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Little Miss Sunshine Screenwriter Gets Nod For Star Wars: Episode VII
The screenwriter of Toy Story 3, and Little Miss Sunshine, Michael Arndt is writing the script for Star Wars: Episode VII according to Lucasfilm. From the article: "...The new movie has just entered pre-production and is slated to be released in 2015. It was announced just last month as Disney acquired Lucasfilm, but there’s still no word on what the major plot points of the new chapter will entail. However, Vulture reports that 'the studio’s brass want to bring back the three central characters of the original Star Wars: a much older Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo. No deals are in place with any of the original actors, though our source did say it had high ambition to sign up Mark Hamill, and EW recently reported that Harrison Ford was open to the idea of returning.'"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWaLxFIVX1s
They need to go back to Alan Dean Foster.
Mark Hamill? Seriously? Why not just make Jar-Jar the central character of the next movie? The writers and directors of episode VII have the easiest job ever: do better than George Lucas. That's it. No matter how crappy the movie is it only needs to be better than episodes I through IV and it'll still be a huge win.
My nope to see the Thrawn trilogy adapted to screen.
Now, Are they going Yuuzan Vong, or are they going to piss on twenty years of expanded universe?
Toy story 3 kicked a lot of ass. One of the better animated movies I've seen that's for sure.
Han signed first!!!
Luke: I'd like to dedicate this to my father, who showed me these movies.
MC: Aww, that is so sweet.
[Audience applauds]
MC: Is he here? Where's your father right now?
Luke: In the trunk of our X-Wing.
R2D2 gets married and lives happily ever after. The End.
your thin skin doesn't make me a troll
That will be the title.....
First we got the abortions that were episodes 1,2 and 3 then they decided to make the worst Indiana Jones and now 3 more garbage movies.
Why can't they find a new series to make?
...let them show full respect for the extended Star Wars universe.
Thus the hate.
An older Jabba the Hutt?
Because Disney has such a history of screwing up the franchises it buys...
Is it just me, or did they nail it? Anakin Solo, ready to Emote!
They want to hire actual wirters for a Star Wars movie? That's got to be a first.
It's propably going to center around their kids. Oh wow. The stuff way, way before the Republic would be much more interesting.
Star Wars: Jar-Jar Hugs U.
Pass.
20 minutes into the future
This means that their source is Mark Hamil.
3:47 Text from Disney coporate "Just announced the new Star Wars films."
3:48 Missed call from Mark Hamil
3:49 Missed call from Mark Hamil
3:50 Missed call from Mark Hamil
3:51 Missed call from Mark Hamil
3:52 Missed call from Mark Hamil
3:53 Missed call from Mark Hamil
3:54 Missed call from Mark Hamil
3:55 Missed call from Mark Hamil
3:56 Missed call from Mark Hamil
3:57 Missed call from Mark Hamil
3:58 Missed call from Mark Hamil
Hollywood has introduced typical Hollywood people which will take Star Wars, a film loved by many in part because it departed from the Hollywood norm, and turn it into the same old Hollywood dreck.
That's bad, but what's worse is that Lucasfilm will not do any better. After sitting through at least one of the "new" Star Wars movies, I concluded that Lucas has no idea why people loved the original film. Flat dialogue, gratuitous action, and lots of special effects does not make up for lack of a compelling plot or characters, and actors who in no way matched the quality of those in the originals.
Now there's rumor they want to bring back the original cast, who are now in their 60s, and have them re-live their former roles. Unless we CGI them, too, they're going to play older characters, which will either be unbelievable as they take on action scenes, or involve a lot less action.
All of the signs regarding this movie show that Lucasfilm and now Disney have missed the point. People don't want to see "all the familiar things" again. They want a movie that's as good as the original Star Wars, and has the same elements: adventuresome space rogues, conflict between good and evil, cool technology and racing around space at light speed.
What made Star Wars good was related to these elements and a compelling script. Disney is trying to make a new one by imitating the surface traits of that past movie, and will as a result not explore what made the movie great, and therefore will be flogging a dead horse instead of coming up with a new success story.
The time to make post-ROTJ sequels was the 80's. The tech ain't advanced enough to fit your vision, Lucas? Really? The original trilogy looked just fine. Might have been ok to wait until the 90's for the sequels. Now? If the original actors are in the background, fine, but as central leads in a brand new adventure? Do you realize how awful Ford looked in the Crystal Skullfucking and realize he'll be years older than that by the time this turd is pinched off?
