Disney Buys LucasFilm: Star Wars 7 Planned To Release 2015

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Zomg, I just heard about this, I thought at first that this would be bad but maybe they'll do something great with it, and if they release Star Wars 7 then I hope they do a good job of it!

Congratulations, Bart Scott, see you in 2015...

Personally, I quite like the idea of a direct continuation of ROTJ (30 years hence) using Hamill, Ford, and Fisher and a new Sith threat. I don't know anything about the fan-created stuff or EU regarding Solo/Skywalker kids so that doesn't bother me.

There's also no reason to believe that Disney are going to mess with the formula of the sprawl and the general feel and format of the movies. As someone has already said, the main problem has been Lucas himself and the piss poor plot and dialogue he wrote for the PT. Using fresh creative talent, who grew up with Star Wars themselves, and therefore will want to stay faithful to it, may be the boost the saga needs.

I'm buoyed by this news.

I'm thinking X-mas of 2015. Avengers will be coming out in May, no way Star Wars does too.

We only have up to go really, after what happened with behind the helmet and various things within ROTS that made no sense and insulted a 2 year old's mentality

Glad this is going to happen, there was always a ton of stories that could still be explored

Nothing like a big disaster to bring us all back together again...

Any chance George got a free mickey mouse ears with his name on it, on top of the 4.05 billion?

Perhaps, since they are owned by the same company now, they might not want to come out at the exact same time. But I cannot imagine either being released anywhere except the summer. I'm guessing Star Wars early summer, with Avengers coming out once most of America has seen Star Wars.

We don't know how long this sale has been in the works but what we do "know" is that they are still in talks with script writers according to the video interview. Avengers 2 was a certainty to be made, with cast in tow with contracts that were probably signed before the first Avengers movie.

That's why I'm thinking Star Wars will come out after Avengers, just because they still need the extra time to actually make the movie. I wouldn't be surprised to see a push back to 2016 if everything doesn't go exactly perfect as far as production goes. So that's why I'm counting on Avengers in May and Star Wars sometime after. Also, movies can make huge dollars in November, December when there is less competition but people are once again feigning to go to the movie theater.

November or December release could be very good but also a July release. 4th of July anyone?

I remember back then when someone told me about Heir to the Empire. I thought why didn't Lucas just make ep.1-3 or 7-9 then. Then I heard that quote about him waiting for film technology and effects to get better before he did new installments. I bought the improved sound VHS tape back then. The only copy now with the Death Star exploding properly without that circular ring nonsense. Unfortunately the tape has deteriorated and gets stuck with damage in places now. Eventually I got the Thrawn Trilogy then lost track of SW. I would occasionally catch commericals of "Buy the trilogy saga, one... LAST... TIME!". It was "cleaned up and colored" laser effects VHS version which came out but I didn't get it. I remember one time I was in Blockbuster and people were asking the clerk what the difference was in the new version. Then the news about the special editions with the CGI added scenes. And yeah, I went back to the theater for ESB and fell for the looking for the new effects shots and saw Vader taking off in his shuttle back to the Executor. Meanwhile all the EU books and stuff were going by. I finally caught Dark Horse new Old Republic comics when they were originally in magazine format. And then the prequels were coming out. And like that reviewer guy on youtube. "Red" Plinkett in that wheelchair, it was the most anticipated return to a movie franchise in movie history. I saw a bunch of my generation waiting in line. People were hooting all over before the opening. When the Fox logo and "long long ago" appeared people were cheering and crying like it was a graduation. What a disappointment. Then I recall in the academy awards where Matrix won the sfx awards and when they showed TPM nominated showing the dopey looking droids fighting the guck-gum-GUNNN-guns. and no one applauded at the nomination. The audience faces looked disgusted in fact. The youtube review by the Red Plinkett wheelchair guy showed clips of Rick MaCallum watching the first screening of TPM and they all knew it was dopey. The choice of production design was dopey and childish even though the artists could have done much better. Chinese rickshaw droids? broken-english asian accented Nimoy-dians? please.. I saw some of Doug Chiang's more interesting competent designs, but it seemed only the dopey kiddie designs were chosen. But when you're paid to be a yes-man, you're just going to repeat the acknowledgments. Unfortunately what many have to do at their real world jobs these days even though the boss is doing all kinds of shenanigans, double dipping and not helping out the customer etc. Anyone remember on usenet, when a 10 yr old spoiled that "Leeam Neeesin gets skewered by Maul and Obi-Won kills Maul!" spoiler header on the use.net forum before TPM opened? Then some folks tried to put headers like "Generalissmo gets killed!" all on your good ol 38k-56k baud. I loved the KOTOR first game. Of course we all know it's because of the spoiler twist in the game that approaches the ESB twist ( yes I was unspoiled, and shocked that at first I thought, "yes Luke, join him!" in the stunning few reaction seconds after. ). What a shame that KOTOR II was left unfinished and even unfixed after all these years. So at this point, just my particular prefrence I don't mind if the EU is erased after Ep. VI ; Wouldn't mind having Mara Jade introduced in a different way. I always disagreed she could off clone Luke ("You will KILL Luke Skywalker") just by kneeling and poking the lightsaber up. But I guess Darth Sideous did more of the pokey thrusting style (they call that more realistic swordplay anyways) in ROTS. But I thought his Sith yell when he rotated-leaped Force-stunned 3 of the masters so he could off them immediately. I just knew the names of one of them anyways. Kit Fisto. In the ROTS novel, the author made fun of Fisto's grinning in AOTC battle if you recall as in the novel his head was left on the table still grinning. So yeah! I'm looking forward to Ep. 7,8,9 to really finish the saga. Bring them all back ! Hamill , Fisher, and Ford etc. I bet the suits at Disney can offer than all lucrative retirement-worthy deals. Ford needs to pay for his private jet fuel and plane maintenance after all. And after seeing Tron: Legacy, the "future efx" that Lucas was waiting for is finally here, efx good enough to deage the actors and even replace overweight bodies with lean athletic ones, ala Christopher Lee's Count Dooku "force flipping" over the rail in ROTS!

