Disney Buys LucasFilm — Page 2

Today I am more annoyed with my "Star Wars fan" friends on facebook than with the political ones. Good grief, they are whining like it's the end of the world. You'd think Walmart just bought out everyone's favorite little Mom & Pop shop down the street. What is the big frickin deal about one money hungry empire buying out another money hungry empire? The Star Wars franchise has SUCKED since Episode 1 came out in 1999 and has only gotten more commercial and terrible since. Is the irony of them posting the awful Vader clip "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" at Disney ruining these movies really flying over their heads?

I'll bet BIG bucks they will reboot the whole StarWars franchise. AND the Indy Jones one too-they have the StarTrek reboot as their model.

"Keep Yoda (Muppet Yoda please) and a few others, and talk about future generations."

Except Yoda died halfway through Return of the Jedi

Disney would have a hard time talking Harrison Ford into returning if they did want to go with the same characters/actors. Ford wanted out at the end of The Empire Strikes Back as he felt there was nowhere else for the character to go. That's part of the reason he was frozen in carbonite at the end of that film. If they did convince him to return for the third movie it set up a nice rescue operation for the beginning, and if they weren't able to talk him into it then it was a convenient way to explain the character's absence (they couldn't save him, he ended dying while frozen, etc, etc).

The new trilogy will likely focus on a new cast with Mark Hamill in a cameo role like the older Ben Kenobi. It's quite unlikely that Harrison Ford would want to reprise his role as he didn't want to play Han in Return of the Jedi in the first place (he suggested that Han die after being encased in carbonite).

As for Indiana Jones, part of the rights still belong to Paramount so any new films will be years away, unless they successfully negotiate a deal.

(As long as Shia LaBoeuf stays far away).

When You Wish Upon A (Death)Star

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Lucas' problem is that he did it all by himself in the prequels. There was no Lawrence Kasdan, Leigh Brackett or Irvin Kershner.

Alyssa Rosenberg and Charie Jane Anders each brought up good points on Twitter about the new direction for the franchise. The expanded universe novels don't have to adapted word for word but they are a good template with some great characters to introduce to the mainstream. There are particularly a lot of good female characters who can work in the new universe without there just feeling like there is one three-dimensional female character in both the prequels and original trilogy (and I am overstating the fact that Padme was ever a three-dimensional character). I won't bore you with names. That's what Wookiepedia is for.

And this may be unpopular but Joss Whedon should stay away and work on Marvel properties like the SHIELD show. He does not have to be the omnipresent architect of all things nerdy. Same for JJ Abrams, whose Star Trek reboot felt more like a Star Wars film than a Star Trek film, or anybody who worked on the show Lost (Damon Lindelof should be banned from blockbusters for what he did to the Prometheus script). I'd like for new voices to emerge. I think Michelle MacLaren and other writers/ directors with Game of Thrones fit more in line with the Star Wars universe.

Updated On: 10/31/12 at 05:11 PM

"Whoever writes/directs Star Wars episode 7, Frank Darabont has to be on top of that list. Would not be surprised to see Gore Verbinski on that list somewhere as well. Maybe Johnny Depp can play a Jedi."

Frank has a new series he's working on. He'd be a better fit for some off-shoot of Indiana Jones.

Gore and Disney may not be on the best terms because of Lone Ranger film that behind the scenes has become quite a fiasco for the company.

And, no to Depp putting his name on another popular franchise that does not need more mass appeal. I don't really want major stars. Guinness and Peter Cushing were the only known actors cast in the first film (Ford and Fisher made big impressions in small roles to that point) and they were not 'movie stars'. But since it is Star Wars I expect the names like Michael Fassbender's to pop up as rumors. I think even going for actors that were at Ewan McGregor or Natalie Portman's level of star when they were in the prequels may be too big.

If we are talking company synergy, Brad Bird may be the best internal bet for Disney to be part of such a project.

But how do we explain American Graffiti? The other two people who wrote the scripts and that the caliber of cast was lightning in a bottle? Okay, I see your point.

I didn't grow up with the prequels first. Original trilogy and expanded universe novels were still the trigger for most kids born in the 80s and 90s. My taekwando class I took as a kid shadowed hand to hand combat based on Jedi-Dark Side lightsaber battles (we were all nerds, instructors included). I think the only kids who got into anything prequel related was through the TV series- which I have to reiterate is really good once you ignore the taint of the prequel movies. It shows what the prequels could have been with other people working with the mythology.

Anyway, here's the Anders and Rosenberg pieces that I mostly agree with. Warning, you are about to be slapped with a lot of expanded universe knowledge:
http://updates.io9.com/post/34698824522/what-we-want-from-a-new-star-wars-trilogy

http://thinkprogress.org/alyssa/2012/10/31/1114291/joss-whedon-star-wars/

http://thinkprogress.org/alyssa/2012/10/30/1113191/disney-star-wars-episode-vii/

Updated On: 11/1/12 at 09:25 PM

"Howard the Duck(although,does Lucas own the rights to Howard or does Marvel? Either way,looks like Disney owns that as well) "

I remember reading on some comic book blog that the rights either reverted back, or were bought back by the original creator of Marvel--so Marvel can no longer use him. Not that I expect them to be losing any sleep over it.

LucasFilm also produced another one of my favorite movies. TUCKER: THE MAN AND HIS DREAM.

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Disney is not stupid. If they just look and see that there is a demand for the ORIGINAL releases I am sure they will release them. It's all about money and public demand.

Now, I am curious if at long last Disney will FINALLY release the Star Wars Holiday Special. George Lucas can then retire in shame once they've done that.

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I dunno, some of Disney's direct to DVD sequels (true, they've mainly put a stop on them now that Lsseter is in charge) **** all over the legacy of the films nearly as badly as that Star Wars Xmas Special (some are halfway decent, but...) So I wouldn't be shocked.

Disney has been good at realizing the collector's market and releassing some obscure gems on DVD--like their limited edition Treasures line. The only real issue they have with censorship has been with some racial caricatures and smoking in old cartoons...