Oh, right. Nobody cares about quality.
Damn it, every time I think I've finally let go and am no longer caring what they do to the franchise, they come up with some fresh, new obscenity that has me going Joe Pesci.
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
There was an election?
Yeah, the only three movies made were episodes IV, V, and VI, I don't see your problem.
what they do, as long as they have Mara Jade in it.
IV through VI were masterpieces
The only one that comes close to being a masterpiece is Empire Strikes Back. Ep IV was good for its day but hasn't aged well - even so it is still probably my second favorite of the series. I'm old enough that I saw it in theaters the first time it was released in the 70s. ROTJ was going well until the Ewoks came on screen. The only one of the prequels that is bearable is Episode III - I like it about as much as ROTJ which is to say it is fun but not great.
Hollywood has introduced typical Hollywood people which will take Star Wars, a film loved by many in part because it departed from the Hollywood norm, and turn it into the same old Hollywood dreck.
I think you have that backwards a bit. Star Wars CHANGED the "Hollywood norm". I am old enough that I saw Episode IV in theaters in the 1970s. Perhaps you aren't old enough to remember it (apologies if you are) but Star Wars changed sci-fi movies, particularly space adventures. It was a change equivalent to the magnitude of the change the iPhone had on the cell phone market. Almost everything since was influenced by the Star Wars movies and much of it for the better. It isn't that Star Wars did something different and then went back. It's that Hollywood changed to match Star Wars and so it was difficult for it to stand out anymore.
Furthermore, George Lucas reached the limit of his talent but not his ego. There were signs of this in Return of the Jedi with the Ewoks and things got worse after that. However the Star Wars universe is pretty rich ground for good story telling so perhaps there is hope that in more capable hands we will see some new movies worthy of the impact of the originals.
It's because fans with limited creative imaginations assume that writers are capable of writing only one kind of story.
Arndt has written a quirky ensemble dramedy (Little Miss Sunshine), a cute sentimental all-ages story (Toy Story 3), a near-future sci-fi character/action film (Hunger Games 2), and a distant future sci-fi Tom Cruise-vehicle thriller (Oblivion). I'm sure that someone at Disney can get their hands on the two scripts that haven't been released yet, and from what they've seen in them, they figure he can write a good Episode VII. I see no reason to doubt it.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
Am I the only one who misread the headline as "Little Miss Sunshine gets naked for Star Wars"?
Is 1563649 a prime number?
Star Wars was THIRTY FIVE FUCKING YEARS AGO. It was fantastic at the time, I'm sure. Can we please fucking move on?
For years before the prequels were made, the characters and storylines have been well-established, and fairly consistent. It will be interesting to see if they choose to throw it all out.
Every Star Wars fan knows that Han and Leia marry, and have 3 children: twins Jaina and Jacen and son Anakin (wikipedia even knows this!). Luke marries Mara Jade, and they have one son, Ben.
Of course recent authors have tried to make the story edgy and gritty by killing off Mara Jade, having Jacen become a sith lord. So I guess it doesn't matter what Disney chooses to do.
At least we have the Timothy Zhan trilogy that they can never take from us!
Where George Lucas rapes Indiana Jones? Ya it's kind of like that, but w Han Solo.
They probably don't want to do prequels, I mean, who wants to see the evil Darth Vader as an innocent kid? That's just dumb.
It doesn't matter what he's written before, so long as what he wrote before was good for its genre. A good writer can transition from kid's story to space opera without any problem so long as he understands genre well.
The one question I care about is this: Is Arndt a fan? Does he have an old Boba Fett action figure that he's kept since they came out (and not one in mint condition, one where most of the paint has worn off by handling)? Does he have a dog eared copy of the Thrawn trilogy? Does he still have the VHS original series--for obvious reasons--even though he no longer has a VCR? Does he care about the story and does he recognize why fans over 12 are miffed? I'm not asking whether he's a bat-shit crazy fan like, say, myself or my wife. I'm not talking about the kind of fan who cannot talk about the prequels in polite company, such a person would have trouble writing the new movies. I'm talking about the kind of fan who, unlike Lucas, recognizes that once art is made other people invest themselves in it. A person who's willing to respect that.
