ST JJ Abrams to direct Episode VII

I disagree. I think it most difficult of all the previous SW film to make in terms of directing and writing .Even before you get into the production stage, you have to think about how do you even write a good story when ROTJ basically gave us a happily ever after ending. How do you make sure Anakin's sacrifice isn't in vain if there is a Dark side rising again?

In terms of directing it, how do you capture the style of George Lucas without it being too much of a rehash of the OT and yet be able to make something new.

I have a feeling that TFA would be something similar to POTC 4. Made tons of money, but fans and critics alike simply doesn't feel the movie really manage to give us something fresh and interesting.

 

These are all questions I'm sure popped up in some circles of fandom back when people learned Star Wars II was going to be a thing. They blew up the Death Star! How do you move past that without nullifying the heroics of the movie that came before? You just what, bring Darth Vader back? The Empire didn't give up? Then what was the point of the first movie?

I don't think general audiences really care if this thing is "in the style of" George Lucas, either. I don't think that concern is going to factor into anyone's enjoyment.

Hell, whats the one shot that everyone thought was cool as hell in the teaser? The loop-de-loop of the Falcon, which is pretty much as far away as you can get from "Stand 'em up and shoot 'em" George Lucas style as you can get.

 

If you adjust for inflation, and the total number of theaters, it will be hard for TFA to beat ROTJ at the Box Office. If some of the rumors we have gotten are true, then TFA could easily end up being in last place behind the Prequels, which by the way, made good money despite being called a failure. But hey; I am just hoping that Episode VII feels like a Star Wars movie, and fits in with the Saga as a whole.

 

Nothing makes them better than us "regular people"... it's just that they have more ability/access to create a perception.

Well someone liked them well enough... they don't make that kind of money off the back of fans seeing them.

 

Yeah, but that's mostly pointless to do. I've mentioned it more than a few times in the box office thread, but adjusting for inflation is not only an estimation at best, but it doesn't take into account the societal changes that have taken place between 1983 and 2015. People spend money in different ways for different reasons.

Of course, had Hollywood decided simply to stick with Tickets Sold as a metric, it'd be a hell of a lot easier to reconcile the fact people just don't go to movies as often. But that's not as exciting to put on a poster or a TV ad, and its' not as much fun to pretend there's a horse race going on when you know the horses have gotten steadily smaller over the past three decades. So, for the purposes of making marketing all that much easier (and Box Office discussions are almost solely about, and serving the purpose of marketing) we track dollars. And since we track dollars, not tickets sold, it doesn't really matter what happened before. It just matters what the dollar amount is NOW.

It's gonna make a billion, minimum. And that number won't have much to do with whether the film "fits" with the other six, either.

 

I'm not saying it isn't impossible to make a good sequel, but that it is hard to make one when the previous film have a pretty definitive conclusion. What isn't certain is whether JJ and his team could succeed in this task despite all the passion they have for Star Wars. For every ESB, you have a Matrix Reloaded. And it's not like everyone enjoys the deloop sequence in the teaser. There were some fans ( however few they are) that tried to "correct" those mistakes. So there are some people that doesn't agree with the new "style".

The point here isn't whether TFA will make money or not ( it will make loads), the point is whether general audience response on social media is positive or negative. Social Media now has a much greater voice than ever in determining the success of the movie irregardless of how much money a film is making. If it did not make as much as Disney wanted due to poor reception in the social media, there is a temptation Disney would reboot the franchise.

 

It CAN be, sure. I'm not even disagreeing there. But merely asking the question doesn't mean the answer is going to be negative, which seems to be the stance you're taking. Which is fine. I'm not saying on a personal level, people shouldn't feel skepticism. If you feel it, you feel it.

But I don't think the success of this film in the public is going to hinge on things like "Does it look like Lucas' movies" or "Does this undo the ending of Return of the Jedi?" Those are dedicated fan concerns, not general audience concerns.

I also don't think it's THAT hard to make a good sequel when building off a definitive ending. Up until recently, that's how MOST sequels worked. People certainly weren't building in hooks and "to be continueds" as blatantly as they do now. You bring up Matrix Reloaded, and that's fair - but I could just as easily bring up something like, say, ALIENS. Or Terminator 2 (Hey, James Cameron.) Or Toy Story 2. Or Empire Strikes Back, like I said.

Well, you can't just throw out "however few they are" when what we're talking about are general audience numbers. If you're using the word "few," then that means we don't really have to worry about them, as we both understand they're outliers. They're not going to be a good representative of what the general audience is thinking/feeling. Besides which - if you're referring to the stabilized shot, that wasn't done to "fix" the movie, but just to dissect the effect itself.

So far as rebooting goes - it's going to happen regardless. No way it doesn't. Question is whether it happens in 10-15 years, or 20-30 years.

But I can't imagine a scenario in which this movie is botched so badly that the 10-15 year option is the one that gets chosen. I just don't see it. Not looking at the market as it stands currently.

