Official Star Wars Thread

First leaked pics:
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JJ Abrams will do just fine. He's proven he can assuage a rabid fan base with his detail and his care. I'm mostly sad that he won't be on Star Trek Out Of Whatever's Next. The choice of directors has actually made me rather excited for Episode VII.
 
JJ Abrams will do just fine. He's proven he can assuage a rabid fan base with his detail and his care. I'm mostly sad that he won't be on Star Trek Out Of Whatever's Next. The choice of directors has actually made me rather excited for Episode VII.


I agree, the majority of what he has done (movies and TV) have been incredibly good. I have high hopes for Star Wars
 
Looks like we are getting more Star Wars movies (besides Eps 7,8,9)

Star Wars fans, admit it: you like scoundrels. And you’re about to get more of them in your life.

Yesterday, The Walt Disney Co. unveiled plans to make a number of spin-off movies set a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away — in addition to the post-Return of the Jedi trilogy that had already been announced

Entertainment Weekly has learned details on two of the spin-off projects: A young Han Solo saga, focusing on the wisecracking smuggler’s origin story, and a bounty hunter adventure with Boba Fett at the center of a rogue’s gallery of galactic scum.

Sources close to the projects confirmed this was the direction the development was taking, although they cautioned it’s still very early in the process and, well, the deal could always be altered futher. Lucasfilm and Disney declined to comment on the information.

The Han Solo story would take place in the time period between Revenge of the Sith and the first Star Wars (now known as A New Hope), so although it’s possible Harrison Ford could appear as a framing device, the movie would require a new actor for the lead — one presumably much younger than even the 35-year-old Ford when he appeared in the 1977 original.

The Boba Fett film would take place either between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, or between Empire and Jedi, where the bounty hunter was last seen plunging unceremoniously into a sarlacc pit. Exactly who would play him isn’t much of a complication – in the original trilogy, he never took off his helmet. And in the prequels, we learned he was the son of the original stormtrooper clone, played by Temuera Morrison, who’s still the right age for the part if his services were required.

In addition to bringing back two fan-favorite characters as the leads of their own films, the Han Solo and Boba Fett projects would also allow Darth Vader, in full-on black death-metal gear, to return as a villain, since placing the spin-offs within the original trilogy would mean he is still alive and hissing. That timeline would also open the door for a return from visit with everyone’s favorite degenerate slug-like gangster, Jabba the Hutt.

Walt Disney Co. chairman and CEO Bob Iger announced the existence of spin-off plans yesterday as part of the company’s quarterly earnings report. He said the screenwriters working of the stand-alone films are Simon Kinberg (Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Sherlock Holmes) and Lawrence Kasdan (screenwriter of The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark and the filmmaker behind The Big Chill.)

The pair are also involved in the drafting of the new trilogy, with Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine, Toy Story 3) penning the first of the series, which J. J. Abrams has agreed to direct. That film is scheduled to hit theaters in 2015.

There is no indication who might direct the Boba Fett and Han Solo films if they end up coming to fruition. Joe Johnston, director of Captain America and The Rocketeer, originally designed the armor for Boba Fett and told Screenrant he would like to make a film based around the character. Recently, Robert Rodriguez told MTV he would jump at the chance to make a Han Solo film if it were offered to him — although that seemed more like casual interest than a serious proposal.

The recent novel Scoundrels, by sci-fi author Timothy Zahn, focused on the exploits of Solo in the period between A New Hope and Empire as he set up an Ocean’s 11-type heist of a gangster’s fortune. But sources said it was not the basis for any film currently in the works.

As for other spin-offs, Ain’t It Cool reported Monday that a Yoda-centric film may be in the works, and earlier last month Vulture reported Zack Snyder may create a Seven Samurai-inspired Star Wars spin-off, although the filmmaker later said that was untrue.

Lucasfilm has ramped up its development in recent months under the new leadership of Kathleen Kennedy, who stepped in as co-chair of the company as Star Wars creator George Lucas stepped back and sold the company to the Walt Disney Co.

Kennedy, who has her eighth nomination for the Best Picture Oscar this year as producer of Lincoln, has a long track record of making films that strike a nerve with the original Star Wars generation, among them E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and everything from Gremlins to The Goonies and the Back to the Future movies.

The question now: If these films do happen, who would you cast as a young Han Solo – or should they cast someone as relatively unknown as Ford once was?
 