TFA gives some small new hope.
Assuming Star Wars here means the original (Episode IV), then he sees one of the things that was so right, even in the weakest (or second weakest, I'll negotiate on this point) of the original trilogy. But more hopeful still is the fact that he recognizes story arcs need to be resolved. If he would say openly that he recognizes the inconsistencies created by the new movies, I would plan on seeing the next movie on opening night.
A final note for Disney: The first SW movie my wife saw, she watched seven times in the theater. I bought countless books and subscribed to magazines, etc. All this ended with the disastrous prequels. Fans are worth money. We are willing to give it to you. You can make a movie that pleases the older fans, who've more money, and the very young, who've endless appetites, at the same time. I seem to recall some movies from the late seventies and early eighties that did just that.
Star Wars Episode VIII - The Arthritis Strikes Back .... Say what sonny?
Star Wars Episode IX - The Return of the
Seriously, the original actors aren't looking so good these days.
I'm actually for this, if they incorporate a story involving Hammil, Fisher, & Ford. I feel it needs that, just as Leonard Nimoy added to the the revisioned Star Trek.
If it plays 30-40 years after the original trilogy why not. They can't be that stupid to use them as protagonists.
Unless they set up Thrawn as an antagonist for a whole trilogy I doubt a single movie would do him justice.
Disney won't be making new Star Wars films for us, the existing fanbase. They'd be making them for their prime demographic. They'd be crazy not to, after having dropped that much cash for the franchise. So the stories will be sweet and not too scary and have a bunch of kids in the cast and probably have songs. We are not looking at some expanded universe or novels realized on the screen, we're looking at something more in line with The Ewok Adventure. We all need to get used to that, or opening day is going to be a huge disappointment.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
May the farce be with you. Always.
The Star Wars we used to know
http://saveie6.com/
Disney does not tackle real deep issues in their films, for the most part I find them pretty superficial and it leaves most people saying at best "oh that was cute". Some of the villains in the post trilogy timeline are pretty terrifying ie Thrawn, because they are really deep characters that resonate with human natures more sicker tendencies. I am still baffled by why Disney would want to take these on its not their persona.
It will be about the sudden return of Darth Binks, who we all suspected was the *REAL* sith lord of evil within the films.
After all,
* He conveniently appears right after the Jedi manage to escape in Ep 1.
* He manages to hand the republic into the hands of the "sith lord" with his vote on the Military Creation Act, having somehow gained the trust of Naboo after blundering his way as a General in the army.
* He conveniently disappears for the final three films, letting both sides expend all their resources and war funds
So obviously, for Ep 7 he will show up with the armada of left-over space battleships (which were, illogically, not used after the death star exploded again) to destroy the New Republic, first by assassinating Luke.
"Issa gonna be MESSY, bishes!" BAM!
I said no... but I missed and it came out yes.
I'd be OK with having the screenwriter for Cars 3 so long as Joss Whedon is hired as director and rewrites everything he does.
It'd be kinda cool if he is marginally senile like Yoda was in TESB and sounded like the Joker. :-D
Greatest fear - they use Hayden Christensen for the ghost of Anakin. Since it's Disney, I'm wondering if they'll do a CGI Alec Guiness as the ghost of Obiwan . . .
My only problem is the target market for Disney, so if they dumb it down to a kid's movie, then again
Miramax made Kill Bill when The Walt Disney Company owned it. That film was decidedly not intended for preteen children.
I don't remember seeing any fridges in Star Wars, but I guess it's possible he could survive the explosion of the Death Star III that way.
In fact, I had the titular line in the film. I wonder if I'll be asked back for Episode VII?
A couple of years ago I went and watched Episodes 1 - 3, then the cuts scenes from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed*, followed by Episodes 4 - 6. ... and I'm not a fan of Ewoks either. ... and the token alien Admiral Thrawn.
Before Episodes 1 - 3 I perceived Darth Vader as a purely evil guy who had a death bed repentance (why should I care?).
What Episodes 1 - 3 did (in my opinion) is turn Darth Vader from a faceless villain into a (somewhat) sympathetic character Anakin Skywalker (despite the whole Jedi temple slaughtering incident).
