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Lucas Confirms Star Wars spin-off TV series
Mictian writes "In a rare public appearance at the Star Wars Celebration III (his previous fan event appearance was in 1987), George Lucas confirmed that he's working on two TV series. One will be a full 3D animation series (with 30-minute episodes) of the recent Cartoon Network Clone Wars shorts, and the other a live-action series, that will be set in the time between Episodes III and IV, but won't feature the main characters. Production is expected to begin in about a year."
fg
Rather than all this peripheral shit, why doesn't he crank out the last three movies?
A Star Wars series will prove that Lucas' franchise is indeed the most powerful force in the universe...
Insert witty comment *here*. I'm fresh out of wit...
If I remember the previous round of rumors correctly, wasn't Kevin Smith fingered as a writer for the SW TV seriers?
First they spoil the Trilogy with the awful Prequels, and now they're considering a lurid TV series and animated cartoons?!
They've ruined the Star Wars of my youth. Why can't they just leave well alone?
"Place me in the company of those who seek Truth, but deliver me from those who believe to have found it."
Star Wars episode 3.5......the search for more money.
...so when we have all these unanswered questions from Ep 3, Lucas can just say "it will be answered in teh series" and then he can let someone else worry about it.
I hear Rick Berman is available.
"Look out honey, 'cause I'm using technology" -- Search and Destroy -- Iggy Pop
Oh christ, this'll be good.
/. knock-knock joke
Goofing on Star Wars is like the
"There's companies that are just so cool that you just can't even deal with it," - Bill Gates, about Google
Someone had to say it.
He just works.
if you steal from one source, that is plagiarism, if you steal from many, well, that's just research.
I am afraid too much star wars and it might kill the interest of it completley. Nope. Just having the show air at 7:00 CST Friday night on UPN is all that you need.
-- Knowing too much can get you killed, but knowing who knows too much can make you rich.
Star wars fans, confused and bewildered, have begun huddling around random television sets not sure where they are supposed to be in line at to eagerly anticipate the new t.v. show.
Be sure to remember the Programmers Prayer
several dead tauntauns were found in the desert of tatooine, having been beaten to a pulp after dying of starvation.
:p)
(does it translate?
I just had a nightmare vision of FRAPS video captures from within Star Wars Galaxies being re-enacted by a bunch of LARPers.
I mean, it'd definitely fit within the Star Wars Canon:
This is not the Holiday Special you were looking for.
I've got a bad feeling about this.
It's worse.
It's a LARP!
I think people stopped arguing that the moment they realized what more star wars actually meant.
"Awesome! The Star Wars trilogy in theaters again!" Greedo shoots first? What??
"Whoa...episode I will be great...check out the trailer's fight scene!" Turn to the dark side already kid, and kill this Jar Jar
Warning: Opinions known to be heavily biased.
"...but won't feature the main characters."
This will be tough thing to avoid. I've ready quite a few Star Wars novels in my day and all of them have noteable characters from the movies sprinkled throughout the plotlines. I could see how they might avoid using main characters if they set the television series Pre-episode I or pretty far past episode 6 (post new jedi order?) but for the series to take place between episodes 3 and 4 would require a few staple characters to make regular apperances in order for the audience to become grounded.
I recently watched that amateur Star Wars fan film "Revelations" and without an appearence by Darth Vader, it wouldn't have seemed like Star Wars. The sets and sabers alone just don't draw me in like the cast of characters that everyone is familiar with.
Here's hoping that is an overstatement and we'll see a few familiar faces in the series.
As long as people are buying what he's making (whatever it may be), is there any question he's going to keep doing this 'til the day he dies?
If you had a little black box that spit out 2 dollars for every 1 dollar you put into it, how many times would you stick in your dollar bill?
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The Clone Wars on Cartoon Network was awesome. That's what I want in a cartoon and it's what I want in Star Wars. Shitpan Star Wars all you want, I want Genndy Tartakovsky to make more!
:)
And considering Lucas is not specifically directing the cartoons, I figure the mouth frothing Star Wars critics would actually enjoy them
"All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"
When I started the article, I was kind of hoping it would be based off this spoof. Ewoks are still funny.
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that I don't give a rusty fuck what George Lucas says, does, produces, or otherwise shits out onto the screen.
C'mon people. He's not been behind a great movie since "Empire", and notice that he didn't write the screenplay for or direct that one. Yes, he made a few classics. He founded what is still perhaps the world's best FX shop (ILM). He got thousands of theaters to upgrade to a better viewing / listening environment with the THX certification program. However, he's crashed and burned badly since. Why keep giving him so much attention?
