JJ Abrams is going to direct Star Wars VII

[YetAnotherBloodyCheek]

Funny enough, I remember 1993 as the year, the Star Wars saga was officially continued (German publication date) by a series of books written by Timothy Zahn.

Heir to the Empire

[Red Shirt]

... Or "The Jedi-King" subtitled "The Circle of Force" ...

You might not be to far of the mark with that thought... In the extended canon, post RotJ, Luke calls himself a Jedi Master and is rebuilding the Jedi Order.

[LiamKerrington]

You might not be to far of the mark with that thought... In the extended canon, post RotJ, Luke calls himself a Jedi Master and is rebuilding the Jedi Order.

F*ck me stiff! Awe-some!

[Osiris]

Hi.

I feel inclined to say that the new Star Trek movie with its "whammy effects" was and is a movie which fits into this "new" age. And JJ Abrams did a decent job.
Considering the technologies available at Disney, the skills of Abrams as a director, and especially the interest of Disney to get repaid for the huge investment into the SW-trademark, I think we will see something "good".
And Osiris is actually right: Abrams does not write the script; he just has to take care that the movie looks good on the silver-screen - either in 2, 3, 4 or how-many-dimension³ ever. The question would be: Do the writers do a good job; and if not, will Abrams' skills be enough to transform a shitty script into an awesome screen-experience? And another question would be, how much control the Disney-bosses will force upon JJ Abrams and how much this would affect the quality of the movie as well. Just imagine: "Pocahontas on Endor" ... Or "The Wookie and the Sith" ... Or much better: "The Hunchback of Imperial I" ... Or "The Jedi-King" subtitled "The Circle of Force" ... or maybe "Adventures of the Gummi Ewoks" (which would be kind of awesome having those little furballs jumping and bumping around ...) ... Or imagine "Pirates of Dantooine" or something like "The Wizard of Dagobah" or "R2D2 and the Black Cauldron" ...

Man, there was made so much good shit at Disney's that I get more and more excited about what they actually could achieve with SW ... And I think JJ Abrams might be a good call.

Time will tell ...

All the best!
Liam

No chance. Disney knows better than that. They know they've got a franchise on their hands that is proven to be a money maker and they know how vitrolic its fans tend to be. Disney won't interfere with someone with a proven track record on a proven franchise. They're apprently pretty good about just handing over the money and saying "go get us a big return" from everything I've read, and The Avengers speaks for itself. You didn't see any Disney influence there, or did we all forget that they own Marvel?

[LiamKerrington]

No chance. Disney knows better than that. They know they've got a franchise on their hands that is proven to be a money maker and they know how vitrolic its fans tend to be. Disney won't interfere with someone with a proven track record on a proven franchise. They're apprently pretty good about just handing over the money and saying "go get us a big return" from everything I've read, and The Avengers speaks for itself. You didn't see any Disney influence there, or did we all forget that they own Marvel?

No, we didn't see any of it; and Disney is way too big with too many faces that one would expect Micky Mouse to jump out of a R2-unit.
And yet - since there is a lot of money involved, I wouldn't either bet that the money-shifters don't get involved. I think SW by far a more potent money-machine then Marvel ever was and ever will be. But such an involvement would not mean that typical fairy-tale concepts like the ones in the early animal- or animated-movies produced by Disney would be implemented in new SW movies; but I think the general ethics and morality would - like, you know, the misfit becoming a hero (just the same story as in episode IV actually), family- and friendship-values, entertaining sidekicks ... Oh, wait ... Now that I think of it: Things like this were common in Episodes I through IV, at least Star Wars: A New Hope and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Something "dark" like Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back seems to be less likely ... Well, looks like SW and Siney are a much better fit then some might think ...



All the best!
Liam

[Osiris]

No, we didn't see any of it; and Disney is way too big with too many faces that one would expect Micky Mouse to jump out of a R2-unit.
And yet - since there is a lot of money involved, I wouldn't either bet that the money-shifters don't get involved. I think SW by far a more potent money-machine then Marvel ever was and ever will be. But such an involvement would not mean that typical fairy-tale concepts like the ones in the early animal- or animated-movies produced by Disney would be implemented in new SW movies; but I think the general ethics and morality would - like, you know, the misfit becoming a hero (just the same story as in episode IV actually), family- and friendship-values, entertaining sidekicks ... Oh, wait ... Now that I think of it: Things like this were common in Episodes I through IV, at least Star Wars: A New Hope and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Something "dark" like Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back seems to be less likely ... Well, looks like SW and Siney are a much better fit then some might think ...



All the best!
Liam

I think you're way off base. First, Marvel is just as marketable as Star Wars is, and I'll give you two reasons why: The Avengers (biggest opening weekend in history beating out highest ranked Star Wars episode by 100 million) and Episode I through III. In fact, the Star Wars franchise is less marketable right now than anything Marvel when you consider the appeal and buzz that Joss created with the release of Avengers and the subsequent sequels. Let's not forget the Iron Man franchise, Spiderman, X-men, Blade (which is due for a reboot any time now), Captain America, Hulk, Fantastic Four . . . the list of monsters goes on and on. Lucasfilm is still picking up the pieces from the prequel debacle--which is assuredly a factor in Lucas's decision to take the money and run. Either way, Star Wars is all that Lucas has as far as mass market franchise appeal. They lost the chance to reboot Indiana Jones successfully, and there's really nothing else for them to rely on.

