Saga Disney buying Lucasfilm????? Star Wars goes on?

Screw Whedon and everyone like him! He shouldn't be let anywhere near SW for a hundred different reasons.

If anything they will get Lucas's life long friend Steven Spealberg to direct.

In fact Lucas already tried to get him to direct ROTJ back in 83 but couldn't due to technical/timing issues and in ROTS Spealberg WAS brought on as a "guest director" for key scenes. Lucas has always wanted Spealberg to do a Star Wars film.

Now is the time.

 

Oh do elaborate on why Whedon shouldn't be allowed near it. I expect he's on you "hateboy" list somewhere.

 

Consider me disappointed. The thing that made SW so special is that the creator had total creative control. For better or for worse, it was his vision. And I didnt agree with everything he did, but somehow with the prequels I felt I was getting more pluses and minuses because of his creative control. I felt some sort of authenticity with the prequels that made me feel like I was in the same galaxy that was inhabited in the Original Trilogy. I dont think that would have happened if some big studio was calling the shots. Lucas said he didnt want SW to become like Star Trek, but that is now what has happened.

The good news is that it appears he has given it to the best people possible. Disney and Kathleen Kennedy are the people least likely to screw it up. With Disney, I dont think we will get the circus side show that occured with Star Trek and J J Abrams a couple of years ago.

The problem with making an episodes 7,8, and 9, is that it ruins the whole biography concept of Anakin Skywalker. When people who arent familiar to SW ask me what it is about, I tell them that it is about the life of a man, who starts out as a good kid, grows up to become evil, then many years later is redeemed by his son and is turned back to the good side. It has a nice Citezin Kane feel to it.

There were three crucial elements that made the prequels link well with the original movies - George Lucas, John Williams, and Ben Burtt. We were able to get away with not having the same production designer and the same concept artist because it was a different era int he galaxy any way. But Ben Burtt and John Williams were crucial to giving the prequels that same magic that the OT had. Im pretty sure we wont get Williams this time. Its one thing to not have Williams for television series, but it is quite another not to have him for the movies. The new movies should have been about the Jedi - SIth wars that occured 1000 years before the prequels. Not episodes 7,8, and 9.

 

Sorry rpeugh, but the prequels don't link well with the originals at all. They feel like completely different film series...

 

I asked this on another thread but what was the last hit Spielberg had that he directed...not funded.


Also I loved Avengers but it does not give Joss Whedon a automatic pass. Also it scares me bit that he liked the Yuuzhan Vong story.

 

I would love Spielberg to direct.

 

Spielberg did the "crystal skull" with lucas.....did'nt really blow me away...it would have been a great movie in 1985 ...i Dont know what I want but it needs to be fresh I just feel "youth" would be good for this.

I would not hate it to be spielberg he could at least handle the pressure

 

I like the idea of Spielberg setting the tone in 7 then handing off to younger directors.

 

Not being a smart arse but is there anyone born after 1990 that would like spielberg. I have great memories of his movies in the 80s and of cource shindlers list...but i am drawing a blank on anything else this decade that was good

 

I havent seen many of his films in the past 5 years, but I dont think he has made a truly bad film since 1992's HOOK. Though he probably has had a few mediocre ones. I will be seeing LINCOLN, so we will find out about that.

 

WOW this is just amazing, crazy, unbelievable news! Big speculation post below:

Incidentally, recently my friends and I were discussing and researching the Sequel Trilogy and what was said before Lucas denied they existed. I could see a new series of films being just awesome, especially with a team of writers, new director (Spielberg!) and Lucas advising.

As for story, here's my guess. It only makes sense to set it roughly as far after ROTJ as it has been in the real world or further. So let's say 30+ years. There's NO way they'll make this first movie and not have at least one character from the OT. It would just make no sense, especially from a marketing standpoint. Mark Hamill will come back in a heartbeat, and at CVI when asked Carrie Fisher said she'd absolutely come back. I'm sure Billy Dee Williams will too, based on his recent participation on Robot Chicken. Harrison Ford is iffy, but considering he'll come back for more Indy movies, maybe Lucas can convince him to at least cameo. It would also be cool to see Yoda as a ghost, and I suppose there's a chance Hayden could return as the ghost of Anakin. Admiral Ackbar, surviving OT Imperial Officers, and plenty of side characters are fair game too. But I think the most obvious, fan-gathering, money-making return will be Boba Fett. We already know Lucas regrets killing him, and even contemplated adding a scene of him escaping the Sarlaac. We also have seen him delve into Boba Fett a lot more, starting in AOTC, continuing in TCW, and we've all seen that teaser banner for the live-action show featuring Boba Fett as the main draw. Imagine Temuera Morrison returning, this time as Boba, and giving him a lot more to do. Fans and kids alike will eat that up.