I'm not the biggest Star Wars follower but quality over quantity please! I'm afraid we'll see a bombardment of average movies...
 
Did you hear about the 'A New Hope' remake that had Johnny Depp as Han Solo, Kiera Knightly as Leia, and Orlando Bloom as Luke Skywalker?

Sorry, totally just kidding. We were talking about this at work and it made me laugh. :)
 
Meh. If we can have a ton of Star Trek movies and shows we can have more Star Wars. Quality over Quantity? how about both? There's always that option. I personally like the idea of the Boba Fett movie. I always felt confused as a kid why they focused so much on Boba Fett in Empire Strikes back. I was not aware of the novels, back story etc. that is not explained in the original trilogy.

The Young Han Solo saga sounds a lot like the Young Indiana Jones spin-off books and made-for-tv movies. They're fun and entertaining enough, maybe these will be too.

As far as directors go. J.J Abrams is more than fine for the job. Having seen Super 8 and Cloverfield (a good Abrams movie and a horrible Abrams movie) it is clear he is a student of Spielberg and goes for the human story and emotion. Something the prequels lacked immensely, but the originals had in bunches. Sci-fi and fantasy are NOT about the fake world they are set in, they are NOT about the aliens and the elves or the special effects. They are to help rather than distract focus on the HUMAN characters and their struggles. Abrams is more than capable of doing that. I will not say yay or nay until watching the results. I'll be 40 by then, but who cares :p
 
I think as long as they keep the books as a close reference, they should be fine. There are a lot of good stories that would make great movies. I've always wanted to see something about the bounty hunters.
 
[quote="Onhell, post: 384419, member: 1109"´]Quality over Quantity? how about both? There's always that option.[/quote]

Let speak my mind on that. Like most people, Star Wars is mostly a piece of childhood nostalgia to me. I enjoy watching the movies once in a while, because I've always really liked them. I've always been more of a casual Star Wars fan. Outside of the movies themselves, I never consumed very much Star Wars-related media. I read the original novelisation of the first film when I was ten (though I still have it) and played two video games as a teen. Part of what I liked so much about Star Wars was always its perceived rarity to me. When it came down to it, it was the three films. They were not very accessible to me back then, and when I actually got my hands on an old video tape or watched them at a friend's place, it was celebration day. I took in every moment, because I knew it would be a long time till I get to see them again. My parents wouldn't let me have the toys, so I spent ages staring at them in the store displays. When I played with my Legos, half the time was spent building makeshift X-Wing fighters entirely from memory, and have a makeshift Darth Vader fight a makeshift Luke Skywalker with makeshift light sabers. Nothing of it ever resembled anything from the movies, but to me, it was good enough. When I saw the first official Lego Star Wars toys, I literally felt a piece of my childhood die. I was never craving for more, I was always craving for the thing in the first place.

Now, it's everywhere. You got the prequel trilogy, you got the cartoon series, you got gazillions of books and comics and they're selling licenses to every one, indiscriminately. You can hardly get one ad block on the television without something Star Wars related. Not to mention they're showing all the films in six month intervals by now. All that made it magical to me when I was a kid is completely lost now. Except for those very rare cases when I do put on one of the original three films that seem to be all but forgotten now, and in some instances, remember what was so great about them.

What I'm getting at is that the entire franchise completely lost its focus. Suppose we ditched all the merchandise for a moment: With the original trilogy, you had three movies. With the prequel trilogies, you have three movies, a cartoon movie and a cartoon series. And now, they're planning spin-offs of movies that haven't even been made yet! Why can't they just start out with concentrating on making the fucking films first, and expand later, when they have quality products on their hands? Heck, I'd be satisfied if they made one good film, just one good film, and start the exploitation when it's out. The next movie really is going to be a make-or-break point for me, because there's a lot of stuff that needs to be redeemed. If all the magic and mystery is gone, they can at least just make a good movie, just once more. I don't need a Han Solo origin story, it was the only shred of decency the prequels had that they didn't include him in the films too. Sometimes, things are just better left implied. I don't need even more of Bobba Fett. He's already been stretched out to be genetically identical to the entire imperial army, give it a bloody rest already! Just make the damn sequels and see what happens!
 
If I read that correctly, I agree. The 'expanded universe' is so full, there is almost too much media to cover. I enjoyed the Zahn series. When I originally read the trilogy, I was under the impression that it was the vision Lucas had for the 'final three movies'.