 

Everything is getting rebooted nowadays and now, with no Lucas, it is much more likely for Starwars to be rebooted unfortunately. I could see one happen in a few decades actually.

 

Though I think a reboot is less likely in the face of Star Wars being "Marvelled." There will be so any GFFA films over the next 15 years, that I think it would seem unnecessary to reboot the OT. Plus, it's such a classic that it will inherently invite fierce criticism. Remember the "Psycho" reboot...

That said, the films would still make a bazillion dollars, so why not?

 

I agree that general audiences will most likely lap this one up. General consensus will be around third best and "Star Wars is back" style reception. It will be huge. If it's genuinely good, or even great, it will be even bigger.

 

It does give you a good feeling that star wars is really becoming really big again. Not that it wasn't big but after ROTS it did seem the public slowly lost interest star wars. Maybe I'm wrong, just a thought. I certainly hope they don't reboot the OT, as I think if they should do something original.

 

They will never "reboot" the OT.

 

I hope your right, but hollyhood seems to have lost some imagination.

 

i will reboot the OT, cause im into the money thing

 

In a business sense, rebooting the OT would make you a genius. I hope no Disney executives are listening.

 

i just call 'em 'Fluke', 'Pan' (oh wait..), 'Layer', 'Chuweee', Dart Shredder, Rimpimtine, T-800PO, ---

 

You misunderstand my question - who is this supposed "intelligent elite"?

Precisly.

 

JJ Abrams hints at more Star Wars teasers | Irish Examiner

First of all, I’m always grateful that people would be asking. But the truth is it’s like we haven’t shown anything. There’s sort of an abundance of riches with the stuff we could put out so we’re just trying to make sure it’s as good as it could be before we put anything out. The disaster would be to race something out for the sake of making an impact and it being not as good as people deserve.

We don’t want to be coy but we have almost a year until the movie comes out, so we have to be smart about what we say and when. We’re always having conversations about it.

I would say thank you for being interested. Thank you for your patience and honestly, I can’t wait for you to see the film.”

 

Anybody who has the access/ability to influence with their critiques/opinion in a sizeable way. Anything from Fox News, IMDB to Empire Magazine. Whomever helps form ones opinion...

 

The ability to speak loudest (so to speak) does not a person intelligent - or right - it just makes them the loudest.

People ought to think for themselves.

 

No one send they were intelligent, I referred to them as the ‘intelligentsia’, a term that’s used to describe a social, cultural elite (with a modicum of irony).

You are right, "people ought to think for themselves", but often don't. We are all, to various degrees, open to the influence and pull of those afforded the right kind of soap box... otherwise critics, reviewers, pundits, commentators and others asked to air their opinion/interpretation, wouldn't have a role in our culture.

 

Actually, I referred to them as "intelligent elite"(emphasis on the " " - I was attempting to show sarcasm text but I don't now how to that expect with " " ) and I took the fact that you didn't comment on that as being that you considered them to be so. I was obviously incorrect thinking you did.

They shouldn't have a role in out culture - at least not when it comes to art and entertainment. Oxygen thieves I pay them no heed.

I believe I misunderstood your original point on the topic.

I took it to be that you think the media and such will decide whether the movie is good and that is as it should be. However, it seems I was wrong in that assessment, yes?

 

The media, and other outlets, help form the way we (the general public) think and percieve things... I don't express that as a positive thing, but as an observation on how it broadly works... Obviously the more one is removed from these influences the better... but how many times have you read a review and thought 'Oh I must see that', or 'Oh I should avoid that one'? I know I have... Even those who see themselves as free thinkers are not immune to external influence... But my original point was that this 'intelligentsia' (call them what you will) help form/shape a general perception which sometimes doesn't align to the reality... and to get more specific... I think those that are more damning of SW, be it ROTJ, TPM or the rumours re. TFA, don't necersarily speak for the general public at large.

 

So, JJ pretty much said nothing there.

 

If I may ask, why are you so convinced that a reboot of the whole SW movie saga is going to happen in the future? Wouldn't Disney be better off with its current course of continuing the saga with the ST (and IMO certainly other movies, possibly trilogies, after that) and letting the OT and PT remain canon instead of rebooting the whole thing? I know that's what happened with Star Trek (though Abrams did tie into the previous continuity), but that franchise was almost moribund by the time of the reboot. On the other hand, the SW movies, no matter how much critical flak they may have gotten, have been huge successes at the box office. I have no doubt that, barring a series of catastrophic decisions by the higher-ups of Lucasfilm and Disney, the ST and the spinoff movies will be the same.

It was painful enough to lose the Expanded Universe, but I understand why Disney decided to do so. To think that at some point in the future the whole SW saga might get rebooted... well, you've really cast a cloud over my morning. After the EU, why should I invest myself emotionally and financially into a new continuity if the entire saga is going to eventually get tossed out the window as well?