At the same time, based on Lucas' older statements, the stories will focus on the next generation of heroes, and the OT heroes would likely pass the torch, so to speak. Now the big question on a lot of people's minds is: will it follow, adapt or trample the EU? I'd guess a little of all 3. I sincerely doubt the Thrawn Trilogy will be adapted really at all, especially given its time period and some of its elements (Jedi clones, Luuke). However, we do know now that Lucas has been asking Pablo Hidalgo for some research, and there's more not being said. Lucas appreciates and even likes to incorporate elements of the EU, as we've seen with Aayla Secura and TCW, even if he doesn't always follow it to the letter. I'd bet he's taken some of the larger EU elements into account in his treatment (possibly Mara Jade and the Solo/Skywalker kids?). It's possible the story could hint at some of the EU events having happened, and those could be directly adapted as spin-off movies, maybe animated. (I'd love to see the TCW team or Pixar adapt the Thrawn Trilogy, even as a direct-to-DVD release). If he keeps some of these elements, like Mara Jade, then the events that would have introduced her can be simply mentioned in the opening crawl or in brief exposition. Of course it's very likely the new movies will have to overwrite the EU at some point then, perhaps starting with The New Jedi Order. We'll find out more soon I'm sure. Honestly, as much as I like the NJO and beyond, if they have a good story and can at least keep some of the Bantam-era stuff, I will be happy personally.

I'll be happy to see VII, VIII and IX, though I'm curious to see what the films beyond that could be, assuming that IX is the last of the Episodic films.

After the PT finished I decided to ignore the bashers and haters. Some are selfish and closed-minded, wanting only what they had and nothing more. I find it ironic that some people hated what Lucas did starting with the SE, and wanted others to take over from "Crazy George", and yet now those same people are saying that no one should make it but him. George shouldnt mess with it, and neither should anyone else. So basically, these people want nothing. I choose not to be so cynical about a series we are privileged to experience as it happens.

Looking at Marvel and The Avengers, I think we don't need to worry about Disney messing with what works. They arent going spend $4 Billion to buy Star Wars and then tell George to go screw himself. They are going to respect and honor what has come before while working on the future. At the same time, George now has the series in the hands of a new trustworthy leader, who in turn has access to the resources of one of the largest companies in the world. New Star Wars movies...what an exciting time to be a fan!

 

Guess you aren't a fan of Firefly heh? One of the best shows ever to grace television. Whedon would do Star Wars well. He is, after all, a fan first.

Spielberg lost his touch just like Lucas has. Spielberg cares more about shoving politically correct messages down our throats than just making cinema. Let alone he was executive producer on all 3 Transformers movies."vomit". They don't have the young drive and fire they once had. They are automated assembly lines in wheelchairs now. It's time to pass the torch on to new young blood who have drive and ambition. Imagine if the Prequels had been made by the people who did the Old Republic CGI trailers? That would have been EPIC!!! Yes, new blood is what Star Wars needs. Fresh. I've always thought Star Wars would do better out of Lucas's obsessive control, not that he wouldn't have a hand in it, but more of a creative consultant, like he will be now. The Empire Strikes Back for example, the best of all SW films, wasn't directed by Lucas.

This news is good to me. And all the negativity on here...people just need to be patient instead of acting all doomsday "what have they done to my star wars" stuff. It's not YOUR Star Wars anyway. You don't own it. If you only love the OT, then go watch it over and over and love it obsessively then. Some of you people act like it's the end of the world or something. Live goes on either way. You get new movies, I don't see a negative there.

 

Get Dave Filoni involved in some way, unless Disney has enough brains to not cancel The Clone Wars.

 

I am a huge Disney fan and an even bigger Star Wars fan, but the two should not mix (at least not on film). Star Wars without George Lucas just boggles the mind, the two are inseparable from each other. Now I'm not a fan of the EU, but I know that many out there are and are hoping that the new films will follow it; but I don't think that Disney would follow any of the EU for the films because only the die hard fans even know anything about it. Disney is going to be worried about appealing to a mass audience not just the die hards. And any thought that they could get Harrison Ford to come back is insane. And I don't think Carrie Fisher could possibly play Princess Leia anymore. I love the Saga as it is, I love every episode and think that it tells an amazing story that is now finished. I don't know about all this....I'm really worried and frankly a little sad.

 

Yeah, if that's an actual quote from Joss Whedon above I'm not as onboard for him to direct as I was. I still think he'd do a great job in terms of directing actors, establishing a strong and consistent tone and not dumb things down but...for me the YuuzhanVong turn Star Wars into Star Trek. They'd probably be worse than the introduction of midichlorians IMO.

But, since I'm pretty much convinced that for me Star Wars really only worked for me in the OT, I'm willing to give it a shot.

I think there must be some almost unknown director out there that is also great with actors and can tell a straight up story that would do a fine job. They just have to find him/her!

