J.J. Abrams to Direct new Star Wars? - Page 2

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-57567799-235/disney-will-spin-off-films-based-on-star-wars-characters/?ttag=fbwl

Same story, but this includes the video of Bob Iger's CNBC interview that essentially confirmed Harry Knowles' AICN story about spin offs.

All I know is....wish I had me some old Disney stock. Would be nice to have the conglomerate that today owns pretty much my entire childhood (SW, Marvel, Muppets) paying me dividends.
Edited by jwebb1970 - 2/6/13 at 10:51am

I wasn't thinking of a "kids movie," but yeah, I guess it could work.



I don't know anything about the SW World in print; I was only referring to the BF in Ep.1-6.

I could totally see an animated "Adventures of Yoda" series of shorts running before proper SW movies.

My knowledge of the EU in print is only slightly greater than yours, oink. For the most part, my interest in SW is limited to "canon" stories - the films & arguably the CLONE WARS animated series, which my kids enjoy. Most of what I do know about it stems more from either looking up references that folks nerdier than I will talk about, or from the slew of EU characters that Hasbro issued as action figures back when I was seriously collecting such things. That said, Lucas was able to wrangle a pretty impressive roster of mostly well-known Sci-Fi writers to contribute.

As with the massive TREK library, THe SW EU stuff is littered with both gems & turds. Among the gems I have read & would recommend to fans outside of Jeter's Bounty Hunter Trilogy:

Timothy Zahn's "Thrawn Trilogy" from the early/mid 90s - Heir To The Empire, Dark Force RIsing & The Last Command are a pretty solid series of books that take place approx. 5 yrs after ROTJ. Zahn's series helped reignite SW fan frenzy just prior to the announcement of both the PT & the OT Spec. Edition, and introduced a few EU characters that would go on to be further established among other authors, in particular Luke's eventual EU spouse Mara Jade. Due to when it was written, Zahn's 1st SW series does have a few minor inconsistencies with what we eventually saw in the PT.

Kathy Tyers' The Truce at Bakura is a pretty decent story that takes place mere hours after the destruction of Death Star 2.0 & the passing of Vader & Palpatine. Deals with a previously unseen alien race that were in cahoots w/ the Emperor behind the scenes & are now really pissed off.

James Luceno's Labyrinth of Evil - essentially SW EP 2.5, which ends with Obi-Wan & Anakin heading off to Coruscant to join the opening battle of ROTS. Arguably the best PT film never made (although that is probably not saying much ), but does not completely line up with the stuff going on in THE CLONE WARS series.

I'll also say that while I may have gleaned more enjoyment out of TPM than most 1st generation SW fans, I thought Terry Brooks' 1999 novelization was stronger than the actual film is some respects.
Edited by jwebb1970 - 2/6/13 at 12:35pm

Now that I think about it......screw Yoda & Boba. Give us JAR JAR UNCHAINED!!!!

'Yousa say meesa have ta get dirty. Well...this is meesa getting dirty!"

No doubt we would have a controversy by his use of the Gungan equivalent of "the N word."
Edited by oink - 2/7/13 at 12:20am

A Fett story is weak IMO. A Fett/Solo story I could see. We know Fett's origin but not much of Solo. That hive of scum and villainy surely some good stories for Han. What about When Han Met Chewie and just forget Jango Fett Unchained.

I would like to see Ep.8 become the first film to focus on the next generation of the Skywalker bloodline.
After rocketing the ashes of Luke, Han, and Leia into space at the end of Ep.7, no more f_cking prequels/origin movies....ENOUGH ALREADY!

Star Wars is about MOVING FORWARD, not re-hashing old material for the sake of earning a quick buck.
GL said as much with his statement after closing the deal with Disney....

I'm inclined to agree BUT if they go back there is some good stuff. Shadows of the Empire was great story but the leads are too old.

HELLLLOOOOOO.........A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.......

Sorry, couldn't resist!

I don't know - a spaghetti western in space themed stand alone could be cool. As well, it'd be a great excuse to keep using the sound effect of "spurs" that Fett had in ESB. Get Larry Kasdan & Quentin Tarantino in a room to hash it out!!!! Just let QT know it kinda needs to be PG13.

Actually, a HuffPost article today is discussing potential young actors that could play a young Solo (if such a thing comes to pass)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/06/young-han-solo_n_2632717.html?utm_hp_ref=entertainment

An early draft of ROTS had a young Solo living w/ the Wookiees - and assisting in the battle there against the Separatists. ILM even had some concept art for the character. Of course, that plot point was ditched early on.

I'm no Boba fan so no big whoop for me. I'd watch it of course.

Still think if you go back for a story a movie with Han and Chewie is better. At the start they don't know each other and at the end they are pals.

Rather see Yoda and his time in Dagobah System like Dances With Wolves style.

LOL, I actually tried to work that into my earlier post and couldn't think of a good way to do it...damn Irish Whiskey!
How about this: A long time ago in a galaxy far, far way....

Lol....certainly plays into my feelings whenever I visited Disneyworld!

IMO, there are a number of story angles the franchise could take. I for one think the Yoda angle would work but not so much as an action centered epic. It would be highly storyline driven leaning towards the political I would think even in his "younger" days. I think the Boba Fett storyline would be strong and offers further opportunity to expand the SW universe. With Han Solo I would think you could go a number of directions...young Han, an orphan maybe? Or maybe a teenage Han that worked for a smuggler and grow the concept from there? I'm not sure I'd go the Han/Chewie early years at least not off the bat. I'd possibly lead into that. You could also do more with the Rebel Alliance and their inner workings and possibly tell more of Leia's story before she was captured. There was obviously history between she and Vader so maybe something could be developed from that.