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As Lucas (and the article) said, it's not exactly true that no main characters are going to be in the TV series (I think his exact words were "Well, that's not strictly true now that I think about it"). He didn't clarify what that meant though.
Also possible in the future is either a new Willow movie or TV series, and another thing for sure is an update of the decrepit Star Tours ride at DisneyWorld (in Janurary next year).
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
The books for Episodes 7-9 have been out since 1992-1993: Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command. That trilogy takes place 5 years after ROTJ and further, authorized books go out 14 years after ROTJ. There are two problems with making sequels: There's way too much new story and background to pick from for new films. And, the sequel books are written by Timothy Zahn et al and not George Lucas...so George might not want to make a Star Wars film out of something he didn't write.
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
Timothy Zahn, a great author IMHO, made quite possibly the best starwar books ever.
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Three books, very well made, and intresting. Why not make a cartoon (or movies) based off of them, instead of spewing this crap?
The author will be happy (royalties, yay!), George will be happy (He won't have to pull bad ideas out of the air), and I'll be happy (which is the most important).
Here's a link to some short descriptions of the books: http://www.bookstoremall.com/Thrawn_Trilogy_Serie
I quote from me:
1 19 78190
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"You might have thought that it was going to all be over on May 15 with the release of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith."
I don't know anybody that is foolish enough to believe that this was over. As long as there is an interest and the opportunity to make some money, it isn't going to be over. Many folks thought that Star Wars would end in the 70s. It is still around decades later and still making a profit. You don't get rid of a profitable interest.
If the entertainment factor is there, I'll go see more. Will the market of 'Star Wars Enthusiasts' allow more movies to be made? Will we see different plots in the future? Will we see more 'enhanced' versions? I'd think probably. They may suck, but I would bet that we are not done with 'Star Wars' for quite a while. I hope that what comes out is good.
When are we going to get sick of it?
It could be worse, it could be Monday.
Why do I so often hear tons of noise about the Star Wars story beyond XI? It was my understanding that the story was about Anakin Skywalker - his origins, growth, corruption, and, finally, redemption. What more is to be told?
I pity the foo that isn't metasyntactic
I think for the live-action TV series, this might be good. I would like to see the everyday life of people who live under the empire, with pirates and gangsters and all the other stuff that make up a regular world. As long as they stay away from the force and "save the universe" level plots, it should be interesting.
Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
-- Pablo Picasso
I have never heard anyone wish that Lucas would make *more* Star Wars movies.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
As long as Lucas has nothing to do with either series (with the exception of licensing the name), they might be worth something. Just get Kevin Smith to direct.
- Just my $0.02, take with a grain of salt, your mileage may vary.
"several dead tauntauns were found in the desert of tatooine, having been beaten to a pulp after dying of starvation."
I can see it now - CSI: Tatooine.
Aren't there enough spinoffs already?
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Between episodes III and IV means: No jedi. So what the hell will it be? Without jedi, Star Wars is just Another Show Set in Outer Space. Will there be a convenient pocket of jedi "out there somewhere" that arent killed?
You know the topic is STARWARS when all the trolling is rated "informative" or "insigthful"...
Eh.
Maybe when George heads to that big ranch in the sky, someone can make the Zhan books into VII - IX.
TV is such a natural place to go, I mean the Holiday Special proved that Star Wars does great on the small screen...
I wonder if Bea Arthur is around to reprise her role...
Sure, it seems impossible, but look at what happend to Star Trek. For years Trek fans were livin' large, with several shows to choose from, but now it's all going out with a whimper.
Hopefully Lucas will learn something from the Trek saga, and he won't try to keep a deathgrip on the creative process in the Star Wars TV shows. If fresh talent is able to come in and mess around a bit with the tried-and-true formula, Star Wars could thrive on TV. If they stick to what they've done before, it's a doomed venture.
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We've got no idea at all what a Star Wars TV series will be like. Clone Wars doesn't count; the shorts are constructed completely differently than a longer episode would be. Ewoks and Droids don't count either; they were targeted towards children, and we've got no proof indicating that these will be. The Christmas Special doesn't count. What does that leave us with? Nothing.
You could argue using Young Indiana Jones as an example, but that was another series entirely. Beyond that, there are lots of other factors - there is more established Star Wars material, for example, or that YIJ was made more than ten years ago and tastes change over time. Hell, they aren't even in the same universe.
I think the best approach here is to wait and see what we get. How can we criticize what we've never seen? Shame fanboys never seem to pick up on that...