At this point, I'll watch the new movies, because I enjoy good Sci-fi. If the first one is good, I'll continue.
 
[quote="Onhell, post: 384419, member: 1109"´]Quality over Quantity? how about both? There's always that option.

Let speak my mind on that. Like most people, Star Wars is mostly a piece of childhood nostalgia to me. I enjoy watching the movies once in a while, because I've always really liked them. I've always been more of a casual Star Wars fan. Outside of the movies themselves, I never consumed very much Star Wars-related media. I read the original novelisation of the first film when I was ten (though I still have it) and played two video games as a teen. Part of what I liked so much about Star Wars was always its perceived rarity to me. When it came down to it, it was the three films. They were not very accessible to me back then, and when I actually got my hands on an old video tape or watched them at a friend's place, it was celebration day. I took in every moment, because I knew it would be a long time till I get to see them again. My parents wouldn't let me have the toys, so I spent ages staring at them in the store displays. When I played with my Legos, half the time was spent building makeshift X-Wing fighters entirely from memory, and have a makeshift Darth Vader fight a makeshift Luke Skywalker with makeshift light sabers. Nothing of it ever resembled anything from the movies, but to me, it was good enough. When I saw the first official Lego Star Wars toys, I literally felt a piece of my childhood die. I was never craving for more, I was always craving for the thing in the first place.

Now, it's everywhere. You got the prequel trilogy, you got the cartoon series, you got gazillions of books and comics and they're selling licenses to every one, indiscriminately. You can hardly get one ad block on the television without something Star Wars related. Not to mention they're showing all the films in six month intervals by now. All that made it magical to me when I was a kid is completely lost now. Except for those very rare cases when I do put on one of the original three films that seem to be all but forgotten now, and in some instances, remember what was so great about them.

What I'm getting at is that the entire franchise completely lost its focus. Suppose we ditched all the merchandise for a moment: With the original trilogy, you had three movies. With the prequel trilogies, you have three movies, a cartoon movie and a cartoon series. And now, they're planning spin-offs of movies that haven't even been made yet! Why can't they just start out with concentrating on making the fucking films first, and expand later, when they have quality products on their hands? Heck, I'd be satisfied if they made one good film, just one good film, and start the exploitation when it's out. The next movie really is going to be a make-or-break point for me, because there's a lot of stuff that needs to be redeemed. If all the magic and mystery is gone, they can at least just make a good movie, just once more. I don't need a Han Solo origin story, it was the only shred of decency the prequels had that they didn't include him in the films too. Sometimes, things are just better left implied. I don't need even more of Bobba Fett. He's already been stretched out to be genetically identical to the entire imperial army, give it a bloody rest already! Just make the damn sequels and see what happens!

I couldn't agree with you more. I too see it as childhood nostalgia. My brother and I would look forward to Thanksgiving (IN Mexico!) because USA network would play the original trilogy one film Thursday, one Friday, one Saturday and then back to back on Sunday. Now Spike plays all six every other weekend... special? Not really.

However, I do not think we would be griping that much if the prequels had actually been good. What is the debate among Trekies about the Star Trek Movies? Odd numbers (1, 3, 5...) suck and Even numbers (2,4,6...) range from good to great. Well, We Star Wars fans simply state the original trilogy was phenomenal and the prequels were crap. These NEXT three have the ability to redeem the franchise or kill it forever. Who cares if there are more movies if they are GOOD movies? The Clone Wars Cartoon is everything Episode II should have been, Obi Wan and Anakin fighting together, bonding, becoming practically brothers. Once you make it past the odd animation, it's actually pretty good. Too bad they relegated to a fucking kid's cartoon rather than Episode I and II.

So we have similar points of view of what the next films should be/do and I definitely agree that they need those out first before thinking of making "Boba Fett's 21st birthday bash: UNRATED."
 
Speaking of Star Wars EU (expanded universe). There are a shitload of books and the quality of the books differe greatly, all between shit to bloody ezcellent.

The bloody excellent books are the Bane trilogy and Darth Plagueis. The Thrawn trilogy (set 2 years or so after ep 6) is supposed to be good, but I'm just a hundred pages in the first book so far as well as The Shadows Of the Empire. But if you're even remotely interested, read Bane and Plagueis. I'm not going to spoiler anything but all three are high quality books (all by the same author).
 
I second the love for the Bane books. Those were great.
 
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