I don't remember very many names from back in the "olden days."

Avengers 2 in May and Star Wars in July wouldn't surprise me I suppose. As much as I love Avengers though, I don't think it's as big a movie in terms of the kind of coverage and hype it will generate. After all, we all knew there would be an Avengers 2 before it was even announced, this is a big shocker. Even with 3 years for it to sink in, people know what to expect with Avengers, and Star Wars will draw extra on it's curiosity factor.

That's why I expect Star Wars first, because they can expect Star Wars to continue to draw people to theaters for a longer period, and can feel more confident in it continuing to draw people after Avengers comes out. I would imagine they'd be more fearful of Avengers' ability to continue to draw in the shadow of Star Wars if Avengers is released first.

Haha this news is bringing all the ancient Jedi out of the shadows! I missed you guys

Which effect was realized rather poorly and I would welcome it being fixed up in a future release. You know, like next year.

The books will not have any relevance to the new trilogy.

http://www.eonline.com/news/358685/star-wars-7-plot-will-be-an-original-story-says-lucasfilm-source

Okay beside that I am unsure if this is going to work out. BUT I AM SO EXITED!!! When I heard the new I started jumping up and down!

Interesting, but not unexpected for me. I'd have been surprised if they conformed to the EU. I expect what will happen is that the film and book continuity will separate. I don't expect it to be pretty. I expect a lot of anger from fans about this.

Personally, I love the EU. I adore some of the stories told in the EU more than I adore certain stories in the movies. But I grew up on comic books. I never had a problem reading stories about Wolverine being on so many teams that it seems impossible for him to have enough time in a day, and those stories only loosely if at all referencing each other.

I don't want to see the EU continuity go away, so I'm hoping for one of two things:

1. The movies tell a story set in the Star Wars universe without relying on the previously established characters, drawing on inspiration from events in the EU. This way they can tell a new story that exists along side established EU lore.

2. They go ahead and throw out the EU lore for the films, but establish the EU lore as the canon for books. This would be kinda like Marvel and it's movies, the comics are one universe, and the movies another, each inspired by one another but separate.

What I hope doesn't happen is they make movies disregarding the EU and then the EU tries to conform to the new lore. It'd just be really messy. I also don't want to see the old EU scrapped and no more stories based upon the lore I've learned.

But then again, I do kinda feel like the EU is in a place where I wouldn't feel entirely betrayed if they put a cap on it and called it done. It does kinda feel full at this point, and I feel many of the characters have had their stories run a pretty natural course. There's some plots I'd miss the chance to see fleshed out, like Jaina and the Imperial Knights, and Ben's future, but we can kinda infer where things are were going from Legacy.

I don't know. I actually might be excited about the possibility of a fresh slate ready to be filled with new expanded lore. It would just be hard to know all that space in my brain filled with Star Wars lore no longer applies to the new Star Wars, and worse, figuring out what still does apply. But it might be a fun exercise.

option 2 sounds the best

I never said they'd axe the opening crawl, merely they would most likely follow the standard of the Directors Guild of America which requires the film to place certain credits before a film starts. Lucas discusses this in Empire of Dreams. He felt that Star Wars too epic to start with credits, and he insisted that it immediately start with the crawl then go straight to action. This is one of the only mainstream movies to ever start this way. It is possible (however unlikely) that the next director is going to go against the DGA just to accomplish this nuance. I agree I can't see the future, but I don't see directors bucking the system to accomplish this. Now I know I'm going to sound condescending again, but "for me" as a fan, this is important. We can agree to disagree as fans that this isn't that important to you, but to me it is. However, how much "change" of a Star Wars film is allowed before someone can finally just not be happy?
.

Sure, anyone can pump out a crap movie in 2.5 years. It may even be possible to put out a good one. Again "movie quality" is an opinion. I have yet to find a movie as epic of any of the 6 Star Wars films. Even though GL completed the films within 3 years of each other (obviously excluding the time between trilogys), keep in mind he had years and years to develop the story. Again I'll respectfully disagree that speed and quality can mix. None of us know whether Lucas has "Star Wars 7" ready to go, but if I believe him when he said "he was done with the films" then we have to assume that as of today, they have 2.5 years to "come up with a story" AND make the film. I personally think that can't result in a quality film. Definitely not Star Wars quality. Maybe at best Avengers quality.