After that the moment when Luke is on Endor attempting to convince Darth Vader to rejoin the light-side of the force felt more realistic to me.
OK, so it goes without saying that Jar Jar Binks is a turd
I think the whole franchise is love-able in an absurd kind of way. I mean the Galactic Empire spans thousands of planets and species and yet its entire discernable power structure is made up of humans. White humans. White human men. White human men with British accents.
* If you haven't seen the cutscenes for this game: Youtube it.
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Personally, I would substituted
“Star Wars fanatics” for “Star Wars Fan” and
“Average Star Wars Fan” for “Studios”.
I consider myself an average fan. I have seen the films, read some of the comics books, played one of the games. I know enough to know that there is a vast pool of extended universe stuff, but I don’t have the time or energy to figure out the chaff from the quality.
The prior extended universe should not constrain or limit the writer from writing a good story. Respectful yes – but not bound to it. The expectation would be the midi-chlorians. That is an idea that should die.
Funny. People who have read things besides comic books know that the first Matrix movie shittily amalgamated almost every other philosophical idea from history while pretending to be original.
Zit-faced adolescent 1: "Like, what if man... What if, like... All this, like, everything around us, is... like, is... uh, like, say, just a dream or something, man! Like, you know, it's not real, but, like, you know... What if there's this thing, man, these things, or, like.... Like, maybe a force, or something, that, like... You know, like, maybe it makes us think all this is real, but, like, you know.... It's not!"
Zit-faced adolescent 2: "Dude! Whoa. That's, like, so totally awesome. I bet it's just like that, and real."
Zit-faced adolescent 1: "No man, it's not real... That's the thing... The force or whatever, like, just wants us to think it's real."
Zit-faced adolescent 2: "Oh yeah. Dude, what if the force is, like, these robots or something? What if, like, they are a computer or one of those... Those... What's that thing from that movie? The A.I.? Where the computer is, like, alive?"
Zit-faced adolescent 1: "No way! Awesome! Dude, we should totally write this. And then when we get rich, I'm gonna, like, totally become a chick."
Zit-faced adolescent 2: "Yeah! And then, dude, you could... Wait, what?"
Han: Leia you still got that outfit Jaba put on you? *wink wink*
Leia: Sure I do. *YELL - 3PO - I need my outfit back!!
Han: Um, never mind.
I only look human.
My mother is a halfling and my dad is an ogre, so that makes me an Ogreling
Luke has been asked to help open a shopping mall but isn't allowed to fly anymore. So he goes to Han and Lea, asking if they'll fly him cross-galaxy in the Millennium Falcon, now a beat up old ship that's always getting passed on the Kessel run. Unexpectedly, Chewie shows up, having just gotten out of the hospital with a bad case of mange requiring him to shave off all his fur. Along the way there is joy and sadness tinged with melancholy over what was, and in the end they realize it's about their frienships and not mall openings or fur. Guest cameo by Chad Vader as manager of the grocery store in the mall.
The above is the kind of often repeated comment made by a wanna-be movie expert who knows he will be laughed out of the room if he just says Star Wars is crap so he tries to dress it up by saying the 2nd movie was okay because of (never actually specify because that takes knowledge) and the 1st was just popular.
And it is a LOAD OF BULL.
Star Wars was HUGE and not just with 10 years old. There is little point in comparing it with anything else because little else had such impact. Beauty and the Beast (the disney animation) and the Lion King are ALMOST there because they were the only kids movies parents didn't dread having to watch but Star Wars was NOT a kid movie, it was a movie for all ages and ALL ages saw it, on their own AND with each other.
The acting and the story, they are not important to the impact a movie has on history. (one of) The first movie I believe was of a train coming to the camera and scared the shit out of viewers. It has no story but it is important because it was the first time anybody had done anything like it. Some classic movies are now practically unwatchable because our tastes changed but some stood the test of time and are movies that divide the world in those who haven't seen it and those who have and those who haven't can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
"I never seen Star Wars" is a TV show, it isn't called "I never seen Firefly". Loads of people never seen that, it might be a better story it might have better special effects (or not, never seen it) but not having seen it isn't anything special. But Star Wars, EVERYONE has seen. That is part of what makes it big.
Complaining that the special effects are outdated is only said by people who would color Casablanca.