As far as the next trilogy being a morality play, well it's only fitting since Star Wars is a morality play. Say what you will about not getting a dark Star Wars out of Disney, but you're going to see it. Let's not forget who the script supers and the producers are. Disney is just the money, and if the geniuses behind the monster cash cows of the last three decades say "go this way" you can bet that Disney won't say peep. You don't get rich by ignoring what works. And for the record, Episode II & III may be two of the darkest Star Wars stories ever told. Hell, the Iron Man movies are dark as hell when you get right down to it.

Tron Legacy and Pirates of the Caribbean aren't exactly your standard Disney flicks. They're slightly on the dark side, subversive, and huge box-office successes without resorting to talking teacups, dogs in sneakers, or Mickey and the Usual Suspects. It's just proof that Disney will keep its influence noticeable in the marketing of a film and not in the finished product.

[scbubba]

I think you're way off base. First, Marvel is just as marketable as Star Wars is, and I'll give you two reasons why: The Avengers (biggest opening weekend in history beating out highest ranked Star Wars episode by 100 million) and Episode I through III. In fact, the Star Wars franchise is less marketable right now than anything Marvel when you consider the appeal and buzz that Joss created with the release of Avengers and the subsequent sequels. Let's not forget the Iron Man franchise, Spiderman, X-men, Blade (which is due for a reboot any time now), Captain America, Hulk, Fantastic Four . . . the list of monsters goes on and on. Lucasfilm is still picking up the pieces from the prequel debacle--which is assuredly a factor in Lucas's decision to take the money and run. Either way, Star Wars is all that Lucas has as far as mass market franchise appeal. They lost the chance to reboot Indiana Jones successfully, and there's really nothing else for them to rely on.

As far as the next trilogy being a morality play, well it's only fitting since Star Wars is a morality play. Say what you will about not getting a dark Star Wars out of Disney, but you're going to see it. Let's not forget who the script supers and the producers are. Disney is just the money, and if the geniuses behind the monster cash cows of the last three decades say "go this way" you can bet that Disney won't say peep. You don't get rich by ignoring what works. And for the record, Episode II & III may be two of the darkest Star Wars stories ever told. Hell, the Iron Man movies are dark as hell when you get right down to it.

Tron Legacy and Pirates of the Caribbean aren't exactly your standard Disney flicks. They're slightly on the dark side, subversive, and huge box-office successes without resorting to talking teacups, dogs in sneakers, or Mickey and the Usual Suspects. It's just proof that Disney will keep its influence noticeable in the marketing of a film and not in the finished product.

I gotta agree with Osiris on this. With the backlash the Lucas got for Episodes I - III alongside the success the Marvel universe movies are seeing, I think Disney will make some good decisions. Back to the appeal of Episodes IV-VI, add in some jaw dropping action/effects, and... story, story, story.... All the rest of what Disney does will fail if there isn't a really solid multi-episode story.

Disney isn't just Mickey Mouse and Princess movies. But it is pretty much powerhouse, money making movies... I'm excited about the SW lines coming back. And as much as I'm typically critical of JJ Abrams, I think he could do a good job with this given solid story.

[LiamKerrington]

Am not gonna argue with you about at all, 'cause I see no reason to start a debate here. In my humble opinion Marvel-stuff is colorful and funny stuff, while anything about SW - regardless if it is about I-III or IV-VI - has a much more powerful impact on pop-culture. But maybe I see it this way, 'cause here in Germany super-hero stuff remains on the silver screen and nearly does not exist beyond it, while SW seems to appear everywhere else. And as a matter of fact most people around could not name the members of The Avengers, while many, many people know a lot about SW I through VI ... I think SW speaks for itself; and I also think this is not only something to be measured in the box-office successes.

Anyway: Since SW and Marvel are huge franchises with plenty of merchandise-potential, the money-givers will get involved - maybe not directly by influencing what's gonna be in the script, but indirectly by deciding what cash-flows will occur and thus affect the outcome of any movie ...

Just to be crystal clear: My "suggestions" in the long list of more or less unlikely titles for new SW movies was meant to be "kidded"; maybe I should have added a smily ...

All the best!
Liam

[reaper239]

toy story 3, that movie took such a dark turn at the end it was like a greek tragedy. up started in a dark place, and kept that tone attached to the fat kid the whole way through. disney can do dark, not traditionally mind you, but they won't put the kaibosh on something just because it's dark.

also, i thought the prequel trilogy was half decent, as far as movies go.

[LiamKerrington]

My opinion:
Episode I was real shit.
Episodes II and III were "fair 'nuf', but still far from good.

And still: SW I - III were quite successfull movies, and the merchandise works/ worked out pretty well as well. Although Episode I was a bad movie, Darth Maul is iconic for the movie and probably for this "new generation" of SW fans. So, when I criticize SW I-III I won't neglect the simple fact that SW I-III has played a (major?) role in pop-culture. Just think of it: SW even made it into LEGO - and that for quite some time, although SW Episodes I-III had their own toys/stuff/shit-merchandise as well.

As for Disney can dark: Ok, I was wrong, 'cause I did not pay close attention to movies like Mulan, Lion King and Hunchback of Notre Damn, in which dark moments were very strong moments as well ... I simply referred to the "general tone" of things Disney does.

In order to get back on topic: SW fits well into the Disney worlds; and Abrams is a good choice.

All the best!
Liam