Of course we are questioning and judging one another, but that's what these forums are about.

It might not be "concrete evidence", but IMO, with the things I've already listed, I feel that the odds are against it being good for people that share my views of all Star Wars before today. I just find what George says is very contradictory. He stepped down from day to day operations turning it over to Kennedy. Yet he wants to maintain creative control, but he's looking to pass on the franchise. He sounds worse than a politician..

And as far as me being pessimistic, this is a first. I've been away from TFN for a while but if it lets you search, you'll see most of my posts are positive. Like I've said, I've been very accepting of Star Wars since it was release up until last Saturdays episode of TCW. I like it all, but even I have to draw a line when the "creator" turns it over to a media machine like Disney. I know I'll be criticized again for calling peoples fandom into question, but historically George Lucas has been known for bucking the system. He was one of the originals in movie innovation. Without him we wouldn't have Pixar, ILM, the list goes on and on. This isn't opinion, this is fact.

I'm sorry that I sound pessimistic, but when you look up to a guy all your life and admire him for paving his own way, on his own terms, against all odds, just to "SELL OUT" to the EXACT thing he was against in the beginning, yeah you aren't too happy about it. And now I will directly question peoples fandom: I DO think you too should feel a little let down....

I think at the end of the day, people (obviously not all) want to be entertained and want a new Star Wars movie. No matter how that has to happen. George said he was done making them, so if he has to sell it for people to get another movie, I think that is where a lot of the fandom/excitement is coming from.

While I do agree, a lot of this doesn't make sense and is very shocking. George being against the corporations but then he became one, basically. Obviously he didn't feel entirely comfortable leaving it in the hands of the people who worked for him and being the rebel he was (the actor's and writers guild etc.) I guess maybe he thought he needed to turn it over to a company with at least the capability of making something good.

Every company has made good movies and every company has made bad movies. Perhaps he thought Disney was the one who was least likely to screw it up.

I don't know.

There are limitless groups that people can be in. I'm here, on a Star Wars forum, speaking about Star Wars. I'm not on a Marvel forum talking about how equally good Marvel is to Star Wars. Sorry it sounds arrogant, but I don't feel those films are as good as Star Wars. I'm all for people liking whatever they like, but how am I supposed to sit back and agree that these other movie franchises are as good or better than Star Wars if I don't feel that way? And agree Disney will do a great job based off of those things I disagree with? That's arrogant, insulting and condescending. I respect you for your right to like those films. I don't have to like them. You should respect my right not to like them.

What we can agree on is you are optimistic that Disney may (or may not) create good future Star Wars films. Your optimism may be influenced that they did well with Avengers and other endeavors. You are in that camp, I'm totally cool with that!. I am in the camp that doesn't believe Avengers is equal and proof that future Star Wars projects will meet my standards.

I know we downgraded the conversation to Avengers vs Star Wars, but the big picture is Star Wars is going through a transformation. I'm agreeing with you that there isn't enough info to say it'll be the worst thing ever made or better than Uncle George ever envisioned. I still think in the end there will be groups of fans, those who are die hard for the Disney versions and those who are not. I don't feel gung-ho about it today. I can definitely say (which others in this thread have already said) it will have a different feel. And it is that feel that I'm unsure about.

What I don't understand is why the sell?! I may have missed something but I never heard of Lucasfilm being in financial trouble or anything like that. I understood he stepped down, promoted Kennedy, but I thought the company was sound. The only thing I can think of is he wanted to keep the dream of merchandising alive and who does that better than Disney?

I would think the time to sell a company is at its peak... You make more money that way. I doubt there was any financial trouble (almost any movie with CGI on it has ILM somewhere in the credits it seems). Otherwise Lucas wouldn't have given most of his fortune away to charity a couple years ago.

It's shocking, because I don't know anyone who could see it coming but I don't know if it is really for any other reason than what George says.

Sometimes what is put into the media is always seen as as cover up or a way to make it look good. Whether it be in politics, business, or even sports a lot of times. I think smart people can see beyond those excuses.

Here, I don't see any kind of "cover up" or "alternate motive". I just don't sense it. While the sale doesn't make complete sense. I think it is reasonable to wonder if he didn't have confidence in the people on deck for him.

What if he just wanted it all behind him, where he couldn't have an opinion anymore and could truly, utterly relax?

It's not that unthinkable that what he says is actually the truth. He might actually believe Disney was a great option to continue Star Wars.

We, as consumers and people in this twitter/facebook/internet age have become so cynical and skeptical that it really is almost impossible to take anything at face value. It's hard to believe a person's words. At least that is the way I feel, because sometimes I find it hard to believe anything I see and hear anymore.

But perhaps here, it could actually be just true.

Crazier stuff has happened I suppose.