be other components, along with the smaller films, books, comics, etc. all integrated into a larger continuity. So if people are able to let go of the current EU, there will be a much greater opportunity for truly rich storytelling possibilities across all mediums than there ever has been before.

 

I think I agree with Mystery_Roach here. I'm fine with there being eventual sequels to the Sequel Trilogy, but I'd rather not have anything not made (in some sense) by George Lucas be called "Episode X". That sort of thing might have been considered once, but for over 30 years this has been his saga.

 

I agree with the general consensus towards having a Young *insert character here* movies. They're not really needed and nobody's really asking for them. Rogue Squadron would be pretty cool, it would be like Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy meets The Expendables meets Top Gun in space(minus the gay jokes). A group of ragtag space pilots vs a bigger threat would be lovely. Kyle Katarn would be nice too. Personally the spin-off films I'd love to see are:


Enough said.


Republic Commando could chronicle a group of Republic troopers in various missions with one half about the Republic days and the other half about the Empire days. Think Battlefront 2's storyline.

 

Well said, I was saying that the whole time.

 

Realistically though, there's no reason why Disney is going to care about "Lucas's Saga" or his intention for the films.

All they're going to be interested in is "Star Wars" as a saga, and as a whole. While I'm sure they will be plenty happy to explore other films, TV series (live and animated), and EU spin-offs (whether congruent or not with what already exists), there's no reason for them financially to abandon what has always be the core of the brand - the numbered episodes. They serve as the primary device for establishing the universe around and detailing the major events that occur therein. Like TCW expanded on the Clone Wars, Ep II and III served to establish and conclude that conflict, same with ANH and ROTJ for the rebellion. Lots of details before during and after to flesh out, but Disney isn't going to limit itself by capping the episodes at IX and then producing dozens of things around that.

As Ryus indicated, the Avengers movies serve the same purpose as episodes - the core of the brand around which all else is based.

 

Yeah that is true that Disney only cares about branding and labeling something an "episode" would get attention ala Avengers. But on the flipside, anyone think they'll be proudly marketing EPISODE XIV in the next decade and a half-ish? Even though A Chorus of Disapproval was joking, the ditching of numbered movies and going to just "Franchise: Subtitle" is sort of a thing. When the numbers get too high, they're afraid people start freaking out.

 

I disagree that keeping the episode numbers will be an attractive prospect for Disney though. When this trilogy is finished it will already be up to 9, and studios have a strong tendency to shy away from high sequel numbers. There's a reason most numbered sequels stop using numbers after a certain point. After a while it makes the brand seem tired. Nobody wants to get to a point where they're releasing Episode XXVIII, and this will be the perfect time to transition from that. And besides, you can bet that maintaining the integrity of Lucas's saga was something that he would have insisted on in the deal when he sold the brand to Disney. After his lifelong battle for the preservation of artists' rights, there's no way he would get into a situation where someone else can just alter his vision of the saga in any way they want.

 

There obscenely high number thing is indeed something unique. But then again, remember when a new Bond film is announced? Its always "Bond 21, Bond 22, Bond 23" and people love it. Now admittedly those always get a title later in production which is what goes to theaters, but the principal is the same.

Star Wars is if anything more popular and can probably survive doing that, even if the movies are more likely to be advertized as "Star Wars: The Shadow of Darkness" than "Episode XIV" other than in the opening crawl and poster.

The thing is, any contract has gigantic loopholes and interpretation. Even if he has a clause about maintaining the "integrity of his saga" (or whathave you for phrasiology) there's dozens of ways for them to interpret that that allow them to keep using "Episode ___" ad infinitum unless he specifically includes that they cannot use the Episode ___ past IX. Possible but unlikely.

I would be very surprised if they went away from that. Even if its only ever mentioned on posters and title crawls, its something they're going to want to capitalize on.

 

Yes, but better. Way better.

 

I like the fact that they're called Episodes though. There not just numbers, they're Roman Numerals, which make it extra special.