I for one don't necessarily think the new film(s) need to specifically tie into the OT or even prequels for that matter. IMO that's the problem with the prequels, they're not good enough to really stand on their own. A New Hope could stand on it's own without any others ever being made. And I would say the same for Empire Strikes Back too (to a degree). But everything else was pretty much reliant on the whole concept. That's why I'm personally excited that Abrams is getting this shot because I believe he can make something new and self contained but still representative of the SW universe.

Yep.

SW nerd lore states that Solo was a young Imperial conscript who rescued Chewie from his abusive Imperial slave handlers (at one point, GL imagined the Empire took Wookiees for slave labor sometime after the events of what eventually became Ep III) - and since Wookiees apparently recognize a "life debt", which GL did use for the Jar Jar situation in TPM, led to his imprinting onto Solo. The 2 then apparently went AWOL & the life of a smuggler & his furry co-pilot began.

Going back & doing a Solo/Chewbacca origin story could both tie into the existing saga (surely will feature Stormtroopers, and maybe we'd even see Vader & The Emperor pop up) as well as be a likely candidate for a strong stand alone feature. Other than a solid screenplay, the real secret ingredient will be casting the right actor to pull off a young Han Solo.

^^
See. When Han Met Chewie.

While I'm quite sure the suggestions are not meant this way, when I read the Han/Chewie concept all I'm pretty much getting is a buddy movie. For whatever reason I just can't get beyond that, which may be because of an underlying fear that it could actually happen.

I'd still prefer something that's not a direct tie in to the original or prequel movies. I don't necessarily need Vader or stormtroopers (don't get me wrong, they're great characters). I'd just rather see an expanded universe with overtones of what we already know. One of the real intrigues for me in the OT was who and what Vader was and how did he become that, so when the prequels came out I was highly intrigued about how Anakin became Vader. With that being said, I'm not as intrigued about the Han/Chewie story and/or adventures but more how Han became Han. There was an light hearted innocence to his character development back in the 70's but the image was really to be a bit more hardcore, shady, scoundrel if you will. I'd like to see that developed more (Christopher Nolan script anyone?)...especially if he's the kind of guy that would shoot first. LOL...couldn't help myself!

Same IMO can be done with Fett but I think you'd really have to up the ante and make him ruthless almost to the point of an R rating. In either case, let's see how they move around under the radar of the galactic empire and who moves around with them. And let's not forget about Lando. I think there is a huge development opportunity for his character as well.

Whatever it is, please just let it NOT be a buddy movie.

Can't argue that. SW needs some fun though. Like those old Ewok specials. My little daughter needs that instead of Dora.

Can't agree more.

Many forget what a big deal this was back-in-day.
The "I am your father" was huge shock and head-scratcher for fans back then.
NO ONE saw it coming and everyone wondered how it was even possible.
This is what GL was trying to answer with the prequels....

Disney would never allow an R-rated SW.

We do know Lando and Han had adventures together.

Agreed that no way Disney produces an R rated SW. It's really more about the direction you'd have to go to bring real substance to the Boba Fett concept. Of course you could always go cutesy and appeal to the masses by having Boba Fett be a ruthless bounty hunter but come home to a couple of Ewoks that he adopted.

Really? I see the potential for a swashbuckler about intergalactic pirates. Just like the Star Trek movie showed how the crew of the Enterprise came together, I wouldn't mind seeing the story of how Han and Chewie became a team. I'd certainly prefer a pirate adventure to a Yoda spin-off (gag).

Lando could add some spice/fun to the story, as a character always looking to get out of the pirate business but forever being sucked back in (just for the purpose of this story, cuz we know where he ends up eventually).

If the writers want to come up with a new main villian specifically for this story, then Jabba, Boba Fett, the Empire, etc,. can be used as background villians (always chasing our pirate heroes, serving as constant/looming threats).

Philosophically, it can be similar to Wheadon's Firefly/Serenity, where the pirates aren't destructive/malicious, just trying to do business that requires dodging Imperial rules.

Too bad Karl Urban isn't a bit younger. I think he'd make a good Solo.

I agree with everything you say here, Sanjay. This would be awesome.

Yeah, I think I could go for that...

The children....the children.....next gen....next gen....repeat after me....

Fair enough. Everyone has their own ideas on the direction to take and what it should look like. I guess the swashbuckler intergalactic pirates concept just doesn't work for me 1) because it's been done not rather convincingly before in the form of Buckaroo Banzai and Ice Pirates, etc. from the 80's and 2) I don't see the concept having the edge that I personally believe was originally intended for the characters. But I'm sure that's just my interpretation of the role and we all might differ a little in that regard.

My thinking exactly with When Han Met Chewie.

DONT TALK SHIRT ABOUT BUCKAROO BANZAI

Hey...that's my generation so if anybody can talk it I can...LOL

Those are valid reasons. But I would hope that Ice Pirates wouldn't stop Disney from making a Han Solo pirate movie, any more than Cutthroat Island stopped Disney from making a Jack Sparrow pirate movie.

As for edge, I agree: Harrison Ford's character was as much like a real pirate as Julia Roberts' character was like a real prostitute. Having been a long time OO7 fan, it is interesting to watch old Bond films and see the entire spy business treated like sorta like a men's club. By comparison, Skyfall was all edge (no one really "wins" by the end), though I don't know if Fleming originally intended that for his characters. For this generation of viewers, maybe it's time to give Han, Chewie and Lando some much needed edge, whether it was originally intended or not.