If you write a book about movie history and indeed, popular western culture in the last century, you have to include Star Wars. You can skip over hundreds of movies with far better plots with fewer plotholes and better acting because while those movies were enjoyable, they just did not have the impact Star Wars did. And no, again, not just to kids. My mother was as big a fan as me and countless adults enjoyed it just as much as their kids and as teenagers.
And this was in an age when a lot of movies were getting darker and darker, grittier and nastier and BAM there was one movie made on a shoe string budget by a virtual unknown and EVERYONE was back into Flash Gordon. And yes, thank you, EVERYONE knows the story wasn't the least bit original. That was partly the point, the pundits knew people wanted more substance and George Lucas proved them wrong, this was straight back to the beginning of movie making. Skip the talking and give us ACTION!
And few would get it. Lucas and Spielberg would OWN movies for years to come even as others tried with The Black Hole and Battle Star Galactica. With no real success.
Empire Strikes Back was technically a better movie but it was a sequel to. It never had the same impact, it was amazingly succesful but it was riding on the tails of a far greater movie. Not because the first was the best but because it was the first.
It is the difference between when Hillary went up Mount Everest and when a modern team does it. And if you don't get that, then you are a very sad person.
As for all the hating on Ewoks, that just become a meme for people to scared of getting beat up by nerds if they dish Star Wars to hate on something popular. Hating Star Wars for Ewoks is like hating Star Trek for Spocks Brain.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
I think she could be made to change her mind.
Lets face it, she could name any number and it couldbe payed, if this movie is actually going to be any good.
Mind you, Zahn? Wasn't that the guy who turned the series into 30 something?
You thought ONE kid was bad, the Solo's have 3.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Boba Fett was the original movies Jar Jar. He is the bumbling sidekick who magically manages to capture the sidekick, then dies a funny quick death at the first turn beside all the other goons temporarily blocking the hero's path while rescuing said sidekick.
Only in fan fiction is he turned into something else then a moron who get funnily whacked by the blind sidekick of the hero.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Stupid slashdot, inequality operators don't work right...
<=
>=
<>
Seems to be working fine. You did type "<" and ">", right?
my, your, his/her/its, our, your, their
I'm, you're, he's/she's/it's, we're, you're, they're
Nathan Fillion for Han Solo!
How's Marvel working out?
Man blir trött av att gå och göra ingenting.
Very mature insulting people because they dare point out that the holy Star Wars trilogy might (gasp shock horror) have some flaws.
The above is the kind of often repeated comment made by a wanna-be movie expert who knows he will be laughed out of the room if he just says Star Wars is crap so he tries to dress it up by saying the 2nd movie was okay because of (never actually specify because that takes knowledge) and the 1st was just popular.
Who said it was crap? I said it was a good movie with a shallow plot with breakthrough FX for its day that hasn't aged especially well. All of that is true It ISN"T a deep story and wasn't really meant to be. It was meant to be a rollicking fun summer popcorn film and it was. The FX were amazing by the standards of the 1970s. Star Wars didn't win an academy award for Best Screenplay, it won for Special Effects. It's ok to acknowledge the flaws of a work of art and still love the work.
Empire Strikes Back was technically a better movie but it was a sequel to. It never had the same impact, it was amazingly succesful but it was riding on the tails of a far greater movie. Not because the first was the best but because it was the first.
THE most iconic scene in all of the Star Wars movies is when you find out that Darth Vader is Luke's father. You admit it yourself, Empire is a better movie. That doesn't imply that Episode IV is a bad movie. It is a great movie and a tremendously influential one. Every sci-fi movie since owes a debt to Star Wars. And your argument that because it was first it is "greater" doesn't hold much water. The first Star Trek movie is complete crap but the second movie is widely acknowledged to be a terrific film.
As for all the hating on Ewoks, that just become a meme for people to scared of getting beat up by nerds if they dish Star Wars to hate on something popular.
Or if we go with an actually logical and simple answer, the reason people hate the Ewoks is because the Ewoks were a badly conceived and poorly executed plot device that simply didn't work very well. They strain one's suspension of disbelief which is really saying something in a universe where The Force exists.
Personally I'd like to see a Ronald D. Moore reboot, his take on BSG was awesome.....
Just set it 1000 years later and have a new set of characters.
How's Marvel working out?