Goo goo g'joob.
laverne and shirley always had the fonz pop up now and then for ratings... sooner or later vader will jump out and say "ayyyyy" with a big thumbs up.
There's nothing Intelligent about Intelligent Design.
No, don't retire. Pick up the THX 1138 thread and run with it. Make the movies Star Wars prevented you from making.
org.slashdot.post.SignatureNotFoundException: ewg
What!? Why should George Lucas's property be in the public domain, because you want even more horrible books about it? I don't believe that holds up in most courts.
This has to be a parody post, right? Where's the Yakov Smirnov tie-in at the end?
You know how many people love the star wars movies when they were kids and are now experienced Actors/Directors/Writers? Lucas had Speilberg and Samuel L Jackson begging to be a part of star wars. Imagine handing over starwars to the best creative teams out there and just letting them go.
It could be very awesome if Lucas can just put his ego aside and let someone else give it a shot. Nothing against Lucas the man's a genious at coming up with ideas, and doing special effects, but he can't write dialog or direct actors worth shit.
If Lucas comes up with the general ideas, and does the special effects, and gets the best and the brightest to take over writing and directing, it could work very well.
It's Jar-Jar and the Ewoks Fun Hour!
[phone rings]
.... Well, we're done with that franchise now... it sorta died out, the demand wasn't there... no... well, y'see, we thought we might be able to do the same for you. Whaddyathink? Couple of spinoff TV series, no original characters... mmhmmm... Brannon reckons we can introduce some of the original characters back later if it doesn't take off... yeah we could do that, tried and tested formula eh... sure, we can meet..."
"George, hi! It's Rick - Rick Berman, you remember Star Trek? Yeah, that one, I sorta invented Star Trek you know... Gene who...?
*sigh*
Smegma.
It is always painful to see an artist / athlete or whatever keep trying when they no longer appear to measure up to their prime.
But even if the artist's talent is no longer what it was, or the athlete is past their prime, its their choice to keep going or not. If the artist continues to enjoy performing, let him perform. If the athlete wants to keep playing, let him keep playing.
So as long as George Lucas is enjoying what he is doing, and making money at it, he should probably keep going. And if you dont like it, dont pay to watch it.
I for one admire that Lucas has kept creative control of his creation and is in a position to still profit off of it. I may not have liked the Phantom Menace, but its my fault for watching it, not his fault for making it.
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Lucas hiring Genndy Tartakovsky to work on Clone Wars is one of the few things he'd done right since the Prequels. For me, the series exceeded all expectations - lots of Jedi action! This new development - an ongoing Tartakovsky series - can only be a good thing.
The full 3-D series on the other hand...not so much.
late night with Jar Jar Binks?
hack a day
So we were doomed, but are no longer?
Forget the whales - save the babies.
...Lucas has constructed.
The writing is poor; the acting is mostly mediocre; the mythos of the entire series destroyed by making the force some sort of organic microbes, YET I STILL ENJOY THESE MOVIES VERY MUCH. Why? Interesting characters. (The music of course is among the best ever created, I am just taking that for granted).
Not deep characters, but interesting.
So....George's new TV show will not include any of the characters we have grown up with?
I won't commit to watching or not watching, however I no longer give him the benefit of doubt. I think my excitement for the series is inversely proportional to his involvement.
The books for Episodes 7-9 have been out since 1992-1993: Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command.
... Hehe... "self-inserts"...
And even if they weren't there are a lot of fanfics on the internet for George to pick and choose. There are some pretty interesting crossovers as well. My favorite is a Harry Potter/Star Wars crossover. But he'll have to cut out the naughty parts. We all know Ron and Lando had those inclinations but the rabid fans might not appreciate the irony of it.
And he'll have to cut the author-self-inserts as well.
No sig
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If they're looking for a space pilot, I hear Scott Bakula's looking for a job...
personally, I'd like to see something like the Tales of the Jedi or Young Jedi Knights done as TV... You can explain a lot of cool SW lore without directly competing with the movies.. Also, a "Taken" style miniseries would be better than a "series" I know many /.rs laugh at that Sci-Fi run, but they executed it masterfully..and the shorter timeframe to watch it in kept interest up...when it couldn't quite hold a whole season. Also, there's no "attachment" to doing more and you can't be cancled. It fits the SW style [OK everybody but lucas] in telling compacted stories [like the Young Jedi Knights, comics or Zahn's novels] Also, 22 hours of SW would do a lot better than the crash-and-burn movies we've been getting... Oh... Broadcast it in HDTV too George!!!
This doesn't sound like too bad of an idea.
Assuming Lucas can cut back on the melodrama and other crap that's plagued the new movies, this could turn out to be pretty cool. I'd love to see self-contained episodes that show the stories of average, ordinary "Star Wars citizens" caught up in a galaxy suddenly distressed by revolutionary warfare and political change.
What if we could see the empire's dominion actually forming (something it seems like the new trilogy is barely talking about)? The civil wars that would erupt on planets as communities clashed over whether to fall in line with the Empire or rebel? I mean, just imagine being able to view the transition from a Jedi-ordered galaxy to one where the Jedi "religion is all but extinct," with the exception of the whispers and stories and rumors that would just be starting to spread of one Darth Vader.
The idea excites me. With good stories and direction, it could really become one of the better creations of the Star Wars Universe.
So, basically: Please, Lucas... stay as uninvolved in the project as possible.
as if millions of Star Wars fans suddenly let out a mighty groan.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
... and call the show "Judge Jedi".
The Judge appears weekly and passes judgement on smalltown disputes between colonists, bounty hunters, and off-world traders.
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So what? The books aren't canon and can be disposed of. Only the movies are canon. Everything else is just people exploring "what if" stories.
Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
Just think of it: With Mr. Lucas' habit of .. um .. tweaking and adjusting his creations, we'll never see the same episode twice, even with reruns. This might be the best thing to hit television ever.
What, Star Wars is some trap Lucas fell into, which drew his life into a spiraling spiral (heh) of decay and torment, as each time he drew away Star Wars brought him back?
No thanks. Indiana Jones was Lucas' idea. He started Pixar, ILM, THX, led the way for special effects, worked on stuff like Radioland Murders or something, redid THX 1138 in a new edition, and has generally done what he wants to. Star Wars hasn't prevented him from doing anything, except maybe avoiding the verbal abuse of countless Slashdotters who feel offended because he somehow ruined their childhood.
Against stupidity the Gods themselves contend in vain.
There could be different opinions, but I believe the clone wars micro series have much more quality than anyone expected and to be honest they are WAY better than the recent movies (without chesy actors and cg special effects) so if they are making more thats sounds all good to me. They are extremely anime like (is from the makers of samurai jack after all) so it makes for a good combination.
Im worried about the live action series though. I have the idea it would look like "MK: conquest" for some reason. after all Star wars and low budget TV dont mix.
Go ahead MOD my day!
More opinions here
- The second and most ambitious project will involve a live-action series. He wants it to be similar to the serialized 'The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles' TV series he executive-produced in 1992. Lucas plans to film the entire first season all at once, with shooting to begin in about a year. Lucas says he will set up the show, but then plans to step back and move on to other projects.
I really liked the 'Young Indiana Jones Chronicles' and was disappointed when it was cancelled. Maybe if GL stays in the executive producer role for the Star Wars series, it won't be so bad. Maybe.Sig cancelled due to lack of interest
Don't forget this one: I have fond memories. Here's the editorial review from Amazon.com:
Here's how critic Roger Ebert described the unique and lasting value of George Lucas's 1973 box-office hit, American Graffiti: "[It's] not only a great movie but a brilliant work of historical fiction; no sociological treatise could duplicate the movie's success in remembering exactly how it was to be alive at that cultural instant." The time to which Ebert and the film refers is the summer of 1962, and American Graffiti captures the look, feel, and sound of that era by chronicling one memorable night in the lives of several young Californians on the cusp of adulthood. (In essence, Lucas was making a semiautobiographical tribute to his own days as a hot-rod cruiser, and the film's phenomenal success paved the way for Star Wars.) The action is propelled by the music of Wolfman Jack's rock & roll radio show--a soundtrack of pop hits that would become as popular as the film itself. As Lucas develops several character subplots, American Graffiti becomes a flawless time capsule of meticulously re-created memory, as authentic as a documentary and vividly realized through innovative use of cinematography and sound. The once-in-a-lifetime ensemble cast members inhabit their roles so fully that they don't seem like actors at all, comprising a who's who of performers--some of whom went on to stellar careers--including Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, Harrison Ford, Cindy Williams, Mackenzie Phillips, Charles Martin Smith, Candy Clark, and Paul Le Mat. A true American classic, the film ranks No. 77 on the American Film Institute's list of all-time greatest American movies. --Jeff Shannon
I totally agree with this review.
"Lack of technical competence coupled with the arrogance of power, as usual, leads to no good end."
Ah, the actual passage is here. And they are indeed quoting Lucas. So, Lucas is revising history again. Big news. Anyway, everybody just enjoy this last time you'll ever have that "new Star Wars movie is coming out in just a few weeks" feeling.