Brad Bird or even Andrew Stanton should also be considered.

 

I found the quote I was looking for a while back that shows that, in a sense, Lucas is going back in part to an old idea he had about what to do with the franchise post ANH. I got it from the Secret History of Star Wars but it is a quote from a Rolling Stone article "The Force Behind Star Wars" by Paul Scanlon August 25th 1977:

"I think the sequels will be much, much better. What I want to do is direct the last sequel. I could do the first one and the last one and let everyone else do the ones in between."

It wouldn't bother you to have someone else do the ones in between?

"No, it would be interesting. I would want to try and get some good directors, and see what their interpretation of the theme is. I think it will be interesting, it is like taking a theme in film school, say, okay, everybody do their interpretation of this theme. It's an interesting idea to see how people interpret the genre. It is a fun genre to play with. All the prototype stuff is done now. Nobody has to worry about what a Wookie is and what it does and how it reacts. Wookies are there, the people are there, the environment is there, the empire is there...everything is there. And now people will start building on it. I've put up the concrete slab of the walls and now everybody can have fun drawing the pictures and putting on the little gargoyles and doing all the really fun stuff. And it's a competition. I'm hoping if I get friends of mine they will want to do a much better film, like, 'I'll show George that I can do a film twice that good,' and I think they can, but then I want to do the last one, so I can do one twice as good as everybody else. [Laughs]"

 

My initial gut reaction to this news was "I've really got a bad feeling about this". After all, it just isn't Star Wars without Lucas(EU novels, comics, games, etc is one thing, movies are another).

But after seeing Lucas' interview, and how he's staying on as creative consultant(hope he takes a more active role than that for 7-9), I'm warming up more and more to the idea.

I'm hoping 7-9 will bring back OT actors and introduce the characters children(TOR and Legacy type movies can be for other, non-numerical movies).

I hope The Clone Wars stays under Dave Filoni's supervision at Lucas Animation. And continues on until whatever conclusion he had planned for it.

I wonder what this means to Dark Horse? Does the license remain with them due to contract, or will it eventually revert back to Marvel.

It'll be interesting to see what happens.

 

He could have given Katie Lucas control, guys.

 

My various thoughts:

Don't cite The Avengers. It was produced by Paramount as part of their whole big plan starting with The Incredible Hulk. After Disney bought Marvel, they took control over the marketing of The Avengers and gave Paramount a slice off the back end. The first Disney/Marvel movie will be Iron Man 3. The only Pixar movies created under full Disney control were Cars 2 and Brave. Toy Story 3 was during the transition.

If you offer Carrie a couple mil, she'll lose some weight.

The movies should be directed by relative unknowns, like the OT, but true fans, or maybe David Lynch could finally get a chance after turning down ROTJ .

Anyways, I'ma try to stay in spoiler free heaven until Episode VII, but I said the same about Episode III and ended up reading many accounts of Mace Windu's hand getting cut off and freaking out in 2004. Welcome back, everyone.

 

It is very important that they don't invalidate what happened in episodes 1-6.

I was thinking earlier about Pirates of the Caribbean and The Matrix sequels, and how their preceding films ruined important elements of the first films. In the second Pirates film, they made Barbossa's death much less impactful than it was in the first Pirates. They also killed Will and Elizabeth's romance by making them largely hate each other in the sequels. Imagine if ep 7 had Han and Leia separated and Han was like "oh it never worked out.", that would kill Han's grin and their kiss at the end of ROTJ. Then take a look at The Matrix. First movie ended with the promise that Neo was set to wake up the world and he had unlimited powers. Sequel rolls along and kills so much of what the finale of the first film hinted at. Imagine if an episode 7 kills or complicates the notion of The Chosen One or introduces even more Sith.

Anyway, I very much doubt things like this will happen to Star Wars, but its important that they dont stray down the dark path and ruin established elements from the originals. I think we all want ROTJ's conclusion to mean something. It would suck to learn that the Republic has a really hard time returning and that Luke never established a proper Jedi Order. Ideally, everything DID work out after ROTJ and the Jedi and Republic returned. However, the idea of former Imperials building up a resistance is tantalizing.

 

i kind of question calling it "Episode 7". I mean Episode's 1-6 dealt with Palpatine becoming Emporer, Anakin falling to the dark side, and ultimately destroying Palpatine. It seems like any future stories really don't have much to do with that.

 

So we'd get a mixture of decent concepts and tripe execution? And then she disappears from public relations after psychos harass her again?

 

If you go on the official site they are already calling the OS (original Saga) "The Skywalker Saga".

So one can already see that they are treating the new films as simply "new films" separate from "The Skywalker Saga".

 

^ I've been on the official site, and unless the context in which that label is being used has changed in the past 24 hours, I honestly think you are reading way too much into the use of said label.