Pretty well, considering Avengers is the top grossing film of the year (and third highest ever) and was actually a halfway decent film. And that is exactly his sarcastic point that apparently went over your head. Disney has done decently with franchise acquisitions. Worst case scenario: it sucks as much as the episodes that I like to deny the existence of. More likely: it doesn't suck nearly as much, though whether or not it's good (or great?) remains to be seen.
"you can only light it with the magic word "Somalia"."
When you live for decades under an evil galactic empire which is deposed by violent revolution and creates a a power vacuum that dissolves into clan warfare, you can't expect the peace and justice of the Old Republic to spontaneously blossom.
Hey, they never bought any of the brothers Grimm stories and they still were able to screw those up.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
I have not read any of the John Carter books. I did not even know this movie was based on a series of books. I do not do research on a movie before going, sorry. The movie was OK. One of the things that movies do that I cannot stand is not finishing the story. It looks like John Carter was going to be a series of movies. Hollywood please stop with the squeals. Really, really stop making a movie that is part of a squeal when there are no other movies to go with it. Most people who do not know the back story, as in have not read the books, do not like a movie to end mid sentence. I know many people who did not do out to see the second and third Lord Of the Rings movies due to the first one ending mid sentence.
And that is exactly his sarcastic point that apparently went over your head. Disney has done decently with franchise acquisitions.
Ugh in hindsight you're right, It's still early (for me). Cheers!
Man blir trött av att gå och göra ingenting.
Getting a movie made, particularly one with this kind of history behind it, isn't a linear path from initial concept to finished product. This thing is in its very early stages. Arndt is a damned fine writer, certainly better than any of the sharpshooters here on Slashdot. Disney turns out good movies and bad. It's too early to have any idea what the final outcome will be, but I am happy they picked Arndt to write the screenplay.
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
Disney pushed talent away then ended up buying it back. In this case, just like John Carter, they bought the story ideas but are not getting a team of talented people (FX does not make a story.)
Disney has to prove themselves with the purchase and their lousy reputation -- so bad they have to buy out companies like Pixar to produce anything decent... So Disney will spare no expense to bring in famious people and hope they can work together to make something worthwhile with Star Wars or risk turning people off and making less return on investment.
Lucas needed to be out of the prequels. His old notes and some novels should have been enough for some competent writer and director to handle. Lucas is not good enough to touch his previous work. Not to mention how his early work had limitations and less ego which allowed clearly better decisions to be made... When given unlimited total control without question + ego = Ep 1-3 and that embarrassing Indiana Jones.
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
Maybe we'll cry for the right reasons next time.
It's a a kiddie toy franchise, always has been - Disney does quite well with those. The writer can write. It's finally free of the Benevolent Dictatorship of Lucas. Reasons to be cheerful, 1, 2, 3.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
They need to go back to Alan Dean Foster.
Ugh, please don't. I'm a huge fan of his work and he wrote some great stuff in the 70's and 80's (his short stories in "With Friends Like These..." are worth seeking out) but everything he's written since the late 80's has been repetitively-themed dreck. If Lucas had been willing to use Foster's Splinter of the Mind's Eye as the core for Episode VI that would have been amazing, but Foster can't write like that anymore.
I know many people who did not do out to see the second and third Lord Of the Rings movies due to the first one ending mid sentence.
And the rest of us should care, because...
Sometimes a cliffhanger is needed. Sometimes, it's not, but with the Fellowship of the Ring, it was an absolute must.
Star Wars came up with the concept of movie merchandizing and licensing. The concept did not exist before that film.
I can prove otherwise by the amount of movie memorabilia and toys that predates Star Wars.
Lucas wasn't even the first artist in movies to put a clause in the studio contract accepting lower fees in exchange for keeping merchandising rates. Roy Rogers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Rogers did that back in 1940! "second only to Walt Disney in products featuring his name"
Where's the nationwide chain of "Star Wars" fast-food restaurants with "junior Jedi" like the Roy Rogers restaurants and their Buckaroo Club http://www.flickr.com/photos/guinnesssteve/2555809662/? Comic strips, adventure novels, fast-food tie-ins ... Rogers did all that merchandising long before Lucas.
And sequels to milk the intellectual property even harder? When Star Wars film episode C comes out then they'll have tied with Rogers' 100 films.
Now if only Lucas had done the same thing to Jar-Jar that Rogers eventually did to Trigger... (hint for you youngins: had him stuffed and mounted)
In positive news this week, SWTOR will be F2P shortly...errr...pls don't flame me for being positive!!! *duck & weave*
As much as I LOLed & spat coffee at that, are you saying they can't make a decent Ep7 with 'just' $33million...? Is that what modern movie-making has come to? *sigh*
And for the record, I enjoyed JC, going in expecting very little & getting an enjoyable Disney sci-fi-light family fantasy flick. But don't quote me on that!
The later LOTR movies had really good ticket sales and were critically acclaimed, so your anecdote is kind of silly, eh?
So, they are going to battle against this giant, flat, space weapon, the Death Panel?
Why, without your clothes, you're naked, Miss Dudley!
LIkewise, SW:TESB is most diehard SW fan's favourite movie in the original trilogy, in no small part due to being a lot darker & adult than the others AND because there is a fantastic cliffhanger at the end. Not to mention the whole 'I am your father' reveal & where that's going to go. AND the 'I love you...I know' bit for the romantics (which Family Guy re-did soooo much better! :).
There is nothing wrong with exercising a bit of delayed gratification, instead of all the 'instant' kind that this ADD Y-Gen is running rampant with.
OTOH, you could argue the opposite case with examples such as Firefly and Space:Above & Beyond, to name a couple sci-fi shows which got canned much too early *sniff*. Also, Enterprise, Atlantis & B5 for my liking, though they had a longer run at least.
Anyway, I prefer series to movies or trilogies/sequels. It's nice to imagine/hope some continuity is possible when most other things end, especially these days. Hey, if Days of Our Lives & Bold can do it for 20+ years, why the hell can't we have a sci-fi soapie that just keeps on keeping on ffs?
No.
Why, without your clothes, you're naked, Miss Dudley!
Even if they replaced Luke with Mickey, Han with Buzz Lightyear, Chewie with Shrek, Jar Jar with Donkey & Amidala/Leia with Pocahontas, it couldn't be any worse than Eps1-3!
(yes, I know most of those aren't even fucking Disney's!)
Well, Mickey is Disney, Buzz is Disney/Pixar, and Pocahontas is historical-but-featured-in-a-Disney film, while Shrek and Donkey aren't Disney. So, assuming you are referring to the characters from well-known animated films, 3 out of 5 are Disney, so "most aren't Disney's" doesn't work.
I have a gut feeling this is going to suck hardcore. Watch as Disney ignores a TON of novels since the late 80's all through the 90's and into the 21st century that dealt with han and luke and leia, the thrawn trilogy, han and leia having kids, and all the other novels since then that have tied together even into today and can pretty much can be considered official as to what happened to all the major star wars characters even 60+ years after Return of the Jedi. This movie will end up being too f-ing childish and bright and puke disgusting... give me a darker and more realistic movie or hell even make a movie based off the Yuuzhan Vong War that made the Empire look like Saints.
You must master your joystick like a fisherman masters bait! - Gimpy
I'd like to add to that...
In I - III the fate of the universe revolved around one character, whether other characters were aware of it or not.
Episode I was what I call a typical Disney movie (despite not being owned by Disney at the time) in that it was "little child hero with his comic sidekick saves the day".
All the extended universe I've seen coming from the prequels (and I may have missed something) is based upon Anakin, because he is the centre of that universe.
In IV - VI we followed a band of friends in a large and mostly unexplored universe (to the viewers, at least).
That the band of friends only had an effect on this great universe only made the universe feel greater. That only made the heroes feel greater.
There was so much to explore, and seeing merely a glimpse of a far greater universe is partly what lead to the extended universe.
So it's like comparing a goldfish in a fishbowl to great sharks in an ocean.
Goddamit, I was 1 out, just 1 & I get called out!!! If only 2 out of 5 were Disney's would that qualify as most/least, or do I need a 1/5 split? /. resources explaining this to me, as I'm a bit of a scale adjective noob *blush*.
Can you point me to a couple
(this is assuming I've understood 'a couple' correctly, and not to be confused with 'a few' of course!)
I have to beg to differ:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0783342/
Pwned yo 455 boy! ;-p
Come on people, you are all missing the real opportunity here to "save" Star Wars.
Look at all of the series that reboots and remakes are working for these days, even Star Trek.
This is the perfect opportunity to start over and make an all new version of "Star Wars: A New Hope", aka Episode 4.
Just think of the possibilities:
For starters, think of how much better the special effects could be.
They could add in a bunch of the new force tricks from the animated series.
Instead of removing C3PO's restraining bolt, Luke could delete his DRM.
They could hire Milla Jovovich to play Leia.
They could hire Bruce Willis to play Han.
They could hire somebody from professional wrestling to play Chewbacca.
They could hire Justin Bieber (or somebody from "Twilight") to play Luke.
They could hire Natalie Portman to play C3PO (remember the hot oil bath in Luke's garage ??).
They could hire Linda Hunt ( from "Space Rangers" and Hetty in "NCIS: Los Angeles") to play R2D2.
They could hire William Shatner to play Darth Vader.
They could hire George Bush (either one) to play Obi-Wan.
If they'd wait four years, they could hire Obama to play Emperor Palpatine, or maybe Donald Trump.
They wouldn't have to hire anyone to play Yoda, they could just reprogram one of the new Furbies that are out now.
Frankly, enough already about Vader and Solo. Talented authors like Timothy Zahn have taken the series in new directions, with new characters (Mara Jade, Luke's future wife and their son Ben Skywalker), but will we get to see these characters play out?
The Thrawn Trilogy, set a decade after ROTJ ought to have been made. But no, the movies get to go in an entirely different direction, so how do you reconcile the expanded universe fiction that's been written so far - the entire New Jedi Order series for example?
Oh well, it's only a bunch of old time Star Wars fans that are gonna grumble.
"..One hosts to look them up, one DNS to find them, and in the darkness BIND them."
Disney could be planning to use Lucasfilm the same way. I haven't read anything about folding Lucasfilm into Walt Disney Pictures or co-branding all films like "Disney/Pixar".
a distant future sci-fi Tom Cruise-vehicle thriller (Oblivion)
I wonder why Bethesda hasn't threatened legal action over this the way it threatened Mojang over Scrolls.
are you saying they can't make a decent Ep7 with 'just' $33million
Well, it depends on what you're expecting. If you're talking a relatively simple story with no-name actors, and limited special effects, then $33 million is certainly a reasonable budget. If you're talking an FX extravaganza like previous Star Wars films, or a cameo from Harrison Ford, you're probably talking in the $150 million range, minimum.
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
Two words.
John
Carter
We're doomed.
Ok, that was four words.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Ep4 cost $11m & ESB only a tad more at $18m way back then. They've grossed 1.25billion since.
The $33m is what John Carter actually cleared, so it was kinda profitable, but on a $250m budget I imagine Disney wouldn't consider an 11-12% profit margin that good overall.
Would be interesting to know what Hamill/Ford/Fisher charge for appearance, heh.
I'd also like to see Chewie, the bots & perhaps Lando back as older versions. Happy if all these are small/cameo roles ala uncle/aunt Lars, so long as they don't end up same way inside 5 mins...:-/
I could see Han with grandkids teaching them how to shoot a blaster lol, Leia smacking him upside the head, Luke visiting from the Academy to recruit more grandkids, Chewie with his own family of rugrats, Lando running an orbital space casino somewhere coming to visit for the 20th End of Empire Thanksgiving, etc. Ok, now it's starting to sound like one of those Walton xmas specials. I take it all back!!!
I remember reading that the original nonalogy (from "Journal of the Whills") had the robots in Ep7, 50 years or so after ROTJ & then the last 2 books were set well into the future. Not sure how that sits with current EU cannon, but I'm recalling something I read over 20yrs ago, so Lucas could have well butchered everything & included bambi, the carebears & the rest of the muppet show since!
Aside from that, any working adult would understand the feeling of lord Vader at the end of the movie. Fortunately, most of us don't have enough knowledge of the Force to choke to death the people that p**s us off.
Mexico: 100% conservative's America now!
I can't wait!
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
i never have watched the three prequels.. and don't plan on it any time soon. as far as i'm concerned, the original theatrical edits of the original three movies ARE star wars.
what i am interested in tho, is what they come up with for rides and attractions for disney world.. you know it'll happen, and it'll be